Hunt Report Meadow Run Farm Richfield I guess there could be two Hunt Reports today depending on who you ask… If you ask a field follower, it was a wonderful day. Early morning rains stopped and the fall colors all around the farm began to dazzle in the sunlight. Our land owners/hosts, the Totten family, had wonderful stirrup cup selections and a delicious luncheon before and after the meet. The Lymans and Barb Y brought some delicious additions to the menu. A few guests made the Halloween Hunt lots of fun with their festive costumes…Judy H was a redhead for the day, Josie A had a marvelous pointed hat, John B had a scary mask, and Katie C came dressed as a beagle WITH the rabbit! Out on the hunt, there was, after a quiet start, a bit of hound music, a thrilling view, and even the occasional “George sighting”. We were all on and all back at the end of the day and it was a very nice Sunday morning. Now, if you ask the Huntsman for today’s report, she might shake her head and wander off in self-critical thought. From my point of view, the beagles were absolutely wild and unruly. I believe the pack works best when I encourage them to work the smaller fixtures more slowly and thoroughly, but not a one of them was interested in slowing down for me today. Two of the hounds decided that raking about on their own along the fringes was just as fun as working with their pack mates, which (quite literally) gave the whippers-in a run for their money today. There turned out to be almost too many rabbits at the end of the day and I made the mistake of trying to lift them to a view that seemed on-course with the hunted rabbit, but alas, I may have inadvertently pulled them off of some good work. Mea culpa. I did make some mental notes about fine-tuning which beagles will make the Varsity Team for the pack trials at The National Beagle Club this week. But, as always, when the field is smiling and the beagles all come back with a gallop, I guess it’s a pretty good day after all.
- rcallister