Sometimes, if the scent is old and the hounds, try as they might, cannot pick up a consistent scent, the bookends of a hunt may become almost as notable than the hunt itself, and so it was with our Western Hunt on Saturday, December 14 at the Cave View fixture. We welcomed nine (9) guests, and some members of the Glenmore Hunt don western gear and join the pursuit.
On their way into the barn yard where we parked on this day, Dr. CJ Wise DVM and Sage Wise viewed a large coyote loping out of territory! A good sign of what the day could hold… Since the fixture was Cave View, there were no jumps, making the experience more accessible to our Western guests. However, more than one western guest mused about trying out English tack to get the full experience of hunting including jumping.
In a callout to its western roots, the field was treated with a real live bucking bronco exhibition at the opening. As the hounds were cast, Sage Wise’s three year old Choctaw Mustang, Bourbon greeted us with not one, not two, not three, four or five, but six full round-back, all hooves off the ground bucks, but the tenacious Miss Wise, held her seat throughout it all, displaying her finely honed rodeo talents with everyone congratulating for sticking that bronc.
Venturing out with Huntswoman, Dr. Julie Bullock DVM, with Stacy Campbell leading first flight, Joe Manning, MFH leading second flight, Brenda Simmons, MFH leading third. John Meyer graciously volunteered to lead a champagne flight as a few only wished to walk, allowing the remaining three in the third flight to move out and keep hounds in sight. Upon casting into the cornfield below the slurry pit, the hounds spoke briefly but couldn’t unearth the quarry. This was a theme throughout the hunt, reckoned by Julie to be due to old scent that faded as the morning dried up the ground conditions.
There were some moments of excitement, however. As the hounds worked their way across Chapel Hill Road and to the river, Julie saw a flash of grey go by, but wasn’t able to affirm what she saw. At one point, “eagle-eye” Christine Brady, who road whipped with Sara Baker and Kathryn Morrow caught a glimpse of something low and grey roadside, possibly a coyote. Brenda too, thought she viewed the same and so it was determined that yes, the hounds had unearthed a fox, but as before, the scent soon dissipated, and pursuit did not continue.
However, the award goes to the first flight who spotted a real live game……a raccoon! But the hounds couldn’t be bothered and sniffed right over it. Who could blame them? They knew it was an inferior quarry and they were off to find more exhilarating pursuits.
To help our western guests get a better sense of the sport, Julie invited members from the second flight to join the first flight so they could move out a little more quickly. Several of the Western guests leaped at the opportunity and were immediately treated to a brisk gallop up across the fields led by Stacy in pursuit of Huntswoman, Julie.
Road whipping got a work out as well. At one point, noble hounds, Ribbon and Tennessee, landed in second flight, separated from the others. Whipper-In Christine Brady maneuvered her trusty Subaru (her steed for the day) to intercept them, although Ribbon was reluctant to get in the car and took a bit of cajoling. Eventually corralled, the hounds joined the whips in the Subaru, and proved once more how Road whips earn their stripes, keeping the pack safe and together.
At the end of the hunt, as the flights returned to the trailers for that all important tailgating recap, we were met with a herd of curious cows, snooping in empty trailers and grazing in the trailer zone. Whipper-In Lindsay Johnson leveraged her whipper-in skills to push the cows out of the area, but cow-curiosity was no match for a single whipper in. The cows overcame the effort to move them, and remained sprinkled throughout the tailgating area, slobbering on vehicles and exploring the strange visitors, two-legged and four, that had fallen within their midst. Two horses, Dover and Cooper, who are known to have lengthy conversations with their riders before loading, hopped right into the trailer without so much as an argument, having figured that (for once) the safety of the trailer was preferable to the exposure to outdoor elements, which in this case comprised black and white monsters. Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t, said they, as they rested within the confines of the trailer munching on alfalfa and casually observing the bovines all around them. And so, our Western hunt, complete with bucking broncos and cows, whiffs of quarry, and a posse of great guests, was a fun and successful event. – Mari Turvey, Member