10 SIDELINES JANUARY 2012
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
Continued on page 18
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By Lauren R. Giannini
Roger Scruton has worn many hats, but possibly his
favorite is the safety helmet he dons to gallop after hounds
in full cry. He is the published author of more than 30
books, founding editor of “The Salisbury Review” and the
composer of two operas that were performed. Considered
one of Britain’s leading thinkers, he has taught philosophy
in universities and colleges, both in the UK, his birthplace,
and the USA where he and his wife Sophie made many
friends via foxhunting.
For all that Roger is a champion of rural lifestyles, he did
not grow up with horses. In fact, he became an enthusiast
of riding to hounds totally by chance.
“I learned to ride only very late in life, during my forties,
largely thanks to an old pony kept by a friend, Jessica
Douglas-Home, who introduced me to hunting, as
described in my book
On Hunting,
” admits Roger.
That pony pretty much sums up the old saying ‘when
the student is ready, the teacher appears.’ Dumbo’s
metamorphosis from sleepy pony to fre-breathing steed
determined to lead the feld provides fodder for the quick wit
by which Roger is known on both sides of the big puddle.
A dry, wry and often scorching humor crackles through his
Roger Scruton: Keen
On Hunting
prose. How could the philosopher/writer/professor have guessed
that spending time in rural England where he progressed from
walking and cycling to adventuring forth on ponyback would lead
to such a life-changing experience?
A Fateful Encounter
One day, by some miracle of fate (there are no accidents, per
se), Dumbo heard hounds in full cry long before his rider’s ears
detected the woo-woo chorus. Said pony then ignored every
attempt by his rider to regain control as they careered through the
mounted feld. Dumbo achieved his goal and galloped with great
gusto alongside the actual feld master.
Anyone who has followed hounds chasing after wily “Charles
James” can relate to the tale that unfolds in
On Hunting
(1998).
It’s a seriously insightful and often entertaining abbreviated
memoir. Roger, of course, rides philosophy as if it were a keen
Thoroughbred in the frst fight, but you’ll have to experience this
for yourself as there simply isn’t enough room here to do him
justice. He makes astute and provocative observations about
equine herd behavior, human nature, urban collapse and threats
to the woof and weave of rural tradition.
And Another…
When you are a learned scholar whose mind is adorned with
great hunks of poetry from the classics, your thoughts often take
odd forays while hounds are cast into covert. Unmarried for some
years, a chance encounter with a lovely Greek scholar, capping
with the Vale of the White Horse, caused him to set his sights on
fnding a new Mrs. Scruton.
“Perhaps my favorite hunting memory is of falling from my horse
and being, to my surprise, picked up by the beautiful woman whom
I was later to marry, but whom I didn’t yet know,” says Roger.
A teaching position for the fall semester at Boston University
and his reluctance to miss the entire hunting season sent him
fying back to the UK most Fridays (in the 1990s winter fares
were bargains). His farmhouse enjoyed an ideal location between
two packs of hounds, Vale of the White Horse and the Duke of
Beaufort. Their courtship took place in the feld, riding to hounds,
and cooking dinner for each other.
On to Virginia
A marriage between enthusiasts is like no other. Horses
Roger and Sophie Scruton hosted opening meet for Thornton Hill Hounds at their Monticello after renovations were complete.
Photo by Camden Littleton
Roger Scruton enjoys a philosophical moment with his
feld hunter Sam