CovertSIDE - Spring 2022 Magazine

SPRING 2022

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THE MFHA PERFORMANCE TRIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Hounds in the Pines

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WELLINGTON–THE HORSE OF A LIFETIME

By Kristine Castillo, PRESIDENT, SANTA YNEZ VALLEY HOUNDS Kristine Castillo interviews Paul McEnroe, MFH, Santa Ynez Valley Hounds, about his 22-year partnership with Wellington, his home-bred field hunter.

By Carrie Wirth At the MFHA Performance Trial Championships in Hoffman, North Carolina, the Sedgefield Hunt hosted an extravaganza of mounted hunting with hounds with a pack of the 53 best hounds in North America.

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BREAKING THE CYCLE OF LEISHMANIASIS INFECTION

By Anna Sochocky In collaboration with the University of Iowa, the MFHA funded a decadelong study about the effects of Leishmaniasis and its transmissibility in foxhounds. Researchers examined the role that diseases like tick-borne infections presented another avenue for controlling Leishmaniasis.

COVER PHOTO

Mark Jump Photography

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THE DELIBERATE HUNTSMAN BRENDA YOST

PUBLISHER

Masters of Foxhounds Association of North America

EDITOR

Carrie Wirth

DESIGN & PRODUCTION

EQ Media / Chrissy Croteau

CREATIVE DIRECTOR EQ Media

PRINTING

Advantage Direct - Arden, NC

ADVERTISING

Carrie Wirth carrie@EQmedia.agency

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Amy Brookshire, Whipper-In, Wicomico Hunt Kristine Castillo Emily Daily Sean Cully, MFH, Rose TreeBlue Mountain Hunt IV Hendrix Anna Sochocky Josh Walker Carrie Wirth

By Emily Daily

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THE QUIET CONFIDENCE OF TOT GOODWIN

Mark Jump Photo

By Josh Walker The champion of the MFHA Performance Trial Championships (with Indigo) cut his teeth whipping-in to a legend to launch his career in foxhunting, but an undeniable quiet confidence has shaped his own legacy.

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CALLAR BRINGS FOXHUNTING INTO VIEW

By IV Hendrix The Virginia photographer and former trainer was recently presented with MFHA’s Certificate of Appreciation. The former horse trainer dedicates her eye to mounted hunting with hounds.

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TOP HOUND Goodwin Indigo’20 MFHA Performance Trial Champion

Board of Directors

OFFICERS

Leslie Rhett Crosby, MFH PRESIDENT Penny Denegre, MFH FIRST VICE PRESIDENT Sean Cully, MFH SECOND VICE PRESIDENT William D. Haggard, IV, MFH TREASURER Ginny Perrin, MFH SECRETARY

MFHA HEADQUARTERS Billie-Jo Pearl DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS Andrew Barclay DIRECTOR OF HUNTING Danya Day OPERATIONS MANAGER PO Box 207, Middleburg, VA 20118

MFHA FOUNDATION

Leslie Rhett Crosby, MFH PRESIDENT PO Box 207, Middleburg, VA 20118

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HUNT STAFF BENEFIT AND DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION

Orrin Ingram, PO Box 207, Middleburg, VA 20118

DIRECTORS

CANADA - Andy Bite, MFH CAROLINAS - Cameron Sadler, MFH CENTRAL - Sally Crane Cox, MFH GREAT PLAINS - Jane Jeffries, DVM, MFH MARYLAND-DELAWARE - John McFadden, MFH MIDSOUTH - Lilla Mason, MFH NEW ENGLAND - Sue Levy, MFH NEW YORK-NEW JERSEY - David Feureisen, MFH NORTHERN VIRGINIA-WEST VIRGINIA - Anne McIntosh, MFH PACIFIC - Angela Murray, MFH PENNSYLVANIA - Betsy Harris, MFH ROCKY MOUNTAIN - Adren Nance, MFH SOUTHERN - Mason Hardaway Lampton, MFH VIRGINIA - Ginny Perrin, MFH WESTERN - Susan Denny Gentry, MFH

AT LARGE

Patrick Anthony Leahy, MFH Dr. John R. Van Nagell, MFH Edward Kelly, MFH Dr. G. Marvin Beeman, MFH

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Dear MFHA members, As we each know, our sport has great traditions.

Yet, with our amazing imagery, it is easy to overlook one of our greatest traditions – our inclusivity. With our hounds, our horses covering the land on which we are fortunate to enjoy, an adventure unfolds. This experience binds us – our individual variances are less significant than our collective commonality.

By the very nature of our sport’s focus on the development of the pack as one, we are predisposed to treasure the inclusion of each element which allows for the success of the whole.

Georgina Preston Photo

This strong link through canine, equine and countryside precedes our differences. This connection fosters our appreciation for similar clusters, such as various conservation groups, horse sports, field sports, and activities highlighting the hound/dog.

It is through this spirit that our upcoming Dog Daze event was conceived. As you may have seen through our social media, the MFHA Foundation is hosting Dog Daze on Saturday, May 28, an event that features the working dog. Like our hounds, these dogs are experts in their fields. It will be amazing to watch them work in an array of activities, from retrieving and sheepdogs to terrier races. We hope you will plan to join us, as with this step, we will be extending our understanding and appreciation to the broader canine pack.

As we move forward in our local, regional and national traditions, we will honor our history and preserve our future by re-focusing on our commonality!

Leslie Rhett Crosby, MFH, Mooreland Hunt President, Masters of Foxhounds Association of North America

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THE MFHA PERFORMANCE TRIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Hounds in the Pines

By Carrie Wirth

In a weekend extravaganza of camaraderie and hunting, with 53 hounds representing 22 hunts, 170 riders from 18 states and 38 hunts descended upon Hoffman, North Carolina’s J. Robert Gordon Field Trial Grounds for the Photo by EQ Media MFHA Performance MFHA President Leslie Rhett Crosby, MFH, Trial Championships.

Mooreland Hunt, and former MFHA President Some hounds, and guest huntsman Tony Leahy, MFH, Massbach Hounds and Fox River Valley Hunt. horses, riders and hilltoppers traveled as far as 3,000 miles to participate, hauling from Montana and Nevada, picking up fellow caravan members in Texas.

to get into the race and get going. The list is a very different kind of pack.”

The J. Robert Gordon Field Trial Grounds are part of the Sandhills Game Lands, around 60,000 acres of longleaf pine forest. This ecosystem spanned much of the Southeast 300 years ago and is a priceless conserved tract managed by the North Carolina Wildlife Commission. Most of the forest’s interior is rideable by horse, except for the drains, not quite swamps, that horses can’t safely pass through.

“How many have Hardaway blood in any hound in their kennel?” asked Wilson. “Thirty years ago, we had a big joint meet weekend with Mr. Hardaway at Belle Meade, and we had two wonderful days. We asked Mr. Hardaway, ‘What is the single best thing about foxhunting?’ And without hesitation, he said, ‘friendship.’ He said, ‘All the friends that I’ve made foxhunting, a lot of them are closer to me than family.’

Look around you. How many of these people would you even know if it weren’t for this great sport?”

“Don’t go in the green stuff,” cautioned Fred Berry, MFH, Sedgefield Hunt, about the drains at the judges’ meeting on Friday night. Berry organized the nine-event qualifying performance trial series and Sedgefield Hunt hosted the MFHA Performance Trial Championships.

The J. Robert Gordon Field Trial Grounds is equipped with stables, paddocks, kennels and a lodge. All the festivities were held under tents surrounding the lodge and vendors displayed merchandise for foxhunting enthusiasts nearby. Kicking off on Friday, March 25, attendees gathered at the kennels to number their hounds, followed by the judges’ meeting and a dinner party.

Steve Thomas, MFH, Fort Leavenworth Hunt, traveled 1,100 miles to serve as president of the MFHA Performance Trial Championship. The judges included Josh Bentley; Jeb Blount; Mitzi Cabeen; Joel Merle Smith; Charles Montgomery, MFH, Mells Fox Hounds; David Raley, ex-MFH, Green Creek Hounds and Grosvenor Merle-Smith. Lincoln Sadler, huntsman of the Moore County Hounds, served as Leahy’s guide to the country.

Epp Wilson, MFH, Belle Meade Hunt, dedicated the weekend to the memory of Ben Hardaway, MFH, Midland Foxhounds. Hardaway and his son-inlaw Mason Lampton, MFH, Midland Foxhounds, envisioned and hosted the first foxhound performance trial.

DAY ONE The hounds were loaded in Wilson’s trailer to become acquainted before they burst out for a three and a halfhour day of epic hunting. At the end of the hunt, the tracking collars showed that they had traveled 27 miles.

“Everybody has made a huge effort to get here,” said former MFHA President and guest huntsman Tony Leahy, MFH, Fox River Valley and Massbach Hounds, during the judges’ meeting. “It’s incumbent on us to team together to try and give every hound a chance

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Photo by EQ Media

positioned on the right side of the drain to get the scores.

Berry shared that he and the organizers had some angst about how the hounds would work together. They were worried about what the Western hounds might do in the forest terrain so vastly different from their wide-open home country.

Mark Jump Photo

“The hounds worked together,” Berry said. “That is one of the brilliant things about this, that these top echelon hounds from all these performance trials melded together and formed a cohesive, incredible pack. It was the all-star team.”

“They are like marathon runners,” said MFHA Director of Hunting Andrew Barclay. “They’ll be settled and good to go again tomorrow.”

Leahy and the staff did a beautiful job getting the hounds to work together. It helped that the hounds found a good line early on.

“They hunted much better than we expected them to hunt even before finding that first line,” Wilson said. He described the hounds that usually hunt this country as “the junior varsity team” compared to this elite group of performance trial-qualified hounds. “The Pittsburgh Steelers were hunting today,” he said.

Wilson explained that there is a lot of running in this country, but it is challenging for the judges because of the drains. “One minute you’re a hero, the next minute you are a zero,” he said. If the hounds cross at the wrong place, the judges may have to go a mile out of the way to cross. By then, the hounds could be several miles away. He described why it is crucial for the judges to position themselves around the perimeter where the hounds are hunting, so judges are

At dinner, the awards were presented. Goodwin Indigo’20 earned the top spot for Day One, with the Bull Run Hunt entry, Rose Tree-Blue Mountain Wicket’16, in second.

“You know, all that talk about Mr. Hardaway, I was trained by him from a kid. So, all of this goes back to him,” said Tot Goodwin, MFH, Goodwin Hounds, as he thanked the judges and accepted the ribbon for his hound.

DAY TWO The second day of hunting was drier and the scenting was not ideal. They hunted for another three and a half-hours.

“Judging was tougher just because the hounds were a little bit more scattered out today,” said MFHA Performance Trial Championships President Thomas.

“You’re lucky if you’re on the right side. Then you get some scores. If you’re on the wrong side, it’s pretty quiet.”

Leahy summed it up, “We had a brilliant day yesterday.

That was so much fun. I think today didn’t go as expected. We had a couple of disruptions and we got it back together. At the end of the day, this is a classy

(Left to right) Jeb Blount, Josh Bentley, Andrew Barclay, David Raley, Lincoln Saddler, Martyn Blackmore, Donald Philhower, Jay Thomas, Erin McKenney, Tot Goodwin, Tony Leahy, Andy Bozdan, Epp Wilson, Joseph Hardiman, Steve Thomas, Kami Bitting, Angela Murray, Mary Lu Lampton, Renee Mantle, Charles Montgomery, Fred Berry, Marti Morani, Dennis Foster. (on trailer bumper) Ken George, Eleanor Hartwell, (kneeling) Beth Opitz, Kalie Wallace-Smith, Ryan Johnsey, Theresa Miller, Andrew Daly, Mason Lampton, Melissa Rice. Photo by Mark Jump Photography

With that, Leahy presented his Huntsman’s Choice award with closing remarks. “The most important thing about performance trials is that it is a way for us to celebrate what is the key to it all, the hound,” he said. For his pick, he described Shawnee Dart’18.

“This isn’t a power hound. This isn’t a flash hound. This is a savvy, brainy hound,” Leahy said.

Photo by EQ Media

Again, MFHA Performance Trial Championship President Thomas had the honor of presenting the Day Two winners and final champions.

He wrapped up the weekend. “I just can’t imagine anything being any more successful. A huge turnout, great pack of hounds hunting together, great huntsman doing the work, bringing them together and the support from Fred and his team has just been amazing.”

bunch of hounds and my compliments to you all,” he said.

The group assembled back at the lodge and handlers prepared their elite hounds for a hound show. Dennis Foster, former MFHA Executive Director, ex-MFH, Mells Hunt, officiated. He explained that good working hounds have good conformation most of the time.

He placed a Bridlespur Portia’19, as the best of the group with Goodwin Indigo’20, the Day One MFHA Performance Trial Champion, as reserve champion.

Photo by EQ Media

Before the anticipated Day Two and final event award ceremony, Berry introduced MFHA President Leslie Rhett Crosby, MFH, Mooreland Hunt. “The journey that it took to get here all year through the different competitions – it’s amazing. It is such a feat. All of you made it happen and made us look good. I’m so delighted that we’re part of the same pack,” she said.

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Thomas presented the reserve champion to the Bull Run entry, Rose Tree–Blue Mountain Wicket’16. The top honors and the Champion of the MFHA Performance Trial Championships went to Goodwin Indigo’20. Bull Run Hunt was named the champion hunt.

In an exuberant celebration, Goodwin’s fans and friends carried him on their shoulders in a victory lap. “It’s just like winning the Super Bowl,” Goodwin said.

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More than 170 riders participated.

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WELLINGTON

TheHorse of a Lifetime

An interview with Paul McEnroe, MFH, Santa Ynez Valley Hounds

By Kristine Castillo, President, Santa Ynez Valley Hounds

Paul McEnroe: I bred Wellington in 1996 from

our own Holsteiner stallion, Limmerick I, and the mare Pepello. Limmerick I descends from Landgraf I by Ladykiller and Calypso II by Cor de la Bryère.

Pepello was a foxhunter who had also been used for show jumping and three-day eventing.

In an earlier conversation, McEnroe told me that they were visiting their daughter Maureen, a Fulbright scholar in Wellington, New Zealand. They found Pepello, a New Zealand-bred mare by a Warmblood stallion out of a Thoroughbred mare during that trip.

Thus, the name “Wellington.”

KC: Did you ever doubt your relationship with Wellington? What did that look like?

PM: I never had a doubt. In our 22 years, I’ve never

Erica Varga McEnroe Photo

come off him and Wellington has always been sound to hunt with the exception of once due to a stone bruise.

If he shies, he slows down, takes a cautious look and continues on.

We had a brisk hack up Red Hawk Canyon, the gateway to paradise at Rancho La Purisima (Paul and Tina McEnroe’s ranch and a fixture for the Santa Ynez Valley Hounds). Paul McEnroe, MFH, Santa Ynez Valley Hounds, led the way aboard Wellington, Tina close behind, my husband Rey and I following.

Wellington was on my mind and this amazing partnership of horse and human. Where was he from?

How long have they been foxhunting? I was curious.

That day, I discovered that Wellington and McEnroe have been leading the first field for 22 years. They won the Santa Ynez Valley Hounds Century Award in 2017, presented when the horse and the rider’s ages add up to 100 years. Now, they add up to 110 years.

I came back for an interview to learn more about Wellington and McEnroe’s life together.

Kristine Castillo: How did you acquire

Wellington?

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KC: How was the hunt then and now?

PM: I was breeding Dutch Warmbloods and

Holsteiners–really good bloodlines. We purchased Rancho La Purisima, home of the Santa Ynez Valley Hounds kennels, in 1994 from Brooks Firestone, then a Master with Steve Lyons. I became a Joint Master in 1997. The kennels remained at Rancho La Purisima for the next several years, at which point they were moved to Steve’s Kick-On Ranch.

I recall one of our performance trials at my favorite fixture, Sand Spring on the Chamberlin Ranch, which featured thousands of acres of unfenced, mostly open, rolling and steep pastures. The professional guest huntsman for the event was Andrew Barclay, now the director of hunting for the MFHA. He was well-mounted on a Thoroughbred provided by David Wendler, MFH of West Hills Hunt. Lynn Lloyd, Terry Paine, David and Steve were among the many Masters hunting that day.

I led first flight on Wellington, as usual.

Featuring the best hounds from each of the several competing packs, the hunt was marked by numerous long and fast runs. One run was so fast that I was losing my field, but I had to keep Andrew in sight lest I lose him completely.

I galloped hard down a steep hill and around the ridge into a canyon only to see Andrew pull up quickly and dismount. He told me his horse could run no more. I dismounted and gave him Wellington to continue on as

Tiffany Evitts Photo

he was both hunting and judging the hounds.

A few minutes later, the field arrived, and someone loaned me another horse. Andrew continued with Wellington until Wellington, too, ran out of gas. It was just one of many times that Wellington had demonstrated the ability to out-do a Thoroughbred on long hilly gallops.

Having said that, I should point out that his mother was half Thoroughbred and his father, while a fully registered Holsteiner, was 40% Thoroughbred himself, making Wellington 45% Thoroughbred.

In the late 1990s, I designed a four-mile point-to-point course at Rancho La Purisima, consisting of about 40 fences, which we used for race meets for many years.

My son Mark, an athlete, but one who only rides about once a year, came to visit during our hunter pace weekend. Just for fun, I put him on Wellington. They won the Point to Point.

Over the years, Wellington and I traveled extensively to foxhunt with the Grand Canyon, Los Altos, Red Rock, Santa Fe and West Hills hunt clubs.

Wellington and I still lead first flight occasionally, but lately, I more often lead second. As my companions are known to comment, Wellington can still crank it up the best of them, but for shorter distances, especially now that he has hit the quarter-century mark and I am 85.

KC: I can attest to the joy, smile on your face, and

thrill that one can partake riding in Paul McEnroe’s field! What is your secret to success and longevity?

PM: Wellington has good bloodlines. He has a variety of jobs in support of our ranch’s cow/calf operation, including gathering, sorting and branding cattle. He stands 16.3 hands but is a very good rope horse that

can effortlessly drag a huge calf to the fire.

In addition to weekly hunting and/or ranch rides, his exercise program consists of ponying from a vehicular mule for 40 minutes at an eight-mph trot pace up and down hills three times a week. This program is great for the heart, lungs, joints and tendons without adding the weight and stress of a rider. It was designed for me by my late friend and veterinarian Van Snow, DVM. He has never been sick. His hocks were first injected in his early 20s.

Well, I had a hip replacement but was in the saddle after twelve days, although it had to be redone 13 years later. I also had multiple back and knee surgeries, a new shoulder and stage IV cancer, which, thankfully, is now in remission, but I am short one lung. At this point, I walk with a cane but still feel comfortable in the saddle. It is difficult for me to mount and dismount. I can hardly walk after a three-hour hunt, but I hang on to Wellington’s bridle or halter and he leads me walking around the barns and trailers.

I ride him in a gentle Mylar Pelham bit. I’ve slowed down a lot, but I’m still a bold rider. I visually map the topography to choose the best path to lead the field while saving our horses from unnecessary ups and downs.

KC: How has Wellington shaped your life?

PM: I’ve been able to continue to foxhunt with

confidence. I gather cattle on Wellington comfortably.

Tina rode him on the ranch for thirteen years, too.

I’ve been able to travel and foxhunt with other hunt clubs. My granddaughter Coco learned and gained confidence over fences riding Wellington. He is a bold horse that has taken good care of me for 22 years of foxhunting. I never dreamed we would be hunting partners this long and the horn still calls.

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THE QUIET CONFIDENCE OF TOT GOODWIN

The champion of the MFHA Performance Trial Championship (with Indigo) cut his teeth whipping-in to a legend to launch his career in foxhunting, but an undeniable quiet confidence has shaped his own legacy.

By Josh Walker In his late teens, Jefferson “Tot” Goodwin watched a group of hounds race toward the highway. Not so far off, a tractor-trailer truck barreled up the asphalt.

On foot, he sprinted toward the road and diverted the hounds before the truck roared by. Those hounds belonged to a pack owned by the legendary Ben Hardaway.

Hardaway was arguably the most well-known American foxhunter in the world at that time, not to mention the most influential American breeder of foxhounds, so it’s hard for Goodwin to convey the significance of that moment. When speaking to him, it was obvious he’ll remember that moment as long as he lives. It’s subtle but totally evident. Those who know Goodwin understand how humble and understated he is. Never one to gush or sensationalize anything, it felt utterly earnest when he simply stated, emphatically and without hesitating, that that moment was the moment he knew foxhunting would consume his life forever. Now 79, and the only black Master of Foxhounds in the United States, he runs his own pack, Goodwin Hounds. He’s been putting in the work, nurturing his passion and sharing more than 30 seasons worth of experience with quiet confidence around the globe.

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Born in 1944, he grew up on a farm as one of 16 siblings. Goodwin remembers hunting beagles on foot with his grandfather every weekend when he was 8. Grandad was a horseman, Goodwin said, but it skipped a generation. His parents were not. Goodwin watched his grandfather train and break horses right there on their farm in Columbus, Georgia. Grandad didn’t live long enough to teach Goodwin to ride though, and his family only kept mules for plowing.

Goodwin didn’t know anything about foxhunting, really, not mounted anyway, but he did hunt deer, rabbit, and raccoon on foot to help put food on the table.

In his teens, one of his older brothers, Benny, introduced him to Hardaway, who was Master and Huntsman for Midland Fox Hounds in Columbus, Georgia.

Benny worked at the Hardaway Motor Company in Columbus. One conversation led to another until Hardaway himself invited Goodwin to hunt with him on foot. Goodwin knew the countryside well enough and he knew how to hunt, so he took the opportunity with hopes he might learn to ride like his Granddad.

“I had hunted small game all my life,” Goodwin said, “but the sight and sound of these hounds… I knew it was for me.” After he essentially whipped-in on foot for Hardaway and arguably saved some of his hounds from the business end of a tractor-trailer, Hardaway offered Goodwin a grooming job that would change the trajectory of his life forever.

When Goodwin was 19, Hardaway asked him if he wanted to ride. In his own understated way, Goodwin emphatically said, “yes.” Ann Ticehurst, who trained young horses for Hardaway, was never short on greenies that needed exercise and schooling or starting from scratch. Some of those horses knew how it worked better than others, Goodwin remembered, but it didn’t seem to matter one way or another when she handed him the reins. When there was a horse that needed a rider, he got to be that rider.

“I learned to ride by helping Ann break horses during the summer,” Goodwin recalled.

“I was the first one to get on them. I ate a lot of dirt and

have disliked Connemaras ever since, but they made me a great rider.”

As his aptitude grew and his skin thickened, Goodwin graduated to whipping-in on horseback instead of foot. He fell in love with the July hounds that Hardaway favored. “I like a hound with a lot of drive and that will respect you and work with you,” he said of the hard-driving breed Hardaway had described as short, sharp and decisive.

“Hardaway gave me the chance to learn the sport and he took me places to see the best huntsmen and learn even more,” Goodwin said. Stateside, he remembers trekking up to Gladstone, New Jersey, to hunt with Buster Chadwell’s pack at Essex Fox Hounds. “That was one of the best packs of hounds I ever went in the woods with,” Goodwin remembered. “I couldn’t get enough of the way they put their noses down, sang and stuck to the line.” Later, as he crossed the Atlantic horizon, his own horizons expanded.

In Ireland, Goodwin whipped-in to Elsie Morgan, Master and Huntsman of the West Waterford Hounds. “I loved to watch her handle her hounds,” he said. “She taught me a lot. She had so much control over the hounds, but she just let them hunt. They relied on her and she relied on them.”

Goodwin said he had been the first black man to ever hunt in Ireland at the time. “I was treated like a king over there,” he said. That wasn’t always true Stateside.

Folks who didn’t know him might have seen him in his overalls, cleaning out a trailer or stall at dawn, and then Mark Jump Photo

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Mark Jump Photo

dressed to the nines in his colors at the hunt breakfast.

Someone would ask with a surprised expression how one might ask a child if he’s going to drive a car, if he was hunting, too. When he was Huntsman and Master at Green Creek Hounds in North Carolina, Goodwin considered answering that if he didn’t go out, nobody else would be going out either. Instead, he simply said, “Yes, I go, too.”

“I learned early on to keep my head down and be polite,” he said.

crossed paths again. “For me, as a young guy in the sport,” said Leahy, “he was and is incredibly kind and generous with his time. He’d do anything he can to help you.”

Likewise, “I like the way he hunts his hounds,” Goodwin said of Leahy. “Having said that, I think he hunts like I do. I like the way we draw through the woods.

His hounds go on and on, and if you keep the field moving, you keep everyone happy.”

Over the years, Goodwin’s natural abilities in the hunt field caught the eye of countless others in the hunting community. “Tot had a huge influence on my learning to be a whipper-in,” said Dennis Foster, former

Forty-three years ago in Ireland, “He was the first African American I had ever seen,” said Tony Leahy, Joint Master of Massbach and Fox River Valley Hunt in Elizabeth, Illinois, and former president of the Masters of Foxhounds Association of North America (MFHA). He was 10 when Goodwin hunted near his hometown in rural Ireland. He’d known of him before via Hardaway, but he said regardless of his appearance or who he worked for, you don’t forget someone like Goodwin and how he whipped-in.

“He was understated but warm,” Leahy remembered.

“He let the hounds do the talking. There was no self-promotion. He’s the type of guy who believes you just do your work, and you do it well.”

When Leahy came to the United States for a show jumping competition in the late ‘80s, he and Goodwin

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Mark Jump Photo

executive director of the MFHA and author of multiple books about mounted hunting with hounds, including, Whipper-In, in which he examined much of Tot’s career and philosophies. “He was the epitome of a great whipper-in, which I didn’t realize until years later. When writing the book, I tried to come up with a perfect, succinct definition of a good whipper-in. It turned out to be what Tot did. ‘Be at the right place at the right time and know what to do when you get there.’ It’s that simple but not at all simple. No one’s been able to improve on that definition. Tot could ride hard, stay with hounds and do whatever was necessary to keep the day.”

“I remember having a brilliant day in his country,” Leahy remembered. “I brought fourteen and a half couple thinking he’d bring about the same. He brought fifty couple and said the more there are, the more fun it is. I think that’s the way he likes it. We had well over 100 hounds. We ended up having a really fast and good day and that was the biggest pack I’d ever been involved in at the time.”

“My only criticism,” Foster admitted, “would be when he occasionally hunted Ben’s pack. He would often lose the field because he was too bent on staying with hounds.”

But that’s the way Goodwin likes it. It’s how the hounds like it. Both Leahy and Foster describe Goodwin as a dog man through and through, an exceptional Master of Hounds. He talks to them, literally having mature conversations with each of his like they’re friends – family, even. “I think that’s how I get along with people so well,” he said.

away from the busy highways. But he also gives them what for when they’ve done wrong. “They know,” Goodwin said. “You don’t have to be mean to them, but they have got to know that you know when they’ve done wrong. It’s a fine line. You just have to spend a lot of time with them and talk to them. It’s almost twenty-four hours a day. But they’ll listen.”

When Goodwin parted ways with Hardaway and Midway, he eventually met with Dick and Peg Secor, who asked him to help start a pack in 1989 -- the pack would become Green Creek Hounds with territories in the foothills of North Carolina’s Appalachian Mountains. He served as Huntsman starting 1990 and was named Master in 1997.

“There’s a dog’s spirit in Tot,” Leahy added. “He lets the hounds be the stars by being quiet and patient with them and confident in his experience. He leads with that quiet, peaceful confidence. And isn’t it so that all dogs want to live in that kind of quiet confidence?”

“The territory in that part of North Carolina felt like home,” Goodwin said. But he continued traveling just as he’d always loved doing while working for Hardaway. He enjoyed visiting other hunts and hounds and working with other Masters. Above all, he liked helping others. “I’ve got so much experience,” he said.

“I’ve been watching and doing this for, what, fifty years now? I always liked when other people helped me out, and I like to do the same for others.”

Sure, Goodwin celebrates when all the members of a massive pack stay together, keep off the deer, and

Goodwin handed the reins of Green Creek Hounds over to Huntsman David Raley in 2018. He and his

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wife, Colleen, launched their own pack called Goodwin Hounds. “When you work for someone else you can only go so far,” he said. “I always thought I knew what I was doing -- this way, I will find out. I was thrilled with the support I received from other hunts, both emotionally and financially. So far, it’s working for me.”

They started with access to territories once hunted by Stonebroke Hounds in North Carolina, which disbanded in the late 90s. This past winter, Leahy met up with Goodwin for a meet in Aiken, South Carolina.

Mark Jump Photo

“We hunted our hounds in Aiken country for a big meet,” Leahy said. “There were 120 people out there.

There were twelve Huntsmen, all these Masters from all over the place, and photographers were taking pictures. Tot comes up to me and, in his own humble, understated way, gives me this funny little smile. It felt like an inside joke to me. It was like, in all that craziness, I was with him and he was with me. It’s hard to describe, but it just kind of sums him up. That’s the beauty of Tot. He has that patient way with the hounds and with people that’s quietly encouraging. I met him when I was 10 and he looks the same today as he did then. He’s ageless. When you put him on a horse today, it’s like Tot from 43 years ago.”

“I had hunted small game all my life,” but the sight and sound of these hounds… I knew it was for me.”

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CALLAR BRINGS FOXHUNTING INTO VIEW

The Virginia photographer was recently presented with MFHA’s Certificate of Appreciation.

By IV Hendrix “Juniors had to pass inspection every time we arrived at the meet,” Callar said. “When we arrived, there was always someone to check that our appointments were correct and that our ponies were fit and clipped.

You’re very lucky if you grow up learning that.”

While Callar’s father, a dentist, was an avid amateur photographer, she said she first picked up a camera out of necessity -- and she wasn’t eager for her dad’s help.

MFHA Director of Operations Billie-Jo Pearl and MFHA Director of Hunting Andrew Barclay presented Liz Callar with the MFHA Certificate of Appreciation. Photo courtesy of MFHA

Sporting photographer Liz Callar was raised in the hunting field “with people teaching me the right way from the beginning.”

So it’s no surprise that, after decades of following hounds both in the tack and later in her car or on foot with a camera slung around her neck, Callar finds her lens trained on details others might overlook.

“I like to look for things that other photographers might not see,” Callar said.

On Friday, March 31, MFHA Director of Operations Billie-Jo Pearl and MFHA Director of Hunting Andrew Barclay presented Callar with the MFHA Certificate of Appreciation for her generosity and dedication to mounted hunting with hounds.

“She has donated so many wonderful images to the MFHA.” Pearl said. “We want her to know how much we appreciate her talent and generosity.”

The Vienna, Virginia, native credits her artistic eye not to talent or experience, but to the well-rounded equestrian education she received growing up as a junior member of the Fairfax Hunt.

“I was a professional [horse trainer] at the time,” she said. “And in order to market horses and ponies, you need to have good photos. So, I took some photography courses and picked up a few tips from my father.”

Callar began to bring her camera along to horse shows and hunt meets, taking shots when time allowed.

But she didn’t set out with the intention of selling her photos, she said.

“People would ask, and I thought ‘Why not?’”

But as Callar’s life shifted to focus on a career in interior design, she kept her camera handy as a way to stay connected to fox hunting. Now, she says, rarely a week goes by during hunting season that she doesn’t grab her camera bag and set out from her Lovettsville, Virginia, farm to follow one of the area’s packs.

When asked, Callar scoured her memory to name a memorable shot in her oeuvre. After a moment, she

“I like to look for things that other photographers might not see.”

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LIZ CALLAR PHOTOS

Liz Callar Photo

settled on a photograph of late Bull Run huntsman Greg Schwartz fording a stream with his pack.

“But I’m happy with any shot of hounds at work or horse and rider in harmony,” she said. “And of course, you’re lucky when you get a good fox.”

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BREAKING THE CYCLE OF LEISHMANIASIS INFECTION

By Anna Sochocky

and the liver and may lead to kidney failure. Symptoms of infection include weight loss, lethargy, decreased appetite, watery or goopy eyes, crusty areas of the skin, a bloody nose or stool, and swollen glands. The infection can go undetected for months or years.

An outbreak of the Leishmaniasis parasite in a foxhound kennel threatens to decimate any pack. New research from the University of Iowa offers hope to foxhunts and their hounds across the country.

Thomas Langdon Photo

A New York foxhound kennel first reported multiple cases in 1999, soon followed by 33 states and two Canadian provinces documenting Leishmaniasis cases in their packs.

Dr. Christine Petersen and her dog Chloe.

In collaboration with the University of Iowa, the Masters of Foxhounds Association Foundation funded a decade-long study about the effects of Leishmaniasis and its transmissibility in foxhounds.

During the foundation’s November 2012 meeting, board members voted to fully support the entire research project by allocating monies to the Morris Animal Foundation to fund the work of Christine Petersen, DVM, Ph.D. and director of the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases and her team at the University of Iowa.

David Traxler Photo

Visceral Leishmaniasis, a chronic, wasting disease, is a blood-borne parasite that infects dogs by entering white blood cells. The virus multiplies in the spleen

Kansas veterinarian Jane Jeffries, MFH, Mission Valley Hunt Club, recounts the beginning of suspicious symptoms surfacing in her hunt’s kennel. “Two of the hounds had giant lymph nodes, lost their sense of smell and started to hunt poorly and were losing weight. My first thought was I’ve got two animals dying of lymphoma. I called some universities and started describing what I was seeing, and the name Leishmaniasis was mentioned.

“In the beginning, hounds in twos and threes were getting sick. We divided our kennel in half. The original hounds that we knew were sick were kept apart from new hounds we got from out west,” remembers Jefferies, “but in the end, we lost our entire original kennel to Leishmaniasis. The hounds we drafted from out West and kept separate never got ill. We have those bloodlines to this day. The hounds we housed separately, that came to us healthy, remained diseasefree.”

No curative therapy exists for the Leishmaniasis parasite infection and cost-prohibitive treatment options are discouraged. Euthanizing infected animals doesn’t assure the disease won’t spread either.

After the state of New York recorded positive cases, the Center for Disease Control directed hunts to

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coordinate testing. Testing methods evolved but included serologic, PCR, culture or histopathology methods.

to assess the efficacy of the Brazilian vaccine, LeishTec©, used to prevent visceral Leishmaniasis infection and illness in dogs.

Preventing the introduction of Leishmaniasis into a kennel and reducing the spread of the infection required daunting biosecurity measures. Maintaining adequate nutrition, keeping to vaccination schedules and sanitizing and cleaning kennels corresponded with kennel protocols until routine diagnostic testing proved necessary.

“We got a couple of years of funding to see if a vaccine that was licensed in Brazil could be used to help prevent the illness in the dogs. I worked with kennels, Huntsmen and Masters from across the country,” Petersen said.

Physically isolating seronegative hounds from hounds classified to be low-tier or high-tier infection and repeated blood and tissue specimen tests strained foxhound owners. They didn’t provide any answers about how the transmission spread in kennels, either.

Petersen says that her first scientific study of the Leishmania parasite in foxhounds began when an outbreak of the protozoan parasite was detected in a kennel of dogs from Millbrook, New York.

“I worked with a couple different Masters and Huntsmen and then got a donation of a pregnant bitch from a hunt in Missouri,” recounts Petersen, “and concluded that the primary avenue of transmission occurred from mother to offspring.”

Petersen and her team continued their work in 2016, working with the Morris Animal Foundation and the Masters of Foxhounds Association Foundation

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Commercially available in Brazil, the LeishTec© vaccine is frequently prescribed by veterinarians. The country’s researchers concluded that the first licensed vaccine against Leishmaniasis interrupted disease transmission.

The University of Iowa conducted the first domestic clinical trial of the Brazilian vaccine as part of the Masters of Foxhounds Association Foundation-funded Leishmaniasis study.

Researchers evaluated the efficacy of the LeishTec© vaccine to prevent leishmania infection and disease spread in foxhounds. The research also marked the first vaccine evaluation for disease prevention after natural leishmania parasite exposure in animals.

Assessing the safety and effects of the vaccine on four hundred hounds in eight states – Colorado, Georgia, Alabama, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri and Virginia – University of Iowa researchers concluded that the vaccine proved effective in preventing infection

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EQ Media Photo

parasite-free hounds. Already infected hounds benefited from the vaccine, too, by not only minimizing symptoms of Leishmaniasis but bolstering the immune system to kill the parasite.

The proximity of foxhounds and the prevalence of ticks in their environment contribute to the parasite’s transmission led researchers to the most recent study

by University of Iowa researchers.

“We found that indeed the vaccine would prevent the death of dogs, kept them healthy and decreased the overall amount of disease in animals,” Petersen confirms.

The study sought to identify clinical and immunologic changes in hounds with asymptomatic Leishmaniasis and tick-borne infections. Researchers also tested the effectiveness of tick prevention drugs to retard the progression of Leishmaniasis infection.

While the results of clinical testing of the LeishTec© vaccine were a success, the likelihood of getting the domestic drugmaker to manufacture it faces significant challenges, according to Jeffries.

“If I was Pfizer, I’m not going to make a thousand doses of a vaccine for Leishmaniasis when I could make millions of doses of distemper vaccine and make money.”

The safety of the Leishmaniasis vaccine also holds promise for treating people infected with the parasite. Approximately forty thousand people living in tropical and subtropical climates die from Leishmaniasis annually. The disease, commonly transmitted from sand flies, leads to kidney failure in 25% of its victims.

Sherri Holdridge Photo

In the study, 50 hounds, from three midwestern kennels, with asymptomatic Leishmania infection tested negative for the most common tick-borne conditions. Half of the hounds in the study pool received a newly developed but highly effective monthly tick prevention drug, sarolaner (brand name Simparica), while the remaining hounds received a placebo.

“The National Institutes of Health and specifically the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease study Leishmaniasis globally and I’ve been involved in teams working in Brazil and India and Ethiopia.

A company has to be willing to take it to market,” cautions Petersen.

Petersen and researchers thought that examining the role that opportunistic diseases like tick-borne infections presented another avenue for the control of Leishmaniasis.

Despite the hurdles and restrictions that the COVID pandemic presented, team researchers administered 48 site visits and collected necessary blood samples.

Researchers visited kennels every three months. The hounds were monitored for two years spanning two tick seasons in 2019 and 2020.

Photo courtesy of the University of Iowa

Because the virus infects a white blood cell called a T-helper cell, the ability of an animal’s immune system to work is compromised by other opportunistic diseases like tick-borne infections.

Study researchers compared the progression and severity of Leishmaniasis in hounds that contracted a co-infection of tick-borne bacteria. Hounds contracting a tick-borne infection demonstrated a more advanced progression and severity of the Leishmaniasis disease.

Hounds with a co-infection recorded more parasites in their blood, indicating a weakened immune response to parasite replication, too. The immune system also failed to produce anti-bodies necessary to counteract the reproduction of the Leishmania parasite.

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Administration of the tick prevention drug contributed to a lower Leishmaniasis clinical score in treated hounds. Conversely, hounds in the placebo group not only revealed a higher number of parasites in the blood, but three of four animals succumbed to the Leishmaniasis infection.

“We could slow the spread of Leishmaniasis because, like it or not, we’re probably never going to get great drugs for Leishmaniasis. There’s not a lot of market pressure to make good drugs against it. What we have found so far is that tick prevention does seem to make a difference in the onward spread of the disease,” according to Petersen.

Petersen welcomes the open discussion and willingness of the hunt community to address Leishmaniasis in foxhounds and employ scientifically proven methods like tick prevention to stem the transmission of the virus.

Adopting a zero-tolerance policy in long-established bloodlines presents complicated obstacles and requires extensive discussion. According to Petersen, eliminating a disease from a particular population eventually surpasses available tools.

“Any time you want to try to eliminate a disease out of a population at a certain point, it’s not about tools. It’s about the political will to take a zero-tolerance policy. I do see people holding on to bloodlines that have parasites. I think it’s because there hasn’t been

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a decision that we are going to breed this out of our dogs.”

Outbreaks of Leishmaniasis once threatened to decimate hunt clubs across the country, but as spring arrives, the sounds of horses galloping and healthy hounds baying in the fields usher in days of better health.

David Traxler Photo

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Shannon T. Burke Photo

“Hounds are like Q-tips running through the woods and much more likely to pick things up from their environment. There are ways to work with companies to get bulk pricing like one that’s offered to animal shelters for things like vaccines and treatments.”

THE DELIBERATE HUNTSMAN

How Mill Creek Hunt’s Brenda Yost carved a career for herself, through her love of hound and sport.

By Emily Daily

The job in question was grooming for Richard Buswell, the huntsman for Mill Creek Hunt at the time. A lifelong rider, Brenda had hoped for a career with animals after studying at the University of Wisconsin, River Falls in their Animal Science program with an equine emphasis.

her success to a few mentors. “As one of the first huntsmen I met, and the closest in vicinity, Tony Leahy has been very influential and supportive,” said Yost of the renowned Master and huntsman of the Massbach and Fox River Valley huntsman and former president of the MFHA. Additionally, Yost found inspiration through one of the MFHA’s most prominent programs for professionals – as well as its Director of Hunting, Andrew Barclay, who served at the program’s helm for over 14 years. “At a time when I was questioning my career,” she admitted, “Andrew and the Professional Development Program filled in gaps in my education and renewed enthusiasm.”

Photo courtesy of Keith Gray, MFH

When Brenda Yost visited her local tack shop in Spring Lake, Illinois, during the spring of 1990 and inquired about a grooming position that was advertised, she had no clue that the job would morph into a hunting career spanning over three decades. In fact, at that time she didn’t even know that foxhunting still existed, much less in the United States. “I thought it was an old English sport!” Yost recalled. “My grandfather always had a beagle, but I had never seen a pack of hounds.”

Since its inception, the program has graduated While she primarily took care (with the 2021-2022 class of the horses at the hunt club’s Brenda Yost leading the pack at Mill Creek Hounds. graduating this May) 77 stable, she was fortunate to students from 25 different states, representing 65 get the chance to hunt a few times that first year – an different hunts. “This course will not make someone experience that planted the seed that would become a good huntsman, or whip, but it will hopefully make her profession. The gig was originally slated for the them better at their job and as Brenda so aptly put six months of hunt season, but Buswell moved on it, fill in some of the gaps,” said Barclay. “Although to another job at the end of November and the next created to expand the knowledge of the professional, huntsman, Peter Howe, would not be available until we have included many honorary staff and are now May the following year, so she was asked to stay finding Masters that want to take the course to and care for the hounds. Prior to that, Yost had no broaden their knowledge. I feel very honored to have experience in the kennel, as her duties centered around been given the opportunity to work with Brenda and the horses. When Howe stepped in as huntsman, she so many others like her that work so hard to make remained with Mill Creek to manage the hunt stables. foxhunting so enjoyable for so many.”

“Peter saw my interest in the hounds and taught As she’s furthered her own education over the years, me the daily kennel routine, care and training of Yost worked hard to master the skills she observed in the hounds,” she explained. “He encouraged me her mentors – while still letting the beauty of the sport to become a whip and when he moved on, he shine through. suggested to the Masters that they offer me the huntsman position.” In 1995, Yost took over the pack “I’d describe Brenda as a deliberate huntsman; one as huntsman when Peter made his way to the Red who combs the country well, and who patiently allows Mountain Hounds, officially opening the door on her the hounds to work up a line,” remarked Keith Gray, new career.

MFH of Mill Creek Hounds. “She’s quiet, meaning that when out hunting, she’s all business, with little or no LEARNING FROM THE BEST chatter or small-talk.”

Over the years, Yost learned as she went and credits

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A PASSION FOR HOUNDS Like other huntsmen she admires, throughout her career Yost has been directly involved with her club’s breeding program, fine-tuning the traits deemed most suitable for their territory.

Around breeding time, Yost recommends crosses to Gray, as well as Roger and Chris Lane, who serve as MFH and whippers-in for the club, respectively. “She’ll suggest putting a bitch to a stud hound from a different pack if we need are in need of certain traits,” said Gray.

clinics and as a presenter at the MFHA Staff Seminar in Virginia,” said Gray. “She’s always been available to ride out with new/potential members to introduce them and their horses to hounds under relaxed conditions and is incredibly patient with field members who might be having a difficult time.”

Broadening her own horsemanship skills outside of hunting is important to Yost. While working for MCH, Yost continued to ride with trainers and built a boarding and training business. She’s also evented through Training Level, participated Photo courtesy of Brenda Yost in the USEA Instructors Certification Program, and recently achieved her USDF Bronze Medal.

“I feel dressage basics are important for all riders, and I often say that the tools necessary for a Beginner Novice horse trial make good foxhunters,” she explained. She often utilizes training techniques to give horses and riders more confidence and safer experiences in the hunt field.

Brenda, followed by her 16-year-old son, Theo, enjoying a day of sport with Mill Creek Hounds.

For Yost, biddability and drive are the qualities she strives for in a good hound. “Speed is the bottom of the list for me,” she explained. “The daily walks and hound exercise gets them biddable and comfortable in the pack. We have a short season, so I like to get them out as much as possible at the start.”

Yost’s love of her hounds and knowledge of their behavior is evident to everyone who watches her interact with the pack. “Brenda knows her hounds well…the ones who dwell, put hounds back on a line, babble a bit too much, and who are honest,” said Gray.

“She gives hounds a long time to prove themselves worthy and works very hard finding suitable homes for hounds that don’t fit the Mill Creek program.”

SHARING HER KNOWLEDGE Though Yost is passionate about the bloodlines and quality of the club’s pack, she’s just as enthusiastic with her promotion of the sport, always looking for ways to educate members and other members of the community. “I think it is very important to have members active in all aspects of the hunt,” she said.

“Having members involved keeps them interested in the club and their support in turn keeps me motivated.”

“Brenda has always been generous with her time in promoting Mill Creek and fox hunting in general: Parading hounds at the Midwest Horse Fair, a variety of hunter/jumper events in Northern Illinois, participating in multiple hound shows and performance trials, speaking to Pony Clubs, historical groups, hunt

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“Having a horse yield from the leg is handy for reverse field, stepping away from wire, moving away from trees, etc.,” Yost said. “I like them to have an understanding of a half-halt. I often tell students to sit tall and half halt when the terrain changes color as you are going from gravel to grass, grass to plow or even a wetter spot in a grassy field will be a darker green. A moment’s shift can help a horse rebalance and save a stumble.”

BUILDING A LEGACY Yost’s commitment to the hounds and the club haven’t gone unnoticed by those around her. “The fields under Brenda are more in-tuned to the hunt and are more observant and appreciative of hound work,” said Keith.

“I believe this is a result of Brenda’s love of fox hunting and desire to share the joy she feels with others.”

Though Yost’s nineteen-year-old daughter, Rachel, did not embrace the hunting lifestyle, she’s able to share her love of hunting with her son, Theo. “Theo is 16 and loves hunting,” Yost explained. “For the last few seasons, he has been learning to be a whip.”

More than thirty years have passed since that fateful day in the local tack shop, her life forever changed by a sport she didn’t even know existed at the time.

She took a chance on a new opportunity – and others along the way took a chance on her, recognizing her dedication and passion for hunting.

“I would not be here if not for the support of my family, masters and members over the years. I have been fortunate to find a career that I love and now I am thrilled to be sharing it with my son.”

COMPANION

By Amy Brookshire

Aged by years of hunting, the foxhound ambles toward me, and I kiss the cracked, moist nose she overtaxed years before, as she was chasing.

Hunts, we realized, to the action of her visibly not wanting to listen to anyone. Just now as I wait, cold, shaded by viny canopy, spring-picked

by October frost, with the crackle of twigs snapping, can I hear her voice. Long, beautiful, exigent. A tingle from nerves courses through my body. In the distant field carry cries and babble of hounds bounding across territory. The staff follow closer to the pack, eyes

AMY BROOKSHIRE is a whipper-in for Wicomico Hunt. She wrote this poem is about her Penn-Marydel hound, Stella. She retired from Wicomico Hunt because she was a little stubborn and wanted to do her own thing. She is both a challenge and a joy.

searching to see that crafted, quick-witted, vixens and Charlie. These characters are set up into the formation of brigades and I am steady under the canopy away exasperated from ignored command and an unceasing howl that rises as quarry dash from the covert. She had no compunction.

But she gives me a feeling of delights electrified and honoring, which I remember now and again, so that I may refine, as she did, how passionately to endeavor. With time, with time. This hound standing before me keeps me gratified. She had come

Jonathan Loyche Photo

to greet me by the thickened canopies, and I know now, wearying and unclean, forever I will follow her.

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JOIN IN AND LEARN at the MFHA BIENNIAL SEMINAR

By Sean Cully, MFH, Rose Tree-Blue Mountain Hunt

The weekend kicks off on Friday evening with registration from 3-6 p.m., followed by an informal cocktail hour from 6-7 p.m. in the hotel lobby.

Saturday’s schedule includes four educational seminars with two seminars taking place simultaneously in the morning and two in the afternoon. The subjects discussed in the morning are “The Making Photo courtesy of MFHA of a Field Hunter” and “The Masters’ Roundtable.” Please note that “The Masters’ Roundtable” is open to Masters and exMasters only. During the afternoon, the education will continue with “Riding Safely Following Hounds, The Field Master” and “Hounds, Hunting and The WhipperIn (Honorary and Professional).” These seminars each have an outstanding panel of speakers to discuss their knowledge, as well as answer your questions.

The “Masters’ Roundtable” is a very important seminar that should be attended by any Master attending the event. It is crucial for all Masters to have an open mind and be willing to learn from others to expand and improve upon what they currently provide their hunt.

The sport of mounted foxhunting is in a vulnerable and precarious position during these fast-changing times.

It will not only take action from the MFHA, but each and every hunt in North America for this great sport to continue and flourish for years to come. This panel will be led by our current MFHA President, Leslie Crosby and other Masters including past MFHA President Marty Wood. They will share their experiences as Masters and offer advice and insight on several topics such as, opening new territory, keeping your hunt current, growing your hunt, expectations from members – just to name a few.

“Hounds, Hunting and the Whipper-In” is for the houndsman and fox hunter that rides to hunt! This discussion will be led by MFHA Director of Hunting,

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Andrew Barclay. Andrew had promised to tell some of the most memorable stories from his days as Huntsman of Green Spring Valley Hounds. In addition, we will have four professional Huntsman on the panel to discuss their experiences on the job and in the hunt field. This is a great opportunity for any honorary or professional staff to listen and learn from the likes of a husband-and-wife team and some of the top Huntsman in the sport.

We have two horse-related subjects to discuss as well.

During the morning session, “The Making of a Field Hunter” will be discussed. This will be led by MFHA Vice President, Penny Denegre. Topics such as Day of Hunt Preparation, Matching Horse and Rider, as well as bringing off-the-track Thoroughbreds to the hunt field.

The afternoon session will cover “Riding to Hounds and the Field Master.” This discussion will be led by former MFHA President, Daphne Wood and involves subjects like ensuring safety in the hunt field, proper etiquette in the hunt field, what makes a good hunt horse and how do you physically and mentally prepare your horse for hunting? This is an excellent opportunity for folks new to mounted hunting with hounds or hoping to become a Field Master or improve upon their skills as a Field Master to listen and learn from some experts in the horse world and hunt field.

In addition to the four seminars offered, during the luncheon, a short talk will be given by a panel of past, present and future MFHA Presidents to provide an overview of what has resulted from the strategic plan that was initiated in 2020 to grow the MFHA and the sport of fox hunting. The panel will also discuss issues and challenges faced by the sport and give insight into possible solutions.

We have worked hard to provide a well-rounded, educational and fun weekend for the participants.

Remember that these seminars are open to current MFHA members only. We hope that you will find the topics interesting and make your reservations soon!

Please see the full schedule of events as well as booking information below. You may also find information on the MFHA website at mfha.com.

Photo courtesy of MFHA

After a four-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, the MFHA Biennial Seminar is back – June 17-19 in Nashville, Tennessee! This is sure to be a fun-filled weekend packed full of educational seminars, a tour of the lovely Hillsboro Kennels, not to mention all the wonderful music, restaurants and nightlife the “Music City” has to offer.

Venue: Embassy Suites by Hilton Nashville South Cool Springs

820 Crescent Centre Drive Franklin, Tennessee 37067 • Tel: 1-800-EMBASSY

MFHA Rate: $159 per night Booking Link on the MFHA Website

FRIDAY, JUNE 17

3:30-7:30 p.m. - Registration - Lobby 6- 9 p.m. - Informal Gathering - Lobby *Dinner is self-hosted

SATURDAY, JUNE 18

7 a.m. - Breakfast Buffet - Lobby 8 a.m. - Registration - Lobby

MORNING SESSIONS:

9 – 11 a.m.

The Making of a Field Hunter Masters Round Table - Masters Education (Masters Only) 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. Lunch Break - Seminar Break Out Room

AFTERNOON SESSIONS:

1-3 p.m.

Riding Safely Following Hounds/The Field Master Hounds, Hunting, Huntsmen and Whippers-In: Professional and Honorary 3-5 p.m. - Cocktail Reception - Foyer

SATURDAY EVENING

Free to enjoy what Nashville has to offer!

SUNDAY, JUNE 19

7 a.m. - Breakfast Buffet - Lobby 9 a.m. - Depart hotel via bus service or own vehicle 10 a.m. - Hillsboro Hounds Kennel Tour 12:15 p.m. - Bus departs kennels back to the hotel

TICKET PRICES:

$300 Seminar Package $500 Sponsor Package *You must be an MFHA member to attend!

Become a member today at mfha.com

THE MAKING OF A FIELD HUNTER PANELISTS:

Penny Dengre (MFHA Vice President, MFH, Middleburg Hunt) – Moderator Tony Leahy (Former MFHA President, MFH and Huntsman, Fox River Valley and Massbach Hounds) Michele Nagle (Professional Whipper-In, Piedmont Fox Hounds) Laura Sloan (Professional Horse Trainer)

MASTER ROUND TABLE PANELISTS:

Leslie Rhett Crosby (MFHA President, MFH, Mooreland Hunt) - Moderator Melody Fleckstein (MFH, Woodbrook Hunt Club) Brian Kiely (MFH and Huntsman, Potomac Hunt) Marty Wood (Former MFHA President, MFH, Live Oak Hounds)

RIDING SAFELY TO HOUNDS THE FIELD MASTER PANELISTS:

Daphne Wood (Former MFHA President, MFH, Live Oak Hounds) – Moderator K.T. Atkins (MFH, Warrenton Hunt) Joe Davies (MFH, Elkridge-Harford Hunt) Susan Gentry (MFH and Huntsman, Cloudline Hounds)

HOUNDS, HUNTING AND THE WHIPPER-IN (PROFESSIONAL AND HONORARY) PANELISTS:

Andrew Barclay (MFHA Director of Hunting, Former Huntsman of Green Spring Valley Hounds) Ken George (Professional Huntsman, Midland Hounds) John and Leilani Gray (Professional Huntsmen, Hillsboro Hounds) Ryan Johnsey (MFH, Huntsman Tennessee Valley Hunt)

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“Indigo is really a great hound and he really tries hard.

He is right with it all day, every day.

That’s what makes him so good.”

- Tot Goodwin, MFH, Goodwin Hounds

Goodwin Indigo’20 is the MFHA Performance Trial Champion.

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Mark Jump Photo

Ups A Daisy Cottage Available for short term rental in the famed Piedmont Region of Virginia Hunt Country, a charming 2BR 1BA cottage on a quiet lane in the quaint village of Upperville, VA. • 1-minute walk to Hunters Head English Pub & the Market at Blue Water Kitchen • 2-minute drive to Upperville Colt & Horse Show, the oldest horse show in America • Convenient to wineries, fine restaurants, foxhunting, polo, steeplechase, Great Meadow, Sky Meadow, Middleburg (Salamander, Goodstone Inn, Red Fox Inn, Middleburg Film Festival, MFHA) • Enchanting outdoor porch with stone fireplace overlooking beautifully landscaped yard with stream • 30 miles to Dulles Airport

UpsADaisyCottage.com Mary Crane 617.413.2879