foxhunting at Bull Run.. the last hurrah

The constant rain ( or snow) has pretty much shut down the last little bit of Maryland foxhunting. I was fortunate enough to go to Bull Run Hunt on Thursday and Friday for the last part of March Madness. We had two great days of hunting with friends, jumping lots of coops and logs . Friday was at Larry Levy's The Hill, which is always a beautiful fixture. As it was near the end of the week, they had literally run out of whippers-in, so I offered and they were happy to have some help. I was happy to follow Rosie Campbell MFH and may just join next year as it is such a fun club. My friend Jean Derrick was up from Belle Meade Hunt and we always have a good time. Mike Long MFH and Joe Kincheloe were in rare form, telling lots of tall tales and sharing their recent adventures in Africa on a riding adventure. Being pushed off a horse by a hippo while fording a river may not make me want to go on safari any time soon!! They have some great video tho!
Today is pouring rain again and the hunter pace was cancelled. Good day to clear out closets etc. I may be optomistic but I am putting the long underwear away!! Think Spring.

hunting with Piedmont...

Can you see those happy grins, those muddy horses and muddy jackets? We had the best day running and jumping out in Middleburg with the Piedmont Hounds yesterday. It was a gorgeous, warm day and the footing was pretty good actually- a little muddy in places - but not bad. The jumps are stout and the scenery unbelievable. It really is God's country for a foxhunter. Leslie, Gwen and I squeezed in more day of hunting and you can tell by the grins it was worth the horrible traffic just to ride across these beautiful farms and jump tons of fences. We actually hunted all around our former member, Laura Dietrich's house which was fun. Red was super and I know Leslie had a great time tho' she wished her horse was fitter! We stopped for lunch at the old Blackthorne Inn after, which made us late enough to be in the worst traffic coming home but it was worth it!

spring is coming :)

I rode with HCIB and DeLa Brooke hounds last Saturday at John McFadden's beautiful fixture in St.Mary's County. As we rounded this corner on the beach, John turned and pointed out to an island just visible in the Potomac. He said St. Clement's Island was the first "camp" of settlers here in Maryland, where the Ark and the Dove actually docked on March 25th, 1634, that first trip up the Potomac. I love these tidbits of history, especially when we are replicating a scene from a sport that has actually spanned the three hundred and eighty years. Settlers on horseback with hounds have probably been rounding that stretch of beach for that long! It was a warm ( actually too warm for hunting) beautiful day that was a very welcome respite from the unending cold this year. We ran a little but it was primarily so nice to get out on lovely, sandy footing and enjoy the day. It is always fun to trot down the beach, in the water and gallop on long fields in Dela Brooke's country. The muddy fields have canceled so many hunts at Marlborough that I think the majority of my hunting this year as been away!

the endless winter....

This morning a friend posted a picture of a few yellow crocus poking thru the snow. The weather app says it is 26 degrees ( feels like 16 degrees) at 7 AM and it is still icy underfoot as I walk to the barn. It has been an endless winter. I just gave in yesterday and asked someone to go skiing with me ( they declined!).  Bob, Mike's Quarter Horse sleeps in the snow with the babies.  On the hay. I think he also said, " just f_ _ _  it!" He is now on babysitting duty as I need to teach them to load in trailer soon. Usually they will follow the big guy so this is how it starts. I need to ride today to keep the foxhunters fit for the hunter paces but I am so done with this weather. And I even had a break to California last month. It will be so muddy in the next few days, my fields are trashed and I just gave up and threw more hay in to them. My shoulders are permanently hunched and tight and I rotate the same 3 warm Under Armor shirts. "Please Jesus, make it warm!!"