A short report on the clinic was posted at the Broadview Ranch website. I've added links to the various Pony Clubs.

Members from five pony clubs in the Old Dominion Region gathered August 22nd & 23rd for a fun weekend of camping, riding and foxhunting with the Rockbridge Hunt.

Highlands Pony Club, Radford, Virginia hosted the clinic. They were joined by members of Sinking Creek, Foxtails, Roanoke Valley and Holston.

On Saturday afternoon the Pony Clubbers took a trip to the kennels where huntsman, David Conner and Master of Foxhounds, Cindy Morton introduced the hounds. Everyone got to meet the hounds as Mr. Conner fed the hounds and introduced each one by name.

Highlands Pony Clubbers decided to sponsor a hound for the year. After much discussion 'Farmer' was chosen as the Highland's hound.

Following a wonderful meal back at Broadview Cindy Morton and Carol Atwood answered questions and concerns about hunting, hunting horses, foxes and hounds. It was decided that an evening ride was in order, so all pony clubbers saddled up at dusk and rode well into the night. S'mores and delicious desserts topped off the evening.

All riders were mounted and warming up as the hounds and staff arrived early Sunday morning. Hunting started at a foggy 8 am in hopes of beating the heat for the day.

Three pony clubbers were invited to ride with staff for the day and the rest followed Field Masters, Diane Long and Joe Conner.

Without giving the whole story away, the next time you see one of these lucky Pony Clubbers you might ask them what it's like to ride on a chase. There were lots of tired but happy smiles when they finally returned to camp over three and half hours later.

And a longer report from Rockbridge Hunt MFH, Cindy Morton.

Several months ago, Broadview Ranch donated a weekend at their facility for a Pony Club silent auction. Highlands Pony Club bought the weekend and asked Rockbridge Hunt to help them with a foxhunting clinic. What a fun, fun, super weekend! There were members from Highlands PC as well as some guests from other Pony Clubs.

Unfortunately, Saturday started out rainy. It did clear up but parts of the schedule had to be adjusted. After the kids got their horses and ponies settled at Broadview, we all met at the kennels. David Conner gave them a kennel tour, got the hounds out and the kids had all the usual questions.

Highlands Pony Club had decided to sponsor a hound so there was quite a bit of discussion involved in picking one out. They eventually chose Farmer which is SO appropriate for so many reasons. Farmer is named after Frank Farmer. No one would be happier than Frank at the thought of kids getting started with horses and hunting. Also, Farmer was drafted from Rappahannock Hunt. That would provide a nice introduction for the kids to another hunt club.

After the kennel tour, Carol Atwood and I joined the group for dinner. The support group at this event (parents and volunteers) were incredible. Great attitude. Beautifully prepared. Just outstanding people doing outstanding things.

The kids had previously submitted questions so Carol and I used those to guide our talk while the kids ate. And it's always interesting to get those questions! Most of the kids rode after the meal, since it had been raining earlier in the day. I headed home to get ready for an early start on Sunday morning.

We planned to hunt from Broadview at 8 am. This is a wonderful venue for an introduction to hunting. Because of the open fields, people can see hounds work at least part of the time. And it's really valuable to have someone like Carol Atwood to drive people around. For children to foxhunt, there have to be some very involved parents. They need to understand what's going on. And there are very few jumps and gates at Broadview. Fewer obstacles make it easier to keep the group together.

As usual, the staff arrived early. And we were treated to another meal! Hot coffee! Real food! Very cool. Everyone was ready at the appointed time and we started with a little photo opportunity, then hunting! David Conner, our professional Huntsman, hunted the hounds, as usual. Katharine Conner whipped-in and was joined by Leah. (Leah may be able to come and hunt with long-time Rockbridge Hunt member, Bernard Hylton.) I whipped-in and had Julia and Paige riding with me.

Diane Long led the field and did a truly wonderful job of it. She kept the kids where they could see things AND she explained what was happening as they went along. Yes, it was a lot more talking than a usual huntfield but it was a stellar introduction. Foxhunters tend to turn people loose on the sink-or-swim plan and this was a much better solution.

Joe Conner rode as well and it was very helpful to have him there. He could leave the field to check on things and he had a radio. (I should have thought of that for Diane.) If there had been a problem and we had to split the field, I'm not sure what we'd have done without him.

We started out hacking down the dirt road, past the gate to The Bellfry. That gave the kids and the horses a chance to shake things out. At the next gate, we turned in through the autumn olives and across a stream. It's not a big stream but it's not the best crossing either. A couple of kids had different problems and went in but this was a good place for that. They were close enough to walk back. The truck with plenty of help was there. No drama. Just a reality check and sensible decisions.

As hounds actually started hunting, we had one young hound open. We couldn't see which one it was and none of the older hounds honored it. It persisted for a bit but then stopped. This was the first opportunity I'd had to talk to the kids and it certainly gave me something to explain.

After that, hunting was pretty slow for awhile and I started getting questions about how many blank days we had. For this kind of program, slow is good. A few horses in the field were impatient but running probably wouldn't have helped them either. David drew the covert behind the Bellfry. Then went to the White Gate, through the clear-cuts and back up the Dead Horse Trail. We hacked down the old road to Alan's Cabin. David hunted the hounds down Lick Run to the Rake and then up the logging road, through the old Peach Orchard. Hounds spoke occasionally through all of this. At one point, near Jump Hollow, they almost got started but not quite.

As David and the hounds started up toward the Big Woods, Katharine and Leah were going back along Lick Run. I had Julia and Paige with me, going up the Barn Hollow. Hounds spoke. Then it started to sound better. At that point, it suddenly got very quiet. I knew hounds had either quit or had gone around the end of the ridge, away from us. David called on the radio and told me I should probably get up the hill onto the ridge. So, we hurried along and got up the ridge and along back to the White Gate. At this point I'd been hustling the kids but nothing really fast and we slowed down at prudent spots. So far, so good.

At the White Gate, we stopped to listen. A couple of hounds were below us but it was clear they were behind and so were we. Katharine reported on the radio that hounds had crossed the road to the Cabin. That meant hounds were headed for the Mountain, probably fast, and we had a lot of ground to make up. I explained that and we took off. (Perhaps there wasn't a whole lot of explanation there.)

The first part of the trail was lovely so the footing wasn't an issue but there were quite a few twists and turns. We'd been on this trail earlier so I hoped the horses would remember it a little. I'm sure the kids didn't. We whipped around one turn and ran smack into the Field. OOPS! And, of course, the horse at the back of the Field was one having a few problems due to excitement. We didn't help that situation. Fortunately, this was an adult rider. These things happen in the huntfield but it's a terrible feeling. Standing there wasn't going to help. Getting away from her seemed like the best decision, so I did.

The best news is that Paige and her horse shot by the side and avoided making the situation any worse. Her horse must have approached the turn (galloping downhill) differently than mine to make that turn but she didn't seem bothered by it. She did take the opportunity to tell me Julia wasn't with us. That didn't worry me too much. She'd seemed pretty competent and I thought I'd seen her not long ago. Also, there weren't any turns off this path. She'd have to run into the field, as we had. So, we pushed on. I'm sure we gave Diane another event to explain to the field.

After we left the field, the trail was muddy and rocky and uphill so we slowed down a bit. I started hearing the horn so we pressed on. We caught up to David and reported what we'd heard in the way of hounds. He already had several hounds with him and a few more came in.

Katharine had tried to stop hounds at the base of the mountain, with mixed success. We hustled on over there to see about picking up more hounds. We all met up at the bottom of the Fat Lady's Trail. Katharine reported that Tabby 2003 (unsponsored) had led the pack across the Cabin road, with Farmer 2008 close behind!!! Great news for the Highlands Pony Club!!! That's a great place for a young hound to be. Tabby is a super hound but getting older. For Farmer to be with her is great experience for him.

At this point David was collecting more hounds, gradually, from all around us. Farmer and all of the young hounds came in. As we started hacking for home, seven were still missing. Along the way, Tabby joined us. And a few more came in. By the time we had to leave, three were still out. But they were older hounds who wouldn't get in trouble. One showed up at Broadview later. The other two made their way back to the kennels.

Our hounds really aren't fit at this time of year. Several of the older hounds are a bit overweight. It was plenty warm by the time they struck. That combined with how far they ran probably helped us get them stopped. Judging from where they started and how they ran, they were probably chasing a bear.

So. An interesting day. The slow start let everyone calm down, see the hounds hunting, and hear the hounds open occasionally. I hope most of the riders could hear the difference when the pack got together. The two girls with me didn't get to see a lot of houndwork but I think they enjoyed the chase. I had a chance to ask Paige if she'd ever gone that fast before. She had galloped some but not for that long. I told her people either loved it or never wanted to do it again. She loved it.

This was a brilliant weekend. Yes, there are things I would do differently next time but I wouldn't make major changes. And I do believe we'll have the opportunity to do it again.