The fourth Friendship Meet on the Hark
Forward Tour of scheduled hunts and performance trials was at Mr.
Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds in Unionville, Pennsylvania. During the month of
September we traveled a distance of three thousand miles and visited nine
hunts.
The Cheshire is revered as one of the
best foxhunting establishments in North America, renowned for big fences,
protected countryside, and a distinguished history. When you hunt here,
everyone asks, “Did you jump the line fences?” Yes, we jumped one of the line
fences first! Everyone spreads out and picks a panel of three-rail fencing and
off you go, foxhunting with Cheshire!
The line fences are well set back off
the roads, making the footing safe no matter the direction of approach. This is
not a happy accident. Protection and planning of the hunting country has been a
continuing ethic within the hunt’s leadership.
The late Mrs. John B. Hannum, Master of
the Cheshire for over fifty years and huntsman for much of that time, advised property owners, even new
non-foxhunting landowners, how to fence their land—specifying the fencing
materials and the set-back distance off the roads! She persuaded them where to site their houses and any improvements; she
purchased countless properties and resold them at cost to sympathetic buyers;
and she battled developers by every possible means, including persuasion and
bureaucratic delay. Moreover, she recruited the residents of her hunting
community to follow her lead. From her unrelenting crusade bloomed the famed Brandywine
Conservancy, a national model for open space preservation.
We had put our caravan of twelve horses
up at the Brandywine Polo Grounds, watched a chukker of play on the polo field,
and then drove to The Yellow House in Kennett Square, PA. This beautiful Civil
War era home is on the Pennsylvania Hunt Cup course, and we could see the
steeplechase fences from the patio. Supposedly it has some secret passageways
dating from the Underground Railroad, though I did not find them. It also has
had some very famous parties after the Hunt Cup races we were told.
The next morning we gathered at the
Hannum home near Unionville for the meet. Sanna Neilson, MFH, greeted us
warmly, though unfortunately on crutches. She was nursing a torn ACL, but this
Maryland Hunt Cup winner and trainer made us feel very welcome, thanking Epp
Wilson, MFH, for bringing the Hark Forward tour to Cheshire. Anne
Moran, MFH, led the field towards the first cornfield. We had the pleasure of
riding beside Mr. Jock Hannum, son of the late esteemed Mrs. Hannum. He gave us
a running commentary on the lovely estates and homes that we passed during the
morning, as he grew up here and has been fortunate to spend his life hunting
with what I would call foxhunting royalty.
Mrs. Hannum loved the Old English
(traditionally-bred as opposed to the modern English) foxhounds, which she
hunted and showed. Today’s foxhound pack is the product of a breeding
experiment that began nearly fifteen years ago by then huntsman John Tullock,
an Englishman. He admired the Penn-Marydel for its voice and low scenting
ability and crossed the Old English hounds with Penn-Marydels. He left shortly
after, and his whipper-in, Irish-born Ivan Dowling, took over as huntsman.
Dowling was also familiar with the Old English bloodlines from his earlier days
in Ireland and comfortable with the breed. He and the Masters, betting on
Tullock’s hound breeding wisdom, decided to gamble and continue the program.
Because the two hound types are so disparate, the early litters were less than
uniform, but as time went on, they focused on the hounds of both types that
threw what they were seeking. Today, there is enthusiastic agreement among the
membership in the success of the program.
The deep music contributed by the
Penn-Marydels was lovely to hear, as hounds spoke on foxes which were viewed
several times coming and going in the corn. The field had a wonderful gallop
after a hard running fox, which was viewed running poolside through a
neighbor’s backyard. A herd of pastured ponies were trying to join the fun and
we all held hard until a most determined big bay was caught before jumping out
onto the path below the pool where they put the fox to ground. After several
hours we were back at the first cornfields and ready for a drink.
I told my fellow travelers that the
stout timber-stacked fences in the country are really no bigger than a large
coop, but Mike Paget (who hunts with Montreal, Moore County, and Belle Meade)
and I agreed that they just seem more intimidating! So, when you have a good
day hunting at Cheshire you always feel proud of your horse and yourself!
After the hunt breakfast, Epp Wilson,
MFH, thanked our hosts and with the help of his mobile map of the United States
encouraged everyone to try and join in some of the Hark Forward hunting
celebration. Our stop at Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds was close to the end
of the first leg of the tour. Epp talked about the Performance Trials, Field
Hunter Trials, Joint Meets, and Friendship stops, which will continue
throughout the season, across North America.
The second grand Hark Forward tour will be
a month long trek in the New Year through the Southwest, swinging through New
Mexico, California, and Nevada, before heading to a final Performance Trial in
the Arapaho Hunt (CO) country with Dr. Marvin Beeman, MFH. This is the stuff of
legends and a you-only-live-once trip. Based on the fun we have had on the
September tour, this is a chance to experience hunting over widely varying
countries, behind different packs, all the while enjoying the hospitality of
our host hunts. All are welcome and invited to join in this grand foxhunting adventure.
If you can't make the tour, check on the season's schedule
and make it a point to join an event near you, whether it be Hound Performance
Trial, Friendship Meet, or Field Hunter competition. There are events every
month throughout the 2017-2018 season.
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