Belle Meade’s “ Gone Away with the
Wind” Hunt Week 2018
I drove down from Virginia in torrential rain on Sunday. My
weather app’s promise of a 70-degree week in Thomson, Georgia, was one of the
reasons I was heading away from a very cold Mid-Atlantic winter. The other
reason was that hunting at Belle Meade Hunt, in particular, following Jean Derrick,
First Flight Fieldmaster, is one of the best things in life!
I am a die-hard foxhunter. It is my passion and I think
racing through those Georgia pinewoods at warp speed is my addiction. Some say
it’s crazy. An eventing friend who jumps BIG fences thinks I’m brave (figure
that one out)! At home I whip for
Bull Run Hunt in Culpeper and Marlborough in Maryland and love every day. I
hunt with Thornton Hill Hunt, going up and down the mountains near Sperryville.
Foxhunting is what I do. So what rocks my world is perhaps a step up from the
normal. But Jean Derrick rips and rolls through those pine forests like Mario
Andretti. I’ve never really seen anything like it. Perhaps it feels so fast because
90% of Belle Meade’s country is woods and the trails are narrow and uneven and
Jean stays right behind Huntsman Epp Wilson, MFH. In other country, like
Virginia, you can see across hayfields and cattle pastures and watch hounds at
a distance. There you can see in front of you and pick the best gallop to
follow. You can watch hounds trail a line up the hill towards a wood and follow,
listening to the music. At Belle Meade Hunt, you have to stay with hounds,
literally, to follow them and you cannot see around the bend, let alone across
a field. The coyotes are fast. Charlie Lewis MFH, in his pickup, with his boar
guns, is more likely to call a Tally-Ho on a coyote flashing across a meadow,
than for the riders. All I see is the disappearing hind end of one of Jean’s
lovely mares and I ride right behind her!
You are flying down washed out skinny slick trails, jumping
over muddy creeks, all the while dodging tree branches and stumps just to keep
the one in front of you in view. I hunt with some of the best huntsmen and
riders I know and I still think Jean Derrick is the fastest fieldmaster ever.
It is a hard call between her and Rosie Campbell, MFH, at Bull Run Hunt, so I
will concede a draw. But it is the flying through narrow trails, so fast that
there are tears streaming from my eyes, hearing Jean call out,” It’s almost a
Rough Rider” that keeps me coming to Georgia. A continuous 45 minute flat out gallop on a coyote earns the
Rough Rider award here and I’ve been one a few. They are memorable. As a
footnote, Belle Meade Hunt offers four fields, for all levels of riders.
Everyone gets the thrill, no matter which field you choose.
Today was Day One of Belle Meade Hunt’s ”Gone Away with the
Wind” Hunt Week. They offer 4 Belle Meade hunts and 2 more are possible at
nearby Aiken hunts, dinners at Boots Hall or a cocktail party at a member’s
home and the week is wrapped up by the Hunt Ball. It is a great value and the
most fun to be had on horseback. The Belle Meade family is the biggest
foxhunting community I know. The local cops are road whips, the juniors
sometimes outnumber the adults and the truck followers bring you beer in the
middle of the hunt. I think this tradition should be encouraged. In France,
when stag hunting, the locals bring you wine, baguettes and cheese at every
possible check. In England and Ireland we start and end the hunting day in a
pub, but Belle Meade is the only place I have been given candies and beer in
between runs! We started with a stirrup cup at 1:30 PM and moved off across the
road from the kennels at 2PM. 3 coyotes were viewed and hounds were off in
about 20 minutes. We ran for the next hour and enjoyed great music and great
galloping. The beer break was a place to catch our breath, let horses catch
their wind and catch up with old friends. I look forward to seeing people every
year that I know from many different hunts. This year North Hills Hunt from
Nebraska had made the trek in 22 hours and we all had the pleasure of hunting
with huntsman David Kruger and 13 of their hounds. The North Hill MFH and
several members had made the trip as well. Subscribers and staff from Cloudline Hunt in Texas,
Millbrook in New York, Loudon-Fairfax and Snickersville in Virginia were only
some of the other people I had the pleasure to meet again. After a short break
to gather hounds we moved off, hunting home. It was a great day, which finished
with another delicious dinner at Boots Hall and welcoming remarks from Master
Epp Wilson and Jean Derrick. Great day.
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