Pictures are on the Rockbridge Hunt website and on Erin Esposito's Facebook page (should be moving soon to the Sedgefield Hunt website) and on the Stonewall Hounds blog.

This is from Fred Berry, Huntsman at Sedgefield Hunt and organizer of the Trials, as posted to their blog.

The foxhound performance trial sponsored by the Sedgefield Hunt was March 7 and 8, 2009 in Hoffman, NC. What a weekend! It is hard to know where to start.

Hunting. Counting the Moore County Hounds, which huntsman Jody Murtagh brought so he would have some familiar faces, there were 7 packs: Moore County, Sedgefield, Rockbridge, New Market-Middletown Valley, Mecklenburg, Red Mountain and Stonewall. There were American, Crossbred, and Penn-Marydel hounds which for the most part had never seen each other. We stuffed them in a horse trailer for 15 minutes, Jody went in and put the mojo on them and then they hunted like one balanced pack for two fantastic days of hunting.

The first day was slow for the first hour and that gave the hounds a chance to get the feel of each other and the country. All the visiting huntsmen rode behind and were impressed how Jody gave the hounds plenty of time to hunt the "heads;" the wet places in the Sandhills that drain the land and which can not be ridden across. The hounds finally started speaking in a large head/creek and a coyote was viewed away at the bottom, which most of the pack followed; another went out the side with one hound behind it, Sedgefield Popper, darn it; and a third slipped out the back alone. (Later a freshly dug earth was seen at the side of the head.) A full cry hour later the run ended. Of the 41 hounds out we had 37 at the end of the run. It doesn't get much better. By then it was 70 degrees and the horses and hounds were beat. With a long hack back to the meet and another day of hunting ahead we called it quits.

The second day started an hour earlier since the time changed on us. We cast soon after daylight and knew it was going to get warm fast. We had 9000 acres to choose from but we knew where three coyotes lived so we headed back in that direction. After a couple of false starts the hounds cold trailed for about 15 minutes, picking up steam all the time and then a small coyote was viewed crossing one of the many dirt roads on the property. It was full cry for the next hour and a half, finally ending in a swamp that was right at the edge of the world. Many horses were exhausted. I had to commandeer a "fresh" one from Paula Nelson, the Hilltopper's field master. Like the day before we were missing just a few hounds at the end.

Jody did an excellent job of hunting the pack. He made and executed difficult decisions on the spot and we had two of the best days' sport of the year.

The facility and grounds. The PT was held at the Gordon bird dog field trial grounds which are owned by North Carolina. The Clubhouse, stables, corrals and kennels are located in the middle of 9000 acres of sandhill pine forest. Each year thousands of quail are released. It is an incredible facility. But given its extensive use by the bird dog competitors it is hard to secure for a fox hunting. In fact, in order to fox hunt it you have to be in a performance trial.

Hydration and nutrition. Lots and lots of great food and beverages of every type were available breakfast, lunch and dinner for two days.

Those who made it possible: The Moore County Hounds. As an incredible gift of support Moore County lent us their country (Even though the property is state owned and very difficult to secure the use of, it is in the Moore County territory.), their huntsman, and their whips. And since they didn't have a huntsman or whips they canceled a regularly scheduled day of hunting. We can not say thank you enough for this very neighborly thing. We will help you raise a barn someday.

The Judges: Jody Murtagh, Kerrie Murtagh Hayes, Clive Rose, Mitzi Cabeen, and Lincoln Sadler. These judges rode hard to make sure they could get as many scores as possible.

The food team: Erin Esposito, aka Kitchen Bitch, and her team of champions: Kit Lippert, Jan Sorrells, Paula Nelson, Judy Gallman, Elaine Berry, Drs. Spillman, Jenifer Pendergass, the Wiseman family and others who I am forgetting.

The Scorers: David Altfeder and his understudy Randall Wiseman.

He who knows and does all: Lincoln Sadler.

Visiting huntsmen: David Raley, Red Mountain; Doug Russell, Mecklenburg; Lili Wykle, Stonewall (cutest huntsman); George Harne, New Market-Middletown Valley (second cutest huntman); David Connor, Rockbridge. These folks are the best and each has fantastic hounds.

Donald Minor: our kennelman and road whip.

We really really appreciate what everyone did.

The Winners: "Who is that 74 dog?" The competition was really secondary to the adventure of hunting together with the best hounds of seven packs on an incredible facility.

What an adventure. And almost every time I saw the hounds you could throw a blanket over them. So what I take away is a rich experience of a superpack. Nevertheless, the judges captured lots of scores and a few hounds stood out and Rockbridge Clay, number 74 was the winner. As I type this at the office the list of the top hounds is at home so I will sent the list of the top hounds out tomorrow.

The pack winners were: 1, Rockbridge; 2,Sedgefield; 3, Red Mountain

Thanks again and we hope to see you all soon.

Fred Berry, MFH and Huntsman
Rich Weintraub, MFH
Martin Schlaeppi, MFH

Hey, all:

I am not usually prone to writing at length in an email message to masses. But the fabulous experience we all had at the Carolina Foxhound Performance Trials this past weekend, hosted by Sedgefield Hunt at the J. Robert Gordon Bird Dog Fields in Hoffman, NC has changed that for me. Delete this now, if you don't want to read a lengthy email!

David Conner, 6 of his best hounds (Clay, Cinder, Chief, Soccer, Tag, and Tink), Katharine Conner, Cindy Morton, Laura Jarvis, Hugh Brown, Lauren Keating, David Bolen, Bob Richardson, David Rhodenizer, and I went down this Friday for the competition. Seven hunts were bringing their six best hounds to compete as a pack during Saturday and Sunday morning hunts. [Six hunts competed. The Huntsman brought six of his hounds but they were not judged.] Also included was a hound show, which was a conformation only section that added to a hound's score.

Upon arrival, after excellent directions had us all arrive safely, we unpacked and instantly began to enjoy Sedgefield's hospitality. It seemed they had food and drink for us 24/7! Certainly, no one at this hunt works for Jenny Craig. The food was delicious! As other hunts arrived, I couldn't help but notice their custom painted trucks and trailers. It was easy to overlook us! But we all settled into the barn, and made "camp" like we had been doing this all year. A few hunts opted for more posh stabling in nearby Southern Pines, but I bet they missed the fun!

Friday night, Sedgefield hosted a fantastic dinner in the lodge. Fred Berry, our host and Sedgefield's huntsman and joint-MFH, briefed us on what to expect. Hounds would be judged on 3 different categories, and Sunday's scores were to count more, as a way to reward stamina.

I went to bed Friday night thinking I knew two things: 1) this sandy, flat, "jump free" gigantic section of NC State maintained forest would be easy riding ; and 2 ) Competition Huntsman Jody Murtagh, from Moore County Hounds, would forever be on his horn this weekend trying to get these 42 hounds to hunt like a pack. I couldn't have been more wrong.

Saturday morning at 0800, 60-plus people were there to hunt with the competition hounds. Huntsman Jody Murtagh would hunt the pack, accompanied by Fred Berry, who knew the territory. Immediately following him, would be the seven huntsman from the competing hunts. Following the seven huntsman, was a traditional hunt field, organized first through third flights [led by Sedgefield Jt-MFH Rich Weintraub]. Jody hacked south into a clear cut, and cast the hounds. They immediately worked together, and worked the covert like old pros. The first hour or so they tried to get a line working. A few stutters and stops, a few short runs, but nothing lasting more than 15 minutes. It became apparent, however, that the hounds instantly were honoring each other. When one would speak to a line, the others came to help. It was exciting to watch.

About an hour or so into the hunt, the hounds struck hot in a small section of swamp. We galloped around the swamp, down a sand road for a good distance. When the hounds were about to push their quarry out of the swamp, and across the road in front of us, we all strained to see what hounds were in front. Out of the swamp came a coyote, followed immediately by Cinder and Clay. The other hounds were hot on their heels. A large blanket could have covered them all. And they were SCREAMING. It made chill bumps on your skin. But no time to high-five other RH members. We were off like lightning!!

We ran hot for 65 minutes. We stopped for a few checks, but these hounds were on fire! When they finally stopped running, all but 4 hounds were there. One toot of Jody's flute, and the whole pack was together. Just like that. We didn't even have time for a decent drink!

It was decided to head on in after 2.5 hours, since we'd had a proper day's hunting, and the judges had a lot of good hound data to sort through. Plus, it was getting hot and humid, and the hounds had tomorrow yet to come.

We went back to barn "camp", and helped each other see to our horses, and do some chores. We rehashed the fabulous day's hunting in the barn, and again at the breakfast. After breakfast, we went back to camp and continued to talk and socialize, and brag a little about how well our hounds (and everyone's hounds) had performed. As David Conner sat relaxing in the warm sun, he looked at us and said "I have to tell you all something. I think that was the best chase I have ever been on." No one could argue. It was a fantastic day!

We met back at the lodge Saturday night , for more food, drink and good times. Fred Berry presented Saturday's hunting awards. For overall hound performance, Soccer was tied for 6th, Cinder was 3rd and Clay was 2nd. We nailed a few other awards, but they escape my memory. It was hard not to be pleased.

Sunday morning, we met again at 0800 (really 0700, thanks to daylight savings time). I was almost a little melancholy, since I knew we couldn't have a better day today than yesterday. The field was noticeably smaller. This time, Jody cast the hounds northeast, into a forest with recent controlled burning. The hounds immediately tried to get a line working, and for the first hour, we had several short runs. These hounds were working together, and it was incredible to watch them. It was beautiful. Then they struck hot again in a swamp. "Tally ho" was heard over the radio, and a small grey coyote was the quarry. Again, the hounds were absolutely SCREAMING. We were off again like lightening, and it was hard to see what hounds were working where!

We ran hot for 75 minutes. No kidding. The hounds turned several times in the large swamp, and they NEVER stopped screaming. Near the end of the run, Lincoln Sadler, one of the judges, rode over to several folks standing checked on a hill, and said "Who is that 74 hound?" That hound would be Clay. Again, when the chase was over, almost all of the hounds were together. They hunted as one championship pack. It was simply incredible. How hard did we run? When all was over, only 9 people remained in first flight. FOUR were RH members. Go RH.

Again, we hunted for about 2.5 hours. What was left to prove? All the hounds had done beautifully. We headed for home.

Back at camp, everyone was walking a little funny, and no one could stop smiling. Over yet another incredible breakfast, we socialized and NO ONE could stop talking about what remarkable hunting had just taken place. How could you? We had died and gone to heaven. And just as remarkable as the hunting, was the fellowship. Everyone had fun this weekend, and we all supported and learned so much from each other. It couldn't have been better.

The hound show was after breakfast on Sunday. RH had several hounds pulled out into the top 5. If they had scheduled the hound show for Saturday, at least the handler's would have jogged sound :-)

Later Sunday afternoon was the awards. By now you know we won Best Overall Hunt, and Clay was Best Overall Hound. Not too shabby. Fred Berry presented the awards. While presenting David Conner with the Best Overall Hunt award, Fred commented that the scoring was close, and David's pack was only 5 points ahead of Fred's pack. In classic David Conner style, he simply said "Well, that's enough!" Indeed it is.

Cheryl

Cheryl's report is great. Thank you for doing that. Of course, you all knew I'd have more to say.

I've never been a huge fan of performance trials. They're great fun to ride in but they don't really reflect our goals for our pack. They tend to focus on coyote chasing and they tend to be all about speed and endurance. The scores for Speed & Drive are important. The front-running hounds get the most points and the scores are worth more as the trial goes along. If the hound is running in front during the first hour of the first day, that's worth X points. During the next hour, that same performance would be worth more points. Every hour that the trial continues means the scores are worth increasing amounts.

That's a good system. We do want to reward endurance and we want the hounds to keep trying and working but . . . it puts Rockbridge at a big disadvantage because we only hunt two days a week. Our hounds aren't as fit to start with. And we don't regularly chase coyotes.

There are also scores for Hunting (getting out and finding the quarry) and for Trailing (following an older or colder line). At many performance trials, the Huntsman moves through known coverts at considerable speed and a coyote is immediately found and chased. That doesn't allow for much Hunting or Trailing, putting yet more emphasis on Speed & Drive. And it doesn't give the hounds time to settle and get together as a pack.

In Southern Pines, this was not the case. Hounds were allowed to hunt and settle down and it made all the difference in the world. They really got together and worked as a pack. The judges had opportunities to see them hunt a line. On the first day, I thought there was either a split or one group was running heel. They managed to hold up one group of hounds long enough to get them all together and, again, that made a HUGE difference.

The most remarkable thing is that we had an incredibly diverse group of hounds and they hunted better together than anyone could have anticipated. Stonewall Hounds have a predominantly American pack. Red Mountain Hounds have a pretty high-powered Penn-Marydel pack. They had recently competed at a performance trial at Belle Meade Hunt in Georgia, where one of their hounds placed third overall (and that's the big-time). Some of the other packs were also Penn-Marydels and our own hounds are Crossbreds.

In spite of that diversity, the hounds were very evenly matched. Usually at a performance trial, you could say that any hound in the top ten could win on any given day. In this group, I'd say probably half the pack was capable of winning. I think if a front-running hound had hit a hole and rolled and gotten up, he would never have gotten back to the front.

It's incredibly difficult to judge these competitions and it's even more difficult when the pack is so even. When the hounds are running well together, there's no way you can see all the numbers. And it's easy to see the number on a white or black hound but it's tough on some of these tricolors.

I have to admit that winning adds to the fun but we were all having a great time without that. We participated in one other performance trial in 2005. That year we happened to have a strong group of bitches. They all were in season and we didn't take our strongest team to the competition. This time, in spite of leaving a few capable bitches at home we took a pretty strong group of hounds.

And I may have to change my mind about whether performance trials are relevant. The staff knows what works for them in their territory, no matter what the scores say but this time the scores were in line with what we expected. Our staff knew that Clay was probably our best contender. I think Soccer was probably the victim of a bad hair day -- his number wasn't very clear and he probably didn't get a few scores he should have. I'm very pleased to say that all of our hounds performed VERY well. This was a completely alien environment for them and a completely strange situation and they really did well.

The area where our pack is weakest, overall, is probably in the Hunting category and the scores reflected that. So, in my mind, that's another small validation for the scoring system.

Needless to say, David Conner deserves all the credit. He's devoted a big part of his life to this pack of hounds and he deserves to have some opportunity to compete. He did a good bit of special preparatory work to get these hounds ready and it really paid off. Not to mention the day-to-day work of creating a pack of hounds from scratch.

A lot of people don't realize how unique our situation is. Having relatively little appropriate game means we can't just breed hard-hunting hounds. Our hounds have to be not only biddable, they have to be patient. They have to be persistent. To get those qualities and still keep enough drive in them to make them hunt well is a fine balance. And there's no doubt that some years we have a better pack, overall, than other years. This is one of the good years!

But how different would the results be if they'd had a couple of gray fox chases? Maybe next time . . .

CM

I know this report is late in coming, but now I have some photo links to share with you all. Six of us from Stonewall attended the Sedgefield Cup Performance Hound Trials, March 7&8 in Hoffman, NC.
Riders attending: Lili & Jubilee, Kate & Lacy, Judy & Anne, Susan & Cash, Cheryl & Uzi, Jenner & Mulligan.
Hounds: Jazz, Kaptain, Jeremiah, Solitaire, Amber, Allison

Some photos by Erin Esposito, the kitchen queen and a collection of various photos -- these were sent to Covertside.
Warning: The first link is on Facebook and may work strangely.

We had an absolute blast. The people were super, and the riding was wild and wooly. It seemed like the big sandy trails would make for really nice riding, with room to gallop. Who knew we would gallop forEVER. The hounds were all numbered and put together (42 in all, 6 or so from each of 7 participating hunts). Then the huntsman from Moore County (Jody Murtagh) hunted them all as one big pack.

The hounds ran coyote both days, which made for some hair-raising galloping through the 60,000 acre Sandhills Gamelands area. The sandy roads were great, although deep at times, but we had to cut through the Longleaf Pine Forests to be able to get to the hounds, and there were holes and staubs, which made it a little tricky! You had to watch carefully and give enough room to the horse in front of you. Anyway, we all survived, but I know my pony was TIRED with a capital T after 2 days of Hour-plus runs with barely any checks!

Jenner viewed the first day and Kate and I the second, so that was fun, and the hounds sounded great and never let up. It was amazing to watch how well they hunted as a whole pack, and the sound echoing through the Longleaf pines was incredible.

Judges were outriding like whips to get in a position to record their scores on the hounds, in different categories. We all heard our hounds voices at times within the pack, and got to see them working up front many times. They did great! I don’t have all the results, but Kaptain, Solitaire and Jeremiah got ribbons the first day, with Jeremiah winning the blue for first place overall for day one.

The second day Jazz and Jeremiah both won ribbons again, I believe Jazz was 3rd overall for the second day (Jazz is Jeremiah’s mother, and a couple of the hunts there knew her - Lili can explain the breeding - but she was affectionately referred to as the “old lady”.)

They had a little hound show too, and Solitaire won a red ribbon in the bitch class and Jeremiah was third in the doghound class.

So as you can imagine, we were all more than thrilled with the hounds’ performances both days, and the fact that our pack fit in and hunted like champs. It is noteworthy to mention that our friends at Rockbridge had the #1 hound over the two day totals, Rockbridge Clay, and their pack won the overall pack award. Congratulations to Rockbridge! We enjoyed seeing them and watching their hounds do so well, too!

We all had a really fun time. Next year… Full body clip for the Brown Beast, and some additional fitness work before the event!!

Hopefully more of you can attend next year, as it was really a weekend to remember. As Marcia Brody from New Market-Middletown Valley Hounds said, “Bring your fastest horse, fasten your seatbelts and hang on!!”

Take something to shade the hounds! A couple of cheap tarps would do.

Buy gas and fuel in Virginia, if possible. It's cheaper.

I think we stopped for gas off of Spero Road, between Greensboro and Asheboro. It was a mile off the road but plenty of parking and fast food and diesel in one stop.

Coming back, there isn't much between Greensboro and Roanoke. Try Collinsville (near Martinsville).

About the facility. The stalls are fairly small and quite narrow. Don't need too much bedding. There (usually) were combination feeders and a screw-eye for a water bucket. You will need bale twine to tie up a second water bucket. You will need double-end snaps for buckets and to fasten stall doors.

We took a good long hose, with turn-off connector. Great for filling buckets and hosing off horses. We took a wheelbarrow and that was very useful. There is a manure pile. It was helpful to have use of large paddocks but it was so sunny you didn't want to leave horses out for long.