See the Calendar of Events
Endurance Ride Coming Up Soon
Plans are progressing for the labor day endurance ride. There are volunteer positions available before the weekend and certainly for the ride itself. We will be needing:
P & R people (pulse and respiration) on Sunday. The vet station will be at the Lodge this year.
Scribes for the vets on Sunday.
General go-fers Saturday and Sunday.
Help with the meals, setup and cleanup Saturday and Sunday.
Please contact Kathy Eichelburger (bergrbnch@aol.com) if you can help the day of the ride or Brenda Baird (kbbaird@rev.net). I'm arranging food (emjones@vt.edu) if you have an interest in making salads or side dishes. I've already had some volunteers agree to do some of the cooking (desert is covered for the two dinners), which is wonderful but I could always use more help.
New Members
Rockbridge Hunt would like to welcome the members that have joined over the summer recess. They are:
Ms. Brenda Simmons (single)
Ms Jean Taylor (single)
Ms. JoAnne Van Siclen (single)
Gerald Carter (social)
VMI (school membership)
Virginia Hunt Week
Plans are also progressing for Virginia Hunt Week (VHW). VHW will be the week of October 12th- 21st with the kick-off party the Friday before the first hunt. The website is http://www.wlu.edu/~cmorton/vhw/index.html. The schedule is complete but the paperwork is not so don't try to sign up just yet. Members of the ten affiliated hunt clubs may participate for a fee of one hundred dollars ($100) per person. Stay tuned to the web site or contact Cindy Morton 463-6025. By the way, we are scheduled as the last hunt this year and will be hunting out of Broadview on that Sunday (the 21st) in 'Ratcatcher'.
Schedule:
Friday Oct 12th - Kick-off Party
Saturday - Casanova Hunt
Sunday - Bull Run Hunt
Monday - Keswick Hunt
Tuesday- Farmington Hunt Club
Wednesday - Deep Run Hunt
Thursday - Oak Ridge Fox Hunt Club
Friday - Bath County Hounds OR Bedford County Hunt
Saturday - Glenmore Hunt Club
Sunday - Rockbridge Hunt
Trail Riding
Wilson Shepard requested that I put out a feeler for anyone wishing to do some trail riding. Wilson and Lola are particularly interesting in the overnight/camping variety if anyone wishes to join them.
2001 T.A. Randolph Field Hunter Championship
This message originally was posted on Fox Hunters On Line and is reproduced here. I have heard that it is FULL for this year, but they are planning to run it next year again, so I thought I'd print it for your amusement.
Greetings.
I want to get the word out about this event, which is run under the Virginia Fall Races and benefits the Loudoun (VA) Hospital and Glenwood Park racecourse (Middleburg VA). For an entry fee of $200.00 one horse and rider combination has the privilege of hunting with as many of our carded hunts as you wish. A second horse is a separate entry. We're very organized this year and have set up the following schedule.Monday October 1st - Warrenton Hunt
Tuesday October 2nd - Piedmont Foxhounds
Wednesday October 3rd - Orange County Hunt
Thursday October 4th - Bull Run Hunt
Friday October 5th - rain date -- or if not needed, the Middleburg-Orange County Beagles at Sunnybank. A great meet for kids.Also, the National Sporting Library is hosting our contestants at a foxhunters symposium and reception on Friday evening. It's a beautiful thing, that library. Open stacks.
Finals on Sunday October 7th noon at Glenwood.
A cash prize of $2500.00 goes to the home hunt of the winner, donated by Mrs. Randolph's family in her memory. I don't know if the web page has been up-dated yet but eventually you can find an entry form at vafallraces.com. Contact Wendy Hawken Clatterbuck at whawken@erols.com if you would like an entry form.
Calendar
Competitive Trail Trial: August 19, 2001 - at Shiloh hosted by Glenmore Hunt
Hunter Pace: August 25th - Bedford County Hunt
Endurance Ride: September 1st (check in), 2nd (25 and 50 mile rides).
Master's Party - Sunday, September 30th
Virginia Hunt Week - October 12th - 21st
Thanks
The Executive Committee tells me that Tom Debevoise has donated materials and the labor to make repairs on the kennels and barn. According to my source, a crew showed up to do carpentry work 3 days this spring on doors, walls and partitions. The hounds and Executive Committee are very appreciative.
Notes from the Executive Committee Meeting July 2001
Minutes are not currently available for the June and July Executive Committee meetings. Hopefully we will have them for the next newsletter. Sorry!
Hound News
The two litters of hounds from this spring are doing well. Waffle's puppies have full-grown bodies and puppy brains. You can imagine how much they're enjoying exercise sessions outside the kennel. Widget's litter are juvenile delinquents with their own agendas. They haven't figured out how to get with the program yet but they're all healthy and happy - ignorance is bliss.
Since Nancy Conner has been laid up with a cast on her leg the puppies have missed some of their regular walking-out training. Usually Nancy takes each litter out by itself to get them started following people and staying in a group. This makes it easier when it's time for them to go with the pack. Missing that step has made a difference in their education. They're not really bad; it's just that the last few litters have been so very easy.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have taken the sera that tested positive for Leishmaniasis and have tested those samples for Trypanosoma cruzi. Some of the results have been positive for T. cruzi and that test is reportedly highly specific with no cross reaction with any Leishmaniasis strains. It may turn out that very few hounds have been infected with Leishmaniasis.
Trypanosoma cruzi is not an insignificant disease but it is much better known and understood in this country. Also it is not as much of a threat to humans as Leishmaniasis. As usual, we're waiting for more information from the CDC and the Masters of Foxhounds Association.
Get Ready for Fall
Do not forget that horses participating in organized fox hunts (yes, sometimes we do not appear to be totally organized, but still . . . ) need to have a current negative Coggins test on hand (taken within the last 12 months). Also riders are required to have a Virginia hunting license.
Meet your Executive Committee, cont'd
Wilson Shepherd, SecretaryWilson was born in Shanghai, China in June 1928 where his father was stationed in the Marine Corps. His mother gave him the nick name of "DeeDee" which is the Chinese word for "Little Brother" which his mother thought appropriate in that he had an older brother. He will answer to either Wilson or his nick name.
Wilson entered VMI happily in 1946 since they had horses and a great riding program and this is when he first rode with Rockbridge Hunt. VMI offered either the polo team or the show team but he opted for the show team the reason being rumored that there were more members of the fairer sex there than playing polo. On the show team he rode open jumpers and hunters.
Following graduation in June 1950, he worked briefly in Roanoke selling life insurance before being called to active duty in the USMC for the Korean War.
Eventually he got a degree in accounting and worked as an accountant until retirement in 1993. At that time they moved back east to Lexington, purchasing their two current mounts on the way back as 2 year olds. He says the prettiest horse the family ever owned was a TB off the track which they trained and sold as a show hunter.
Bedford County Hunt Hunter Pace
Sunday August 26, 2001Willow Spring Farm
Bedford, Virginia
Start Time: Between 8am and 11am
Fee: $25.00 adults, $15.00 juniors
Divisions:
Full Cry - faster pace, longer distance , varied terrain and jumps
Hill Toppers - Slower pace, shorter course, optional jumpsLight lunch included and negative coggins within the last 12 months required.
Dress: Informal. Hard hats required for jumping. Event is open to English and western riders.This is the second in a series of 3 hunter paces offered by Bedford County Hunt. Points are awarded to the top finishers in the optimum time category and accumulated over the series. Following the fall pace, championships will be awarded.
Location and Directions: Take 122 north out of Bedford for 6.5 miles. Turn right on Rt 643 (Otterville Rd). Travel 1.5 miles. The farm is on the left at Iroquois Trail. Make Wide left turn. Large rigs may want to go down to the first church on the right and turn around. It may be easier to come into the driveway from the right. Very limited water will be available, so bring your own for your animals if possible.
For More Information, contact Anne Howard
Well, the weather at the last two rides has been a little on the wet side but fear not! The fourth time is going to be a charm. We are going to reroute the trail to include an away vet check that will alow us to get into the flat lands of our hunt territory, which will help regardless of the weather. When you come to this year's ride and ride & tie, be ready to be treated to well-marked trails, great food and access to 50 miles of lovely, privately-owned wooded trails and open fields through our beautiful hunt country. So if you missed the last three years, make sure to put us on your calendar. For the rest of you, the Rockbridge Hunt looks forward to seeing you again Rockbridge Hunt 50/25 Mile Endurance Ride
Natural Bridge, Virginia AERC / ECTRA Sanctioned
Sunday - September 2, 2001
Camping is primitive with water tanks for horses and a large deep creek beside camp. POTABLE WATER FOR HUMANS IS NOT AVAILABLE.
HELMETS REQUIRED ON ALL RIDERS.
Pre-ride vet inspection 4 pm to 7 pm on September 1, rider briefing will be held at 7:30 pm. Ride starts: 50 mile at 6:15 am and 25 mile at 7:00 am. (Times are approximate and subject to change).
Entry fee includes camping fee, hot dinners ; dinner Saturday night for 25 and 50 milers, dinner Sunday night for 50 milers and coffee and continental breakfast available Sunday morning all under the covered pavilion. TO ENSURE YOUR MEAL PLEASE GIVE US A COUNT ON ALL MEALS AT LEAST ONE WEEK PRIOR TO RIDE. Entry fee less $10.00 will be refunded if ride manager is notified by Friday, August 31.
DIRECTIONS (for big rigs): I-81 North to Exit 180. Take Rte. 11 North (Lee Highway) 8 miles to first and only stop light. Turn Left onto Rte 251. Go 1.7 miles turn left on Rt. 764 (Possum Hollow Rd.). Go 1 mile take right fork on Rt. 610 (Plank Rd). Go 0.8 miles. At intersection go straight through into camp.
I-81 South to Exit 191 (I-64 West). Go 0.5 mile to exit 55. Take Rt. 11 South. Go 1 mile to the Maury River Bridge. Get in left lane and take the Rt. 11 bypass. Go 2 miles to the stop light and go straight through. This is the same stop light as in the directions above. Follow the directions above from here on.
RIDE MANAGERS
Kevin & Brenda Baird
8241 Bradshaw Rd
Salem, VA 24153
e-mail: kbbaird@rev.netThe entry form for the Rockbridge Hunt Endurance Ride is available as a PDF document.
Executive Committee
Jt-MFH: David Bolen (bolendw@vmi.edu)
Jt-MFH: Cindy Morton, 463-6025 (mortonc@wlu.edu)
President: Carol Atwood (cftatwood@yahoo.com)
Treasurer: Katharine Conner
Honorary Secretary: Wilson Shepherd (shepL@rockbridge.net)
Steward: Fred Burks (montafon@cfw.com)
Steward: Kathy Eichelberger (bergrbnch@aol.com)
Steward: Paula Ursoy (millcreekfarm@earthlink.net)
Steward: Sandra Worthy (CWorthy380@aol.com)
Newsletter Committee:
Blair Jones, Abjones@vt.edu
Erica Jones, Emjones@vt.edu
Cindy Morton, mortonc@wlu.edu
Rockbridge Hunt
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