146 SIDELINES MARCH 2014
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
2 SIDELINES JUNE 2012
FOR HORSE P OPLE • ABOUT HORSE P
What Does
the Fox Say?
We aren’t sure what the fox says, but foxhunters say,
“Tally Ho!” Learn all about the thrill of foxhunting from a rider who
is hooked on the sport.
e
Foxhunting
By Doris Degner-Foster
Illustrations by Alex Long
T
he “music” of bayinghounds isheard throughout thewoods.
The riders move off at a gallop and you try to watch for
jumps through eyes beginning to water from the wind
in your face. Ahead of you and the field master, the
huntsman is blowing his horn to encourage
the hounds. You wonder vaguely how
anyone can hold reins and a hound
whip and still manage to blow a horn while riding a horse this fast.
You are too busy to do anything else but hold on and keep up,
and you try not to think about what might happen at this speed if
y o u r
horse puts a foot wrong. The realization that you are
smiling widely is suddenly clear as you taste mud
in your teeth, kicked up from horses ahead of you.
You have instantly become hooked on this sport.
I wish I could simply tell you about foxhunting, but
the emotions get in the way and refuse to stay quiet.
Foxhunters are an enthusiastic, passionate group who
share a physical toughness, a love for animals and the
land, and they just seem to have a kind of zest for life.
Everyone in the hunt field is on equal footing, literally and
figuratively. Those riders who have kept up and are still on
their horse at the end of a hard, fast run share mutual respect.
Author and Master of Oak Ridge Hunt, Rita Mae Brown has
said, “The great thing about hunting is someone worth a few
million dollars might be riding right next to someone who
makes twenty-three thousand dollars a year, and no one cares.
Foxhunters cut across ethnic and class lines, all professions,
all ages. It doesn’t matter how rich you are, you still have to
ride the horse, and you can’t buy your way over the fence.”
Families often ride in the hunt field together with the
youngest members on ponies being ponied, or led from
another horse by a parent. At the Devon Horse Show,
there are classes where families compete together.
Foxhunting is a sport anyone from kids to retirees can enjoy.
The sport of hunting with hounds has existed in the United
States since the 1700’s. George Washington kept a pack of
hunting hounds at Mount Vernon where Thomas Jefferson was
often a guest. Hunting parties there are said to have lasted
for weeks on end. At present, the Masters of Fox Hounds
Association, the governing body of foxhunting in North
America, lists 159 registered packs in the U.S. and Canada.
There are also many unregistered informal packs,
known as farm packs, throughout North America.
Foxhunting is also known as fox chasing,
which is a more accurate name since foxes
are not hunted and killed, only chased.
The individuals riding with the hunt
are led by a field master who keeps
up with the action so that riders
may watch the hounds and even
possibly get a glimpse of the fox or
coyote, an event in which it is proper
Continued on page 148
