Harry Stephenson
View a slideshow of the York and Ainsty (South) Puppy Show: York and Ainsty (South) Puppy Show 2009
Foxhound Column
Harry Stephenson
The showing season is upon us along with puppy shows. Some hunts put on invitation hound shows, and these can be great fun as they are often intended for the local packs and are a great opportunity to have a look at the neighbouring packs’ best hounds. It is also a good chance to catch up with all the local gossip! If there is a local hound show Masters should support it if at all possible.
At the big hound shows, the best hounds in the country compete, and often the smaller packs don’t do so well, but that doesn’t matter and is not a reason for not attending. The Bilsdale is one of the smallest packs, but when I was Master I always attended and won a 4th Place one year which was fantastic.
At Peterborough there are separate rings for different types of hounds, and all show on the same day. It is a fantastic day out and I would urge all hunting people to attend. Our hounds at the York and Ainsty south are pure old English, and so we are in the separate ring for old English hounds.
It would be nice if the Old English could be shown in the main ring in separate classes to the modern, so that the main audience could see for example Modern English entered dog, then Old English entered dog and people could see the difference, but regrettably time probably won’t allow this. The separate ring is therefore the next best thing. Those wanting to look at the Old English can do so, and the champion Old English hound does appear in the main ring at the end of the day.
Hounds parading at the Point to Point April 2009
I was asked to judge the RAC beagles puppy Show at Cirencester last week which was great fun. The new Master there comes from our country and is a very keen young man having whipped in at The York south and the Fernie. I didn’t know much about beagles when I went down there, but luckily Robin Leach, long time Master and huntsman of the Dummer was my co judge, and so I think we got away with it.
As I write this article it is late June and the puppy shows are in full swing. I have been to many this summer, and been invited to judge a few, which is always a privilege. Puppy shows are a big event for any hunt kennel, it is a day for the puppy walkers, and for the farmers and landowners to all get together with the hunt members and have a really pleasant afternoon.
Judging a puppy show can be fraught with disaster, because the judge is looking at all the young entry for that year, and not just the best. That means some hounds are bound to have faults, some obvious and some not so obvious, and there is usually a row of bowler hats with experts sitting under them waiting to see if the judge spots the faults or awards first prize to a hound missing a testicle or a toe!
However, the judge’s decision is final, and if he or she gets it wrong he or she are hardly likely to admit to it! At the hound shows all the entrants are the best from each kennel, and so in some ways easier for the judge. At the end of the day it is all just one or two people’s opinions, and is all a bit of fun
We had our puppy show on 26th June, on a Friday. It was very well attended, with well over 200 people and Capt Inglesant MFH (Belvoir) and Sandy Wilson (Morpeth) did a great job sorting them out. The doghound that won overall champion was sired by Lancer 04, who also sired the three young hounds at the Hurworth who took 1st 2nd and 3rd in the same class last year at Peterborough, a feat never before done.
Lancer is a big old fashioned solid old English hound, not a particularly good looker but a good worker, yet he has sired some good looking hounds. The Sinnington used him last year and I will be interested to see how they have turned out as he was put to a modern English bitch up there.
All hunts will have their new whelps on the floor by now, and some probably out at walk. We have 13 couple this year which is more than we need but it is good to be able to choose. Those that we do not keep will be drafted and I already have a waiting list for them. They will stay with us until after next year’s puppy show and then we will decide. We used a Hurworth dog and a Warwickshire dog for the outside blood (we tried a Percy dog but sadly the bitch did not hold) and we used two of our own. I went into detail in a previous article so I won’t bore you with it again: all I will say is the results look promising at the moment.
Hound exercise will be progressing well all over the UK with all young hounds having been off couples for some time. We go on bikes straight after hunting finishes, but only steady and not very far. I think the young hounds learn more gently trotting on ahead down a lane whilst on couples than they do tearing about a field dragging the old hound about mercilessly, but every huntsman has his preferences.
Straight after Yorkshire Show some of our horses come in; we parade at a local country fair and the hound exercise steps up a gear or two. The lorry has to be tested and serviced, tack and scarlet coats picked up from menders, and then we are hunting again and the summer is just a memory. Have fun.
Harry Stephenson