On the hunt

Pin It This weekend I had the opportunity for a new experience. A coworker participates in fox hunting each year, and Sunday was the opening day of the regular foxhunting season. For the squeamish at heart, let me quickly say that no one was armed and, as it happens, no fox was found. But there was a lot of tradition involved, and I certainly learned a lot.

The hunt begins with a toast (a welcome warmer-upper on a blustery cold morning) and the blessing of the hounds, the reading of a traditional prayer by a local clergyman who asks God's blessing on the horses, the riders, and the hounds (but not the fox).

The clothing worn by the riders is quite distinctive. Traditionally, a tophat is worn, although the majority of riders wore hardhats covered with a velvety material. The red jackets are worn by the most experienced riders, while newer participants wear black jackets. Somewhere in the middle are those who've "taken their colors" - i.e. they've joined in and helped with previous hunts for a certain period of time.

The hounds - there were about 30 of them - are the responsibility of the houndsman, who gives them commands using both vocal commands and a horn. To me, they looked and sounded pretty much alike, but the houndsman knows each by name and, if they are off in the woods, he is able to recognize individual hounds by the sound of their voices. 

On opening day of the hunt in our area, spectators are about to hitch a ride in the "tallyho wagons" - a good old-fashioned hayride, well stocked with drinks and breakfast treats.

Part of the objective on opening day is to allow spectators to see how the hunt works and to watch the dogs at work. It would be impossible for the tallyho wagon to follow the hunt through trails in the woods, so locations for those watching are chosen in advance; spectators are taken by wagon to them, and the hunt then comes to them. To ensure the hunt winds up there, someone "drags the line" through the fields and woods to the prearranged sites. "The line" is a sock that has been soaked in fox urine, and the hounds will follow this scent.

When the hounds return from following the line, some of them were happy to further demonstrate their tracking ability by finding some of the aforementioned breakfast treats.

They deserved it, don't you think?