IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • JUNE/JULY 2013
2
SPORTING LIFE HIGHLIGHTS Museum of Hounds & Hunting NA Opens the New Season The Museum of Hounds & Hunting NA opened its season with a reception for 200 members and guests Saturday evening, May 26, 2013 at Morven Park in Leesburg, Virginia. The Virginia Foxhound Show took place on the grounds the following day. Visitors viewed new exhibits featuring art and artifacts of the Warrenton Hunt established in 1887 and celeMHHNA Members Reception. Lauren R. Giannini photos brating its 125th anniversary. Warrenton’s three current Masters of Fox Hounds, Kim Nash, Celeste Vella, and Rick Laimbeer, graciously sponsored the Member’s Reception. The exhibit will run until next year, with some of the Warrenton artifacts retiring on June 15, 2013. On display are original Wesley Dennis drawings of comical hunting scenes created for the Warrenton Hunt map and portraits of Masters Julian Chilton Keith by Murray Black, Bambe Wilson by Joseph Abbrescia, Russell M. Arundel by Michael Lynes, and Viola Winmill, driving her six-in-hand, by E. Tuckerman Biays. Nineteen watercolors of Warrenton Hounds and one Jack Russell by Michael Lynes are also displayed. A 1908 painting of Mr. Maddux, first Master of the Warrenton Hunt, by Richard Newton, Jr., is the centerpiece of the exhibit. Virginia Gold Cup memorabilia from the 1920s includes a 1922 Steward’s Badge, course maps and programs for the 1930 and 1931 race meets. A 1929 menu proposal for guests of the Gold Cup was of great interest. Eclipse award winner Douglas Lees’ black and Norman Fine and Doc Addis. white photographs from the 1960s until 2010 highlight members, huntsmen, and hounds in the field. Two enlarged photos of Mrs. Robert C. Winmill, one of the first ladies of American foxhunting, caught everyone’s attention: Mrs. Winmill in a photo finish racing sidesaddle and Mrs. Winmill, riding sidesaddle, with three riders, one being Eugene C. Cunningham, in front of a seemingly two story high hay stack. Other black and white photographs by sporting photographers Marshall Hawkins, Doug Hayes and Robert M. “Pooch” McClanahan enhance the exhibit. The hunting horns of former huntsmen and masters of the Warrenton Hunt, including those of Sally Tufts, Baldwin Day Spilman, W. Henry Pool, Russell M. Arundel and Jim Atkins, were of special interest to the many huntsmen touring the exhibit. In the Huntsmen’s Room, guests watched a Warrenton Hunt DVD showing vintage hunting footage in the 1920s by Pathe News. The second half of the DVD shows the Warrenton Hunt today with interviews of the Masters, Sherman P. Haight and Harry Wilmerding. huntsmen, and whippers-in explaining mounted hunting with hounds. Well-known foxhunter Francis Green’s hunting diary excerpts printed in the local Fauquier Times-Democrat were recreated for easy reading in the Huntsman’s
ON THE COVER: Connor Poe, 13, a junior member of Old Dominion Hounds, won the Junior Handlers competition, 11-16 age group, at the Virginia Hound Show. He was partnered with ODH “Dartmoor.” Janet Hitchen photo
PHOTOGRAPHERS: www.bellavitaequestrian.com Sammy Buczkowski Wendy Butler Liz Callar www.lizcallar.com Jake Carle Jennifer Carpenter Susan M. Carter Richard Clay www.richardclayphotography.com Elizabeth Douglas Lauren R. Giannini Janet Hitchen 540-837-9846 www.janethitchenphotography.com Douglas Lees douglaslees@comcast.com Jim Mccue/Maryland Jockey Club Jim Meads, U.K. 011-44-1686-420436 NYRA Betsy Burke Parker Sue Rowdon Jennifer Staiano, FLSportHorse Photography Maximillian Tufts Martha Wolfe
Room, as was the 1932 Washington Post pictorial spread of Julian C. Keith’s eightieth birthday celebration where he donned his scarlet coat to celebrate the day. Other interesting memorabilia include Warrenton’s very own Hunt Song by W. B. Streett, point-to-point programs, trophies, and diaries. The Museum of Hounds and Hunting NA, located in the Mansion at Morven Park, is open most days of the week, 11 to 4. It is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays and some holidays. Visit www.mhhna.org or www.facebook.com/museumofhoundsandhuntingnorthamerica. ••••
Virginia Region Pony Club Competes at Rolex Members of Casanova-Warrenton Pony Club (CWPC) recently competed in the annual United States Pony Club (USPC) Prince Philip Cup mounted games competition held during Rolex International CC1**** at Lexington, Kentucky, April 2528, 2013. Mounted games is an equestrian discipline of exciting relays and obstacles courses on horseback. The CWPC Team (We Got Game!) included Virginians Ronald Borta (D3) of Warrenton, Virginia Carpenter (C1) of Purcellville, Margaret Groux (C1) of Broad Run, Grace Hecker (D3) of Alexandria, and Robin Peterson (C1) of Middleburg. (The letters, followed by a number signify each rider’s rating in the Pony Club system, a progres- Virginia Region Pony Club team We Got Game! poses at sive ranking of D-A earned Rolex Stadium: (l-r) Margaret Groux, Grace through both mounted and horse Hecker, Robin Peterson, Virginia Carpenter, and Ronald Borta. Jennifer Carpenter photo management training.) Teams from other USPC regions included the North Central Prairie Region team Cyclones, the Midsouth Region team Tootsie Pops, and the Capital Region team Hyperactive. The Virginia Region Pony Club team placed 4th, one point behind the Cyclones. All the United States Pony Club participants are winners to have been invited to ROLEX 3 Day Event as exhibitors and to serve as the face of USPC at this prestigious competition. Prince Philip inaugurated the Cup challenge in 1957 in England. The Prince Philip Cup was brought to the United States in 1985 to promote the advancement of mounted games. Over the last 25 years, the Cup challenge has annually brought the four best United States Pony Club junior teams in the USA to vie for the honor of having their names inscribed on the silver cup. The purpose of The Prince Philip Cup competition is to provide positive exposure for Pony Club to international competitors (many of whom are current or graduate Pony Club members) and spectators at major events such as Rolex. Competing at these highly visible venues serves to introduce and strengthen the image of Pony Club to the equestrian world. You do not have to own a horse to be a member of Casanova-Warrenton Pony Club. Youth and their families are encouraged to join Pony Club to learn about the care, costs, and responsibilities before taking the plunge into horse ownership. Pony Club membership opens a huge network of trusted families, professionals, experienced horse owners, and USPC members and alumni all who share the enthusiasm for “life skills through horsemanship” USPC offers. Opportunities for instruction, to ride, to compete, equipment, and ponies for loan, lease, or sale all become available through the local club and beyond. More info. at: www.sites.google.com/site/casanovawarrentonponyclub/home.
Regular subscription 6 issues $25.00, U.S.A. First Class subscription $35.00, Europe, Canada, etc. $45.00
is a bimonthly publication. Editorial and Advertising Address: 60 Alexandria Pike, Warrenton, VA 20186 For information and advertising rates, please call (540) 347-3141, fax (540) 347-7141 Space Deadline for the August/September issue is July 15. Payment in full due with copy. Publisher: Marion Maggiolo Managing Editor: J. Harris Anderson Advertising: Mary Cox (540) 636-7688 Email: hcmaryads@embarqmail.com Contributors: Aga, Jake Carle, Marylu Gallagher, Lauren R. Giannini, Jim Meads, Will O’Keefe, Margrete Stevens, Virginia Thoroughbred Association, Martha Wolfe, Daphne Wood, Jenny Young LAYOUT & DESIGN: Kate Houchin Copyright 2013 In & Around Horse Country®. All Rights Reserved. Volume XXV, No.4 POSTMASTER: CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED