The MFHA is introducing "The Fairly Hunted" award. This award is being established to acknowledge children under age 18, who participate in foxhunts but may not be a member of the United States Pony Clubs. The award will be given each year to any young person who hunts five times and is so acknowledged by a Master. No examination is given and no requisite skills are required - just having had the experience of participating in hunts. Click here for details.

 MFHA is gathering information on rescues and unwanted horses used in the hunt field. Please take our survey here.

 Whipper In Seminar reservations have filled up. Contact the the office to have your name added to the wait list or to change your reservation. 

Annual Hunt Questionnaires have been sent out and are due back to the office by June 15th. If you have any questions or would like an electronic copy, please email the office.

Click here to see the 2013 Hound Show Schedule.  

The MFHA Foundation has several books available for purchase. Two recent publications include Goodnight Masters by Jim Meads and Our Penn-Marydel Hound by Dr. Todd Addis, MFH. Click Here to Order!

MIDDLEBURG, VA – The NSLM Book Fair, Saturday, May 25, 2013, from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., includes three top-rated authors, all-day demonstrations of book binding and conservation, new book sales and the library’s duplicate book sale to benefit the Book Acquisition Fund. The Book Fair is free and open to the public.

Emily Esterson photoWhether you prefer the sailing-originated term “jury rigged” or the more colloquial “jerry-built,” either applies to life with hound puppies.

You see, when the huntsman tells you to expect digging and escaping and general mayhem when he hands off those adorable little bundles to you, what you see are cute puppies, not the diggers, escapers, accidental swimmers, horse-and-pet-dog chasers they become. As my puppies got more active, I started having anxiety dreams: I dreamt about Dexter getting trampled by a horse, drowning in the irrigation ditch, and eating (and choking on) my riding gloves. 

I cannot recall an occasion when attending a meet with a fellow hunt where we have not been offered a stirrup cup to send us on our way. The stirrup cup is not only a long-standing tradition but has its purposes too. It is, of course, a welcoming gesture to all riders. But then if you are perhaps a little outside your comfort zone, riding an untried or borrowed horse in the company of hard-riding sportsmen in difficult country, one could almost call this small sip of liquid courage a necessity. Maybe you could go so far as to say just what the doctor ordered and your potential funeral director would advise! Even on the comfortable days when riding your own bombproof horse, the warm glow that the cup provides is reassuring. Your confidence is never in doubt, your companions become the best of pals and every upcoming jump seems to have had the top rail removed!

Douglas Lees photoI first met Mary South in the mid 70's and from then our lives touched in many ways. She was a licensed Real Estate Agent under my Brokerage License for Thomas & Talbot Real Estate; her brother, Hutch, worked for my construction company when my brother Charley and I built townhouses in Mosby Square here in Middleburg; her father 's Dick Hutchinson's, Labrador Retriever, Trapper, spent more time at my house than at his and ultimately was given to me after Dick died; and then of course there was the Hunt.

Mary South was a 26 - 27 year old beautiful young lady when I first rode in a hunt field with her in the mid 70's almost 40 years ago. Over these years this inveterate and highly accomplished horse woman excelled not only in the hunt field but in shows and hunter trials as well winning Mrs. Randolph's Hunter Championship of American at Glenwood Park at least once.

Her efforts with Orange County were not limited to just riding. Mary South helped enlighten novice riders to hunt protocol and traditions (sometimes to their chagrin); she gave unselfishly as a volunteer to all hunt events including our Pair Races, our Team Chases, our Barn Dances, our Point-to-Points, our Puppy Shows and to the Virginia Hound Shows. She was our field Secretary before she became Honorary Secretary to the Hunt in the early 90's - a position she held for 20 years until her passing last Thursday. In that position she was the eyes and ears of us Masters reporting any flagrant abuses of hunt protocol, she took minutes for the Board of Stewards, she got out all of our mailings including Master's letters, fixture cards, Landowner Party invitations, Puppy Show invitations, all of our event invitations, and our Christmas Cards. Besides these hunt duties she handled all the invitations and billings for the Virginia Foxhound Club.