The Loudoun Hunt

January 2003

Thrills, spills and chills, hunting in Ireland  

For one week, eight of us, Bill and Anne McIntosh from Blue Ridge, Glenn and Natalie Epstein from Old Chatham, Ed and Chuck Fry from Wicomaco and Michael and Janell Hoffman with the Loudoun Hunt, were the guests of the Kilkenny Hunt and its masters Sarah Hatton, Tom Burns, Michael Dean and Brian O’Farrell. Hunting four days, with a break mid-week we started and finished at the Kilkenny with a turn at the Scarteen and Tipperary . Anne, who had organized the trip, had a good day out with the Kilmogany on Wednesday, while the rest of us were stimulating the Irish economy at Berney Bros., in Kildare.  

We survived with only seven falls and one badly bruised hand. Jumped hundreds of ditches and banks, consumed gallons of Guinness and pints of whiskey. A typical day started at 11 am at a pub or crossroad (a dry meet) and lasted five hours, followed by a prolonged stop at the local pub and then dinner out with our hosts.  

The countryside is a patchwork of small fields. Surrounded by either a single ditch and bank or a double ditch, with the bank in between. Wire is a concern now. With introduction into the EU, Irish farmers are being paid a king’s ransom to put high tensile wire up to keep livestock out of the ditches, which complicates crossing the country. Many of the horses will jump a straight wire. However, when it is on the backside of a ditch and bank combination a crushing fall is likely. Fortunately the ground is soft, as some of us found out.  

For pure hound work one need never leave our shores. Combine excellent hound work and the endless supply of ditches and banks crossing the Irish countryside at a dead run and there is little to compare with it in America . January at Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Hounds with Joe Cassidy as huntsman and Bruce Miller leading a field of a hundred horses and riders flying up and over the Brooklawn double, that will raise the hair on the back of your neck too.  

Irish hunting is an experience that needs to be felt first hand. Particularly hunting in the south counties. The ditches, they call them drains for obvious reasons, run from a modest couple feet wide and deep to great gaping gashes that seem bottomless, are full of water and a bridge should be spanned over it in order to cross. Add to that the overhanging branches or the thick hedges and all the hunting prints hanging in our hallways make a whole new impression.  

The Kilkenny and Tipperary country to the outsider are quite similar.  Lots of small fields with rolling hills, 5-15 acres with ditches and banks as the fence lines. The Scarteen country, further west is very different, poorer land, wetter and enormous obstacles.  

It is wintertime so the cattle are in sheds. The only livestock out in the fields are sheep and a few horses. Unlike home, there are not many distractions for the hounds, no deer, coyote, bear or mountain lion. Only the occasional hare, which are the size of small dogs. Even then the hounds are very biddable and do not switch off fox.  

Hirelings were the best at Kilkenny. The Scarteen membership provided the horses for that day and all of them cross that country boldly and with confidence. A good thing too as the “Tans” country is thought of as the biggest by far. Oh is it ever!  

The first real obstacle of our day with the Scarteen and Tom Burns, MFH of Kilkenny reminds all within ear shot that we have floatation devices, a flare and whistle under our saddles. Val O’Connor, the field master and former Irish jump jockey declared the “longer you look the larger it gets” and then quipped “had they found the two ‘Yanks’ from last week yet.”  

The horses are plenty bold, occasionally too bold. At the “Tipps” a booming voice announced “loose horse with a man on top,” as we turned Bill McIntosh was being pulled to the front of the field to get at the next obstacle. He survived that day but was seen going head first into a ditch on the last day; fortunately the ditch was muddy but not full of water.  

Underlying all of this excitement was the genuine reception we received from the Irish. Happy to have us as visitors, they are as quick with a witty crack as a compliment as we successfully negotiated the country. Our Irish hosts made this visit, a first for several of our party, a memorable occasion, we will be back.  

Day 1  

The Kilkenny meet two days a week, Monday and Friday. Aware of our pending visit the masters carded the first day to allow us to get oriented. Monday January 13^th, 11:30 at Bally Duff crossroads, near Thomastown. The river Nore caps the north end of this fixture. Our day is spent early drawing along its banks and then turning south down the Mossy Glen valley working either side of the valley looking for Reynard.  

There has been no rain for about 12 days, yet the ground to us is soft, even squishy. However, without rain it means the barometer has been bouncing around and scent is dicey. The country is very similar to the Loudoun Hunt country rolling hills, somewhat trappy with lots of options for the fox to use to get away.  

Chris Smith the huntsman uses mostly his voice, relying on the horn to collect hounds or to cheer them on to the open and pursuit. Hounds, 17 ½ couple are a mixed pack of English with some Welsh and Fell breeding. Jim Brennan a local farmer is the honorary whip. They work well together, staying in touch and communicating regularly throughout the day. The draw is to be counter clockwise starting at the Nore and working down the length of the Mossy Glen valley from the west side.  

The day starts slow steadily working the covers along the draw. Occasionally, Chris will get to his feet where hounds are allowed but not horses and the field. Scent improves. We are drawing a pine woods low in the valley when hounds open. It is a brace with one fox coming out running due south and the other out the north end. Hounds split; Jim and Chris push and pull the hounds off the second fox out to the one that broke cover.  

The fox is running in a pretty straight line when it realizes the hounds are on to it. It then starts to evade turning in amazingly tight turns. If a fox turned that sharp at home we would chop it. However, the undergrowth and hedgerows are so thick it has an advantage over the hounds. Scenting is better but not ideal which helps the fox too. The small fields and thick cover mean the huntsman cannot get to lead hounds consistently. As such they must be able to recast and find at a fault.  

We were entertained for about an hour with a delightful display of hounds working the quarry. When needed Chris would add his voice to cheer them on at a fault, rarely was the horn used in this circumstance. Hounds did not own this fox yet. It clearly had the advantage turning and twisting about a 40 to 50 acre area with us in steady pursuit over single and double ditches, none too daunting, a good introduction into Irish hunting.  

Day 2  

The “black and tans,” Scarteen, 350-year old pack kept in one family, The Ryan’s. Hunting Kerry beagles, which trace back to France . The “Tans” were having one of the best seasons in a generation, certainly the best of Chris Ryan’s mastership. We met at 11 AM by a pub in Kilduff along the main road out of Tipperary . The Scarteens limit the field size to 50. Today there would be 10 guests, our group and Will Russell from Piedmont and Bobby-Joe Pillion from Blue Ridge visiting from Virginia too. Will grew up in Scarteen country but we were hunting in territory that he could not remember the last time the “Tans” had been there. That would prove a bad omen for the day.  

If you ever see a fixture card from an Irish hunt it lists the location of the meet, the area manager and the member responsible for gates and wire gaps. The area manager is responsible for knowing the landowners and having an awareness of how to get through the country. The huntsman ultimately has to draw the country but if the area managers have not worked out how to traverse it the day could be challenging.  

The Scarteen hunts 11 ½ couple. By Irish standards this pack is not known to be very biddable. As we observed it I was reminded of our own pack of American hounds at Loudoun Hunt. Great voice, hunt together well upon the open but draw the country very independently. Picking up hounds out of a blank cover takes longer or if hounds split pulling one group off takes riding them down and knocking them off.  They are a bit fragile in that they do not tolerate a heavy hand like the English hound. That contrasts with the English hound hunting in Ireland , which comes out of a cover when lifted but does not have the voice of the Kerry Beagle or for that matter the American hound either.   

Chris Ryan, Master and huntsman uses his voice and horn much they way I have been taught by Joe Cassidy. In a drawing a cover it is a combination of encouragement with the voice followed periodically with the horn a short note and then a double note, not loud just enough to keep hounds working but not so much that they lift their heads.  

Unfortunately the day was not one of the Scarteen’s best. Chris and Tommy O’Dwyer, who has been the whipper-in for nearly 50 years, worked hard to make a sporting day of it. We covered miles of country but were blank until late in the afternoon. Much of the draw was impassable to horses or we were not allowed to cross on horseback so Chris was on his feet a lot. He made every effort to put hounds in a place to find foxes. The scenting was dreadful. That’s foxhunting.  

However, crossing the country was a thrill unto itself. The first obstacle, jump makes it sound far too gentle and it certainly was not that, was frightening. Horses were falling backwards; riders were losing their hunt caps if not getting dunked in the water-filled ditch one side or the other of an enormous bank. The tree branch hanging over it complicated the landing on the bank but that was nothing compared to the maze of trees on the opposite side that we landed in. We must have jumped 20 obstacles similar to this by day’s end.  It was thrilling; we survived and would do it again in minute. Be early, be quick and do not look at it too long it just gets bigger!!  

The temperature finally started to drop late in the day and the hounds found down along a creek bed. That musical baritone voice of the Kerry Beagle is worth the whole experience. It’s deep and resonates across the country. The damp ground seems to almost swallow the English hounds’ voice, not the “Black and Tans.” The first part of the run we were on the road. Flat steel shoes, no caulks or studs, the surface is wet and we are flying. Hounds push up a hillside into a barnyard; back out again across the ridgeline above another dairy farm.  

Lead hounds have crossed the main road. Chris drives the pack, to them. He did not lift them but harked them on. Reacquiring the line we can hear lead hounds they are about a field ahead of the rest of the pack. The going is very deep and the ditches all have wire on them. The farmer is out with us so we cut our way through but it slows the process down. Chris and Tommy have managed to get through the country and not even leave a mark. They are both well known for that. Hounds fault, the line has broken down. The light is gone so we call it a day. We have six-mile hack back to the meet.  

Day 3  

The Tipperary hounds meet four days a week. Pat 0’Brien, the “Tipps” first whipper-in for 35 years, is in his first year as huntsman. James O’Donnell is the whipper-in. Theirs is a good partnership. Pat’s son Paul is the terrier man. I was fortunate to ride up with Pat for the day to see hounds work first hand.  

Scenting may be ok as it has rained hard two nights in a row; however, it is also blowing a gale that morning. We met at 11 am at Barne outside of Clonmel. Out with 17 ½ couple of English with some Fell and Midland mixed in too. Pat uses mostly his voice in the draw and the horn to pick the hounds up or to drive them on at the open combined with voice.  

In the early draws the fox keeps twisting and turning about the spinneys and hedge rows. Going to ground, Paul drops the black and white terrier and it flies across the field and dives into the den, bolting the fox and giving us a good chase across the country.   

At a fault, Pat moves hounds down wind to find the line and then gives them room to come back up where the fox had actually crossed. He did that several times during the day and the hounds picked up the scent on the wind and then moved with it and toward him to get back on track.  

Late in the day we were on the top of Giant’s Grave drawing a hillside covered with gorse. The fox has all the advantage; this bush can blind a hound with its sharp needles. The wind is howling but hounds find pushing the fox around the hillside. The pack is working this out on its own as the wind overpowers Pat’s voice and horn. The fox pops out at the top of the hill and runs out 50 yards. The wind hit it right on the nose and it turned back into the cover. Hounds started to get the best of it and finally it ran out the far end and away. Hounds are on driving hard across the country. This fox is under pressure and goes to ground about three fields away.  

The last draw of the day we are on the windward side so the hounds can hear Pat encouraging them to work through the gorse. It is so thick that hounds could easily miss a fox. When they find only a couple hounds speak. Pat’s voice is inviting, just enough to keep the hounds trying to work it out. The fox darts across a gap, Pat doubles the horn and cheers them on to the view. Hounds acquire the line and the voice resonates as the pack comes together.  

The fox takes the hounds into an adjoining pine grove. It can’t shake hounds and cuts back and dashes across an open field ahead of hounds, but they are not far behind. We have this fox on its feet and moving. For the next 30 minutes hounds steadily press it in a big circle through Giant’s Grave and back from where it started. Hounds are close on and the fox comes back out of the cover making a straight line across country. Hounds, Pat and James are right on it. We misjudged a fence line with wire on it and the horse and I flip over. We catch up before the run is over. The country is hard to get through, lots of soft spots, hedges and a creek. The fox is gaining the advantage and finally goes to ground about half-mile from where we put it up.  

Day 4  

Last day out with the Kilkenny. Meeting at 11:30 at Mullinavat West. There are 16 ½ couple of hounds. I am riding with Chris and Jim. Another blustery day and the sun is out too. Hard to tell what scent will do. Before the day is over we will jump over 70 ditches and banks a dozen big stone walls and push several foxes hard, one for about 40 minutes and the last for nearly two hours.  

The early draws are spotty, hounds find but can’t hold on to the scent. About an hour into the day we are at the bottom of a long sweeping hillside when hounds find. Charlie darts across a gap in the cover running along the base of the hill. Hounds pick it up and start driving. I am still amazed at how tight a turn the fox will make. However, the hounds are pressing hard enough that Charlie straightens out and makes a run of it.  

Up the steep hillside into the thick undergrowth it goes. There has not been a killing frost for several years so the underbrush is particularly thick. Charlie is zigging and zagging across this country dropping down the hill, running along side. The scenting is spot on and hounds are driving. Chris is using voice and horn to keep encouraging the hounds. If this keeps up were are in for a very good day.  

We are jumping everything that we come to, cutting wire when needed, wiggling through thick hedges onto a bank and off the other side. Finally the fox makes a run for the commercial pine grove at the top of the hill. We are well behind hounds but they are steadily driving. Once in the pine grove we realize that hounds have faulted we pick them up and move on.  

Because the ground is so soft the hunt avoids recasting across the same farmer’s land if at a fault so as not to tear it up anymore than it already has. It takes a crew of six about a day to repair the banks, hedges, cut wire and fields following a day’s hunting.  

The last fox was found at Ger Butler’s. We circled his farm three times. He was on foot and viewed four times, the last time Chris apologized and said he was trying to stop hounds, Mr. Butler uttered a particular Irish expletive and cheered us on. Landowners like that are hard to come by.  

The fox had flashed out of the thick gorse at the lower end of a five-acre rectangular paddock with a double ditch and bank circling its perimeter. In the open ground for a blink of an eye and then back into the hedgerow slinking along the offside ditch. Hounds are on the line hard driving out of the gorse, pushing the fox again. Horses, hounds, riders and the fox are weary, we have been at Charlie for nearly two hours.  

It makes a gambit across an open but boggy field, skating across the surface. The going is heavy for hounds, the light has faded to dark shadows.  The hounds fault at the big oak tree on Walsh’s Farm. We are two fields away cheering and blowing, when hounds cast themselves right, 50 yards past the tree nothing, come back and cast left, again nothing and then on their own jump the ditch and squeeze through thick cover on the bank pushing forward and mark the fox to ground. To finish the trip with that display was a delight. Brilliant hound work, and a testimony that a good pack of hounds is made on the ground not on horse back.