A Voice from the USA
Chris Allen Profiles James Culleton MFH
Reedy Creek Hunt Club in SE. Virginia is known as the friendly and welcoming Hunt, especially to newcomers to the sport. The jovial and very popular MFH is James Culleton. Jim has encouraged many young folk to be involved in foxhunting over the years, and the children just adore him.
Jim was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. and lived there basically until he retired from the N.Y. Board of Education. He had a riding school and hack barn there at Prospect Park and hunted with many of the hunts which were located around the N.Y. area. He started hunting with the Meadow Brook on Long Island as a very young boy. He also hunted with the Smith Town Hunt, and when he started teaching at 24 years of age, he began to whip-in to the Hidden Hollow Hunt in New Jersey. Jim hunted with them for 20 years, whipping in, hunting hounds and was the President of the Club.
When he retired from the Board of Education. in New York, he moved to Dalton Pa. the area where his Mother's family came from. He then re activated the Abington Hills Hunt which had become inactive at the end of the war. He was the MFH there from 1986 until he left in 1999 and moved to McKenney Virginia.
While out hunting the hounds one day, his horse slipped on the ice and went down, at which point Jim broke several ribs. He called for his first whip Tom McElduff to come and take over the horn and continue hunting the pack. Tom who was a great whipper-in, loved hunting the hounds. While Jim was not able to blow the horn he rode as field master during that time and since Tom enjoyed hunting the hounds so much and Jim liked riding with the members, Jim decided to have him become the huntsman and he has hunted hounds ever since that time. The hunting in Pa. was good but Culleton got tired of the cold winters and all the ice and snow.
When he moved to McKenney in Virginia he bought a farm which was bordered by the Reedy Creek. He called his farm Reedy Creek Farm and when he started the hunt in Sept. of 1999, he called it the Reedy Creek Hounds. The hunt was organized and registered in 1999 and recognized in 2000. He decided to have a Black and Tan pack in 2001 and with the help of Bob Crompton, MFH of the Andrews Bridge Hounds. He was able to do this in the space of only a year! Bob was kind enough to give him enough hounds to have a complete pack of Black and Tans.
The pack performs well in the hunting field, and also does extremely well in the hound shows every year. They have had many champions at the Virginia hound show, the Carolina's hound show, the PMD hound show, and the Bryn Mawr hound show in Pennsylvania.
The huntsman Tom McElduff has won many pack classes with the pack.
Reedy Creek Opening Meet
In 2006 they started a foot pack of Basset hounds and became recognized in 2007. Tom also hunts the basset pack. In 2008 Tom decided he wanted to start a foot pack of Beagles and they acquired a wonderful pack of beagles and became registered in 2008.
This feat is remarkable in itself, and so reminds me of when Mr.& Mrs. Ken Goschen when started their own wonderful hounds in Hampshire UK., and bred a superb hunting pack and took so many ribbons in the show ring.
Anyone who remembers the Dumfriesshire Hounds of the Buchanan-Jardines will be in seventh heaven to see the Reedy Creek as they all stem back to those bloodlines
Christopher W. Allen