FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
SIDELINES NOVEMBER 2011 59
huntsman—it all provides so much
good on so many levels.
And Keeping Country Open
Norfolk Hunt has been hunting
over much of the same country that
they did a century ago but it is not
easy to keep the properties open and
connected. John adds, “with regards
to managing to keep the land open
to us, there is no easy answer. It is
getting worse and worse. With new
houses everywhere, the busy roads,
and the town conservation lands being
mainly large dog parks (which proves
very distracting for the hounds), we are
forced to continue to look outside our
community and diversify our hunting
territories. We have a wonderful
locations in Westport MA, the Tufts
Center in Grafton, MA, and we are
now looking north of Worcester and
into Rhode Island. These areas have
land where now defunct Hunts used
to go, so maybe there is something to
be done there. In my 9 years with the
Norfolk Hunt, the lands available to us have shrunk considerably,”
John says.
Sandy Niles agrees: “In New England, and certainly around
the country, we are losing land and open country to development.
Pony Club as an organization has a great interest in land
conservation and preservation—so much so that at national
rating levels, students must be a part of a land preservation
effort.”
It all ties in—the previous generation sharing their knowledge,
continued relationships with land owners, and bringing historical
perspectives forward to the younger generation in hopes that in
the end we might have one more blade of grass to gallop over (or
simply go for a walk on).
For more information visit www.ponyclub.org or
www.norfolkhunt.com
Foxhunting and Pony Club go together – just ask these kids!