OVER THE MOON
‘Tally-ho’ and Away We Go Hunting astride a horse from Middleburg to ancient Greece
Jordon Hicks, huntsman for the Piedmont Fox Hounds, at “Old Welbourne” near Upperville. (Middleburg Photo)
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n his autobiography, “Reflections in a Silver Spoon,” the late Paul Mellon told a story about the day his wife Bunny was sitting in her car watching the hunt and a man came by and asked what was going on. “A fox hunt,” she replied. “The hounds are looking for a fox.” “Oh,” the man said, “I thought that only happened on lampshades.” Well, it may happen on lampshades in the city and suburbs but to Elizabeth “Troye” Plaskett, it’s pure delight: “clip, clop, clip, clop, the hunt is next door.” Plaskett, a tenth generation Virginian, is related to Col. Richard Henry Dulany, who is acknowledged as the founder of the Piedmont Hunt in 1840 (now known as the Piedmont Fox Hounds). She shares the joy for these wide-open spaces to ride horses, plant flowers and corn and then sit back and sip Virginia wine. The sport of fox hunting first began in this area with Dulany. It oozes tradition and is
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laced with risk, exhilaration and gratification — not so much for confronting the prey but for staying on the horse. The terminology includes the phrase “Tally-ho.” And, for the uninitiated, this means a fox has been viewed. There are at least six fox-chasing organizations in Hunt Country. On any given day of the week, one can tack up their horse, load him (or her) on the trailer and arrive at the point of departure known as “the meet.” The names of these destinations seem right out of a British historical novel: “Edgecliff,” “Rock Hedge,” “Clifton Back Gate” and “Old Welbourne.” “Old Welbourne” belonged to generations of descendants of Col. Dulany and, in 1961, was purchased by the late Erskine Bedford and his first wife, Lily. “When they moved in the place, it was a mess. Doorknobs were taken off and there were snakes coming down the stairs,” says their daughter, Cricket Bedford. Her father
later served as a master of fox hounds for the Piedmont Hunt. He died in 1998 while hunting and is the only non-Dulany buried in the cemetery at Old Welbourne. Flash forward to 2017. Tandy and Brad Bondi now own the estate and ride with the Piedmont hounds. And, says Bedford, “he relishes the history.” The 330-acre farm with a 15,000-square-foot, 1878 Georgian Colonial manor, does not include the cemetery, which remains with Dulany family members. Meanwhile, in the village of Middleburg, the National Sporting Library & Museum exhibition, “The Horse in Ancient Greek Art,” is on view through Jan. 14, 2018. The exhibit explores the importance of the horse in ancient Greek culture through its imagery in ancient myth, war, sport and competition. Objects include ancient, stunning black vases of chariot horses being harnessed, jockeys riding and grooms tending to well-bred equines. There are many examples of the care, training, and competition of the horse along with ancient texts on Greek horsemanship. And speaking of Bedford, as a real estate agent with Thomas and Talbot, she’s not only an encyclopedia of local history, she recently listed “Yorkshire House” in Warrenton. Swiss architect Henri de Heller designed the Colonial Revival-style residence with strong influences from the Modernistic Movement in 1939. He was also responsible for “Elway Hall,” currently owned by the wellknown local interior designer Barry Dixon. The extraordinary gardens include more than 200 species of trees centered on a sunken garden with a goldfish pond. The house includes five bedrooms and five and a half baths plus a living room, dining room, library and family room. There’s also a two-story foyer that has a spectacular, sweeping circular staircase with wrap-around circular walls and a sparkling Waterford chandelier. It’s listed at $1.775 million.
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