Stonewall Hounds Bring Home the Ribbons
Filed under: 2008-2009,Hunt Reports — Cheryl @ 7:31 am
I know this report is late in coming, but now I have some photo links to share with you all. Six of us from Stonewall attended the Sedgefield Cup Performance Hound Trials, March 7&8 in Hoffman, NC.
Riders attending: Lili & Jubilee, Kate & Lacy, Judy & Anne, Susan & Cash, Cheryl & Uzi, Jenner & Mulligan.
Hounds: Jazz, Kaptain, Jeremiah, Solitaire, Amber, Allison
Photo Links:
http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=801898631&k=5VAU33P5WYZM5G1HUC4ZV4
taken by Erin Esposito, the kitchen queen
http://www.wowgraphicdesigns.com/sedgefield.html
various photos – these were sent to Covertside
We had an absolute blast. The people were super, and the riding was wild and wooly. It seemed like the big sandy trails would make for really nice riding, with room to gallop. Who knew we would gallop forEVER. The hounds were all numbered and put together (42 in all, 6 or so from each of 7 participating hunts). Then the huntsman from Moore County (Jody Murtagh) hunted them all as one big pack.
The hounds ran coyote both days, which made for some hair-raising galloping through the 60,000 acre Sandhills Gamelands area. The sandy roads were great, although deep at times, but we had to cut through the Longleaf Pine Forests to be able to get to the hounds, and there were holes and staubs, which made it a little tricky! You had to watch carefully and give enough room to the horse in front of you. Anyway, we all survived, but I know my pony was TIRED with a capital T after 2 days of Hour-plus runs with barely any checks!
Jenner viewed the first day and Kate and I the second, so that was fun, and the hounds sounded great and never let up. It was amazing to watch how well they hunted as a whole pack, and the sound echoing through the Longleaf pines was incredible.
Judges were outriding like whips to get in a position to record their scores on the hounds, in different categories. We all heard our hounds voices at times within the pack, and got to see them working up front many times. They did great! I don’t have all the results, but Kaptain, Solitaire and Jeremiah got ribbons the first day, with Jeremiah winning the blue for first place overall for day one.
The second day Jazz and Jeremiah both won ribbons again, I believe Jazz was 3rd overall for the second day (Jazz is Jeremiah’s mother, and a couple of the hunts there knew her – Lili can explain the breeding – but she was affectionately referred to as the “old lady”.)
They had a little hound show too, and Solitaire won a red ribbon in the bitch class and Jeremiah was third in the doghound class.
Kate & Solitaire
Cheryl & Jeremiah
So as you can imagine, we were all more than thrilled with the hounds’ performances both days, and the fact that our pack fit in and hunted like champs. It is noteworthy to mention that our friends at Rockbridge had the #1 hound over the two day totals, Rockbridge Clay, and their pack won the overall pack award. Congratulations to Rockbridge! We enjoyed seeing them and watching their hounds do so well, too!
We all had a really fun time. Next year… Full body clip for the Brown Beast, and some additional fitness work before the event!!
Hopefully more of you can attend next year, as it was really a weekend to remember. As Marcia Brody from New Market-Middletown Valley Hounds said, “Bring your fastest horse, fasten your seatbelts and hang on!!”
Cheryl Microutsicos
