Virginia's first sanctioned foxhound performance trial was held in the Culpeper area on March 23rd and 24th. Rockbridge Hunt was one of four clubs invited to participate. Each club competed up to eight hounds with the entire group being hunted by an independent huntsman. In this case the huntsman was the renowned Tony Leahy, originally from Ireland and currently based in Georgia.
To ensure impartial judging, all the hounds wore similar collars and each hound was marked with a random number. Five judges from across the Southeast followed the hounds on horseback, using tape recorders to tally scores as the hunting progressed. Top honors for the first day went to Rockbridge Hunt's Wally, a three-year-old hound bred and trained by local huntsman David Conner. This was a tough day of hunting with steady rain throughout the three hours of the trial. Wally was judged first in the categories of Trailing, Speed & Drive, and Endurance, second in the Hunting category and tied for second in Marking.
The second day was overcast with no rain but plenty of mud! A hound from Bull Run Hunt, Michael, won the day and the Trial's overall top score. Rockbridge Wally earned enough good scores to take second place in the overall awards. David Conner, the huntsman at Rockbridge Hunt, did a great job managing his pack and getting them ready to compete. The terrain and conditions are quite different in Culpeper and Rappahannock than they are in Rockbridge County but good hounds can be competitive in spite of the challenges.
I've prepared a fairly long narrative describing the Performance Trials, hosted by Bull Run Hunt and Rappahannock Hunt on March 23 and 24. Before we get to that, I think it's important to outline the preparations that went into making the trip possible.
There are a lot of hunt clubs in Virginia. This state is the heart and soul of foxhunting in America. Unfortunately, most of the activity, most of the history, most of the prestige, are in northern Virginia. It's not that far away but the nature of the sport and the geography of the state mean that Rockbridge Hunt has been surprisingly isolated.
Over the past ten years, we've participated in more joint meets every year. Virginia Hunt Week has provided ample opportunity to travel and, fortunately, our membership has taken advantage of it. Having a large group of our members travel and hunt well, and simply charm foxhunters across the state made it easy for people to remember Rockbridge Hunt. That helped motivate people to make the trip to come and hunt with us. Those who came, talked about the hunting. And more came to hunt with us. And the hunting is what has put Rockbridge Hunt on the map.
Huntsman David Conner and his staff, with continuing help from many active members, have worked hard for many years to make this possible. The year that I started whipping-in, David had started over -- gotten rid of the entire pack and acquired crossbred hounds from Ben Hardaway at Midland Foxhounds in Georgia. We started with only six hounds that year. We gradually got more hounds (which means you have to take hounds that someone is willing to get rid of) and David has made most of the decisions regarding the breeding program. The vast majority of our hounds are still Hardaway crossbreds although we have made some outcrosses to American hounds.
Again, David has not been able to make as many outcrosses in the breeding program as he'd like. The distance to other hunts, David's limited time, and a temporary ban on outcrossing (remember the Leishmaniasis scare?) have made things difficult. Fortunately, David has built a solid reputation in the hunting community and has had good contacts at various hunts. That reputation has given us access to some great bloodlines at other packs.
Building a pack is a never-ending process. I think it's safe to say that David is pretty pleased with the current pack but there is a continuing desire to make it better. Choosing which hounds to breed to build a better pack is shooting at a moving target. On a day-to-day basis, it's a challenge to maintain the pack -- to keep new hounds moving in and getting trained and to keep older hounds at optimum health and fitness.
Having the Performance Trials scheduled at the end of the hunting season had its advantages and its disadvantages. It's frequently a difficult time to keep hounds in top condition. It's not unusual for us to miss a lot of hunting during February due to bad weather. Hounds can only stay fit by hunting regularly. We're at a disadvantage to begin with because we only hunt twice a week. It was obvious that fitness would be a key factor at a Performance Trials.
Often, the weather in March can turn hot. If hounds are out of shape from a layoff in February, that hot weather in March can be especially detrimental. We were very fortunate to miss very little hunting this year and to have fairly cool weather throughout March. We also had a steady showing of game. In addition, David managed to take hounds to the fox pen a few times leading up to the Performance Trials. Those factors contributed in a tangible way to the fitness of the pack.
The spring season is a problem because some of our best hounds were coming in season so they couldn't compete. Also, at the end of the hunting season, the horses are fit but they're sore and tired. The weeks prior to the trials reflected a keen balance -- enough hunting to keep hounds and horses fit but nothing so tough as to lead to lameness. That's a fine line, indeed.
To sum up, David Conner has accomplished something exceedingly rare: the successful breeding and training of a competitive pack of hounds -- in 25 years -- for Rockbridge Hunt.
It's also important to note that it was genuinely a privilege for Rockbridge Hunt to be invited to participate in the Performance Trials. The other three hunts competing (Bull Run, Rappahannock, and Deep Run) had all traveled to compete in previous Performance Trials in Georgia and/or South Carolina. They had a track record. Rappahannock Hunt had joined us for one joint meet this year but otherwise, none of these Masters or Huntsmen had seen our pack hunt in more than ten years, some had never seen our pack. They really knew very little about our pack or our staff or our membership. The exposure provided by Virginia Hunt Week helped, and David's good reputation helped, but they took a chance by inviting Rockbridge Hunt.
Because the Performance Trials took place on a Wednesday and a Thursday, very few Rockbridge Hunt members were able to attend. Obviously, David Conner had to rearrange his work schedule to prepare for the Trials and to participate. I think it's safe to say he was glad to do it. Rappahannock Hunt provided kennel space for our hounds with stabling for David's horse at the same location. Throughout this event, our hosts (both the Bull Run Hunt and the Rappahannock Hunt and many of their staff and club members) went out of their way to help us. The Performance Trials, the first put on by these clubs or by anyone in the state of Virginia, were well-organized and well-run. The people were, without fail, helpful and friendly.
The other Rockbridge Hunt members who participated were Carol Atwood, Fred Burks, Katharine Conner, Louise Golian, Lucy Turner, and me. Fred Burks was kind enough to make arrangements for us to stable our horses at George Salisbury's Chestnut Lawn Farm. George's generosity in making his lovely facilities available to us is only matched by his kindness in making us feel welcome. George is a wonderful gentleman and a true horseman.
All of us drove directly to the stabling on Tuesday. It was a nice day, fairly warm, sunny to start with but getting more overcast as the afternoon progressed. We got the horses settled and had a tour of the facilities and chatted with our host. That farm has had an interesting history. Katharine, Carol and I were staying at the Holiday Inn in Culpeper, as was David Conner. We ran into him at the lobby when we registered. Carol offered to be the designated driver when we went to the welcome party so that was all arranged.
The Holiday Inn was great. It's just off the main street of Culpeper and very close to the bypass we drove to get to the stabling and the fixtures. Each room had a microwave and a coffee pot and a small refrigerator. There was a laundry room on the premises. Very convenient!
On the way to the party, we decided to stop by Rappahannock's kennels. This detour didn't take us more than a mile or two out of our way. When David had arrived and unloaded the pack, one of the young hounds had run off and disappeared. We wanted to check and see if he was hanging around outside the kennels. He wasn't but we had a chance to check on the hounds and David's horse.
The welcome party was held at Bull Run Hunt's new clubhouse. This is an old school building which has had several owners and several uses since it was last a school. It's a wonderful building -- very solid with high ceilings and big rooms. And it's located close to the fixture we would be hunting on Thursday. Of course, it was a lovely party. Any time you get a bunch of foxhunters together, it'll be fun. You can always count on seeing people you've met during Virginia Hunt Week. Since we had that joint meet with Rappahannock Hunt, we knew a few more of their members and could happily renew that acquaintance. And, thanks to the nametags, I usually meet a few people that I'm familiar with from online discussions.
We had a catered meal each day: the party at the BRH clubhouse, the breakfast after Wednesday's hunting (outdoors but under a tent), and back at the BRH clubhouse following the hunting on Thursday. All three meals were wonderful and were much appreciated. Following the dinner at the welcome party, there was a brief meeting for the masters and huntsmen. We were introduced to the judges and there was a discussion of exactly how things would proceed during the Performance Trials. Unfortunately the Trials huntsman, Tony Leahy, was still en route due to weather delays. Two of the judges were also absent.
The meeting was very helpful, especially for those of us who had never seen a Performance Trial. Still, when all is said and done, the hounds are the ones doing the hunting. You hope you've bred the right hounds and trained them to produce a pack that has the right stuff. Basically, the huntsman (and his staff) have to create a pack that suits the conditions at their club's territory. That will always be the top priority. If those hounds can go out and compete well, that's a bonus.