Each year on Memorial Day weekend, Virginia’s hunts send foxhounds to compete in the dappled sunlight of late spring under the towering oaks of Morven Park. After spectating last year, I knew I wanted to participate in 2024. I shared my interest with Anne Brooks, MFH, and we started preparing hounds, focusing on the Junior Handlers class. Huntsman Julie excitedly endorsed the idea, agreeing that it would be a great way to get juniors out to the kennels and involved with the hounds on a personal level.
As Fred Barry, Master of Ceremonies at the North Carolina Foxhunting Performance Trials declared during the Calcutta on Friday night, “This ain’t the Virginia Hound Show, folks.” He’s correct: The Hound Show is all fancy hats and glamour and sundresses, where Sedgefield is all dirty boots and grit and worn tweeds. But in a great hunt, both spheres serve their purpose, just as modern conformation/breeding classes serve the sporthorse world. And I, for one, can appreciate both. Function follows form, ideally, and we want our hounds to not only be great at their job in the field, but also be able to hunt for many years due to their conformation and soundness. We began our selection process for which hounds to compete not long after returning from Sedgefield.
Julie suggested that we aim for the Penn-Marydel ring for two reasons: She appreciates the breed for their relevance in our territory, as they tend to be “slower” but more thorough for smaller fixtures. Further, the Crossbred ring at the Virginia Hound Show tends to attract a very large number of participants—so much so that the Crossbred classes are broken down into the size kennel of the hunt of the participating hound (less than 25 couple, and 25 couple or more). The Penn-Marydel ring was both smaller in competition scale, and more applicable for the purposes of our hunt. Amongst our Penn-Marydel stock, we emphasized disposition of the hounds for ease of handling for our juniors. We also considered confirmation in a similar sense of selecting a sport horse—a balanced animal with a powerful hind end, strong, correct limbs, and a ground covering gait. We chose Ribbon and Riesling among our bitch hounds, and Rhythm as our representative dog hound.
We began practicing once per week to ready the hounds. As Julie and I discussed, the hound show is a very different atmosphere than what the hounds were accustomed to. In addition to strutting around a show ring lined with spectators, the hounds had to accept being “stood up” in front of a judge for inspection, and then stay at attention while their handler showed them to the judge. This was all a far cry from full cry! None of the three hounds had shown before. Our three junior handlers, Addie Zinck, Julianne Rexrode, and Sage Wise were also new to this endeavor, but all were enthusiastic and committed.
Practicing weekly, we prepared the hounds for the show atmosphere. My mother, Lou Toms, a former professional handler, provided valuable tips. Brenda Simmons, MFH, guided us on specific hound show techniques. Addilyn Zink, Julianne Rexrode, and Sage Wise were committed and enthusiastic junior handlers. During a barn cookout, Brenda suggested exposing the hounds to a different atmosphere. It revealed Rhythm's crowd anxiety, leading us to substitute Ricochet. With final rehearsals and spa day preparations, we were ready.
On show day, our juniors and adult handlers, including Jake Arbaugh, Julie Bullock, and myself, donned traditional attire. Despite some humorous mishaps, we represented Glenmore proudly. Though we didn't win ribbons, the experience was invaluable for both hounds and handlers. I’m grateful to everyone who helped and look forward to next year’s event at Morven Park.
— Anne Morrison, Member
