Chasin'

With the soggiest August on record behind us and the second week in September requiring the evacuation of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and other cities along the Susquehanna River because of the continuing rainfall, a window of opportunity briefly opened Monday, Labor Day, to officially kick off the start of cubbing with Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds (Unionville, Pennsylvania) under a cloudy, but dry, sky.  Members of the Hunt parked their rigs at St. Malachi Church, an ancient chapel high on a hill overlooking the Buck and Doe Run Valleys.

From there, riders hacked to the front lawn of Runnymede, a farm that includes strenuous hills and wide, open meadows.

Some seventy riders, including seventeen children, and numerous car followers followed the staff and field down Creek Road where the Huntsman cast the hounds and immediately found a fox.  Hounds followed diligently and eventually the fox was seen crossing the meadow at the crest of the hill, disappearing into dense trees and shrubs, confounding the Hounds.  

Only a little later, very dark clouds moved into the area, a drizzle commenced and shortly there was a torrential rainfall.

Close to roads leading back to the meet, some riders chose to return to their trailers, but once wet, many others decided to carry on.  Truth to tell, it had been so warm that morning that many had bemoaned the requirement of wearing a jacket, but once the rain fell and clothes were soaked, it was refreshing.  Calling it a day, as the rain and gloom lifted, the Huntsman led hounds and riders back to the meet, and an awaiting Hunt Tea with hot coffee and home-baked breakfast cakes.   

Young foxes are tumbling out of the den, playing with grasshoppers, learning the ways of their neighborhood. So it goes with foxhounds who were born last year, making their debut with the pack and following their elders who mastered the intricacies of the chase in prior years. The Huntsman and Whipper-In have worked with the puppies since the day they were born, teaching them rudimentary manners. Under the watchful eye of the hunt staff, they have ventured outside the confines of the kennels, into the fields and brush, watching and mimicing the older hounds as they find and follow a scent. Among the things that are being reinforced are obedience to the Huntsman as they must learn to go as a group, not willy-nilly across the countryside.  Hunting is a large-country sport and the distances over which the Huntsman, the fox and the hounds traverse are vast. Inevitably, hounds have travelled further than a voice can carry so the Huntsman communicates with the hounds, staff and the field with different calls on the hunting horn.  Just as your dog learns to “Come” on command in your own yard, hounds are learning “come to me, come to me” through the language of the horn.

As they graduate to the next level of their education, they encounter mounted riders who join the “walk” early in the morning, meeting on the kennel lawn. While some hunts train their hounds without a “field” trailing behind, Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds has made a practice of inviting members and their children, as well as members of the community at large, to join this “walk around the block” three days a week. Each time out the Huntsman asks a little more of the hounds and goes a little further so that by September first the pack is actually ready to begin searching for its quarry in earnest.

Houndwalking with Cheshire commences the first Tuesday after the Fourth of July at 7:00 in the morning, just as the sun is rising and the mist is lifting from the meadows.

Day One

Day Two

Day Three

Day Four

A pack of eight and a half couple (children, not hounds) met on the kennel lawn early mornings this past week to learn the basics of Foxhunting.  Led by the Huntsman and the Whip, the pack learned basic hunting etiquette, how to avoid accidents in the field (holes, slippery roads and wire fences) and the language of the hunting horn in the classroom, improving their riding cross-country and over jumps in mounted sessions.  Riding abilities and reasons for loving the sport ranged widely but the group was united in its enthusiasm.

Cheshire campers are introduced to Ivan Dowling, Huntsman, and Stephanie Boyer, Whip, at the Kennels.

"Aunt Wendy" ("Grandmom" to one camper) ably led the group through introduction to the staff and hounds, supported by a large contingent of volunteers from the community.

Ivan Dowling, Huntsman, talked about the hounds before releasing them from the kennels onto the lawn.

Out onto the Lawn.

Ivan moves the hounds out into the open, allowing them to settle, before introducing the children to the hounds (and the hounds to the children).

Who's more excited? The children or the hounds?

Face to Face.

Jack gives the huntsman's horn a good toot and finds it's harder to get more than a "pffffttt" than it seems.

Day Two, riding out from the kennels towards Plantation Field.

A leisurely ride, down the hill, toward Apple Grove Road.

My coach always says I should ride loose and kick on like a kid - is this what she means?

Two members of Work to Ride joined the Cheshire camp for the week to learn the art of foxhunting.

Working on jumping skills.

Returning to the kennel lawn after cross country.

Impromptu races prior to the beginning of Day Three Cross country skills session.

Campers and chaperones ride further afield on Day Three.

Leaza Dowling, stable manager for Cheshire, gave a quick lesson in "doing up" a pony for turn out on hunting day.

Campers polished their own jumping skills while waiting for sit-down classroom work to resume.

Day Four - A Gymkhana followed by a Pool Party at Aunt Wendy's.

2011 Class Picture - Mr. Stewart's Cheshire Foxhounds Camp

The other evening the Delaware Valley Point to Point Association wrapped up its competition schedule with a dinner party, an impromptu fiddle concert and end of the season awards under the stars, which you could see until the thunderstorm arrived.

Picnic on the lawn at the home of Don Cochran and Pat Branum

Paddy Neilson, (l) and Billy Meister (r), both multiple winners of the Maryland Hunt Cup, the penultimate Steeplechase race, watch a replay of this year's Hunt Cup. Videos of this years point to point series played all evening to the delight of participants and spectators alike.

John Brophy, overall winner of the Large Pony races, excels at fiddling AND horsemanship.

Awards presented were those for:

*Leading Rider – won by William Meister;

*Overall Horse – won by Sky Count, owned by Daniel Baker and ridden by William Meister;

*Small Pony – One Stinky Pony ridden by Katie Hindt;

and

*Large Pony – Prince Caspian ridden by John Brophy.

A special “mystery” guest was Rosie Napravnik, leading jockey at Delaware Park, ranked eighth in the nation who, with her fiance, took an evening to present awards to up and coming riders, some young enough to have been toddlers when she was competing locally

Awards Master Carl Meister (l) and Rosie Napravnik (r)

Rosie is a “graduate” of the Delaware Valley Point to Point Association pony races, having raced her pony “Brownie” up and down the mid-Atlantic region before aging out at 16.  She and her older sister, Jazz, now a trainer in Maryland,  dominated Pony Racing year end awards for years.  It was impressive that she would take the time to give a boost to the sport, come to a party where there would be some old friends but a large number of strangers, and be so at ease, so charming.

Winners in the season's Pony Races pose with Rosie and their awards

In talking with Lauren Giannini (Sidelines blogger at Lauren Gallops) I learned that this was not the first instance where Rosie is giving back.  On May 22, Rosie and Jazz competed (against each other, no less) in the Beat Up Cup, the alumni race of the North American Point to Point Association Championships (http://www.naptp.com/) .

Rosie on the left and Jazz on the right at the start of the "Oldtimer's" Race. Photo by Lauren Giannini.

All in good fun, Jazz beat out her sister with a second place finish over Rosie’s seventh.  But more to the point, she continues to participate in the steeplechase even as she vaults to the top in flat racing.

Rock On, Rosie!

Two weeks ago tonight a fire destroyed the barn housing horses trained by Boyd Martin on the ground floor and employees on the second.  In the days that followed the community was numb with the aftermath, the loss of lives of horses, the injuries, the immediate need of the human survivors for a somewhere to live and something to wear.  Everyone knew someone intimately who had lost something dear.  Ever mindful of the irreplaceable, friends moved into action to take care of the practical.  Among many others throughout the country, a “boots on the ground” fundraising effort was begun in anticipation of the Horse Trials planned for Plantation Field in Unionville this past weekend.  Phone call and email solicitations for contributions to a bake sale were sent out and resulted in a table overflowing with cupcakes, snickerdoodles, cake and brownies.  Priced to sell at “donation”, business was brisk and resulted in a first day total of over $1000.  The second day recovery is as yet uncounted.  I personally ate a brownie with peanut butter drizzle, its purchaser informing me that it was a $40 tray of brownies – worth it?  Quite tasty.

The best thing of all, however, was to see Boyd Martin look to the future with four horses competing at the Novice level through Preliminary.  Boyd completed the day with two firsts, a fourth and a ninth place finish beginning a new phase “after’ the event.

To donate to the recovery effort using paypal you can go to http://eventingnation.com/home and look for the Donate button on the right hand side of the Home Page.

Pony racing at the local Point to Points is always a high point of my spring.  I love to watch the kids before the race when they are gathered in a circle around the steward going over the rules while a sibling, parent or friend walks the pony around the paddock;  I love to watch the kids get on their ponies and head off to the start behind the outriders; and mostly I love to watch them run to the finish with an intensity and competitive spirit that transcends their young age.  This year at the Plumsted Races the competition was fierce and friendly.

The local Point to Points are frequently an incubator for future jockeys, owners and trainers.  You get the bug early and you can’t leave it behind.  This year the female jockey at the Kentucky Derby, Rosie Napravnik, has Unionville connections that go back to her days as a pony jockey in those same Point to Points.  Her older sister, Jazz, now a trainer in Maryland and a former pony jockey herself, lived in Unionville where  Rosie joined her and galloped for Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Shepperd at the tender age of thirteen.  Rosie then left for Maryland to work with trainers there and later found a home at Delaware Park, about a half an hour distant, where last year she was the leading rider.

At the Fair Hill Races in spring 2000 she rode her pony in the races there and then, back at the barn with her friends, showed us how she had been taught to vault onto her pony by big sister Jazz.  It was an extraordinary performance.  She was so light and lithe.

The following year at the Pennsylvania Hunt Cup in the fall she was helping with the horses in the paddock.

I have succumbed to Kentucky Derby fever this year because of Rosie Napravnik, the female jockey aboard Pants on Fire who drew the number seven spot.  Racing in the hot pink and orange silks of owners George and Lori Hall she will be hard to miss.

Spring in Aiken is unfolding in all its glory.  Azaleas are in bloom, Banksia roses are open, the city has become a haze of lavender Wisteria.  The cold of winter not so long ago has given way to days of 80 degree weather and the night temperatures are above 50 – no more blankets.  Reports from Pennsylvania are that mud has made everything difficult – muddy horses, muddy blankets, mud at the trough, mud that sucks the shoes right off your feet.  Here in Aiken, no mud, just sand.

In some sections of town, the time of day is defined by the horse – early morning work-outs before the heat of the day.  All of the photographs here were taken within a one mile radius,  a one hour time frame.  They are not unique – Aiken’s charms can be seen any spring morning.

Coker Spring Road

The entrance to Hitchcock Woods at Coker Spring Road and Newberry Street

Cottage on Newberry Street with Carolina Jessamine

House on Laurens

Hayne Avenue Magnolia with Wisteria

Pink azaleas at The Pink House

The Stables at The Pink House

Grace Avenue at Whiskey Road

Practice on Whitney Field, Grace Avenue

Heidi White Carty on Davignbrook shares the Whitney Field with the Polo players

Heidi White Carty heads back to the barn after the workout

Two Notch at Grace

Grace at Marlboro

Legacy Stables at Two Notch

The Aiken Training Track

Mead Avenue

Mead Avenue solitude

The Track Kitchen

Magnolia Street residents have their priorities in order

Richland Avenue azaleas

Several weeks ago when I was the photographer at Sporting Days March Horse Trials, late Sunday afternoon featured the Beginner Novice and Tadpole Division starters finishing their Eventing debuts with the cross country phase.  I was struck by how many horses were getting their first serious start at Eventing that afternoon, piloted by some of the most capable in the sport.  I’ve put together a collection of photographs of these Beginner Novice horses paired with their same riders at Intermediate and Advanced events over the last year or so.  I think it is fun and I hope you do, too.

BECKY HOLDER

Becky Holder on Show Biz

Becky Holder with Courageous Comet at the 2010 Rolex Kentucky Three Day Competition

Carol Kozlowski

Carol Kozlowski on Hideaways Ness

Carol Kozlowski on Mr. Snuffleuffagus at the 2010 Fair Hill Three Day

Doug Payne

Doug Payne on Popcorn

Doug Payne with Running Order at Pine Top Spring Advanced Trials, 2010

Emily Beshear

Emily Beshear on Moose

Emily Beshear with Here's to You at Pine Top Spring Advanced Horse Trials, 2011

Erin Renfroe

Erin Renfroe with Hakuna Matata

Erin Renfroe with Glacier Bay at Paradise Farm Horse Trials, 2010

Erin Sylvester

Erin Sylvester with Peace Proposal

Erin Sylvester, No Boundaries, Pine Top Spring Advanced Horse Trials, 2011

Julia Wendell

Julia Wendell with Molten Rock

Julia Wendell with Cavendish at Sporting Days March Horse Trials, 2011, earlier in the weekend

Julie Wolfert

Julie Wolfert with Perfect Sleeper

Julie Wolfert on Wonderee Banger at the Pine Top Spring Advanced Horse Trials, 2011

Kristin Schmolze

Kristin Schmolze with Teenie

Kristin Schmolze with Cavaldi at the Fair Hill Three Day Event, 2010

Mikki Kuchta

Mikki Kuchta with Divine Testimony

Mikki Kuchta with Balmoral Tim Tram at the 2010 Jersey Fresh

Tara Ziegler

Tara Ziegler on Incredible Spirit

Tara Ziegler with Buckingham Place at the 2010 Rolex Kentucky Three Day

My favorite photograph of the day is Kristin Schmolze at the second to last jump on the course, 5 on Sunday afternoon at the end of a very wet, very cold weekend,  with a radiant smile.  Many thanks for that.

The Waffle House Restaurant, Whiskey Road, Aiken, SC

Anyone driving through the South is familiar with that little box with the yellow roofline placed strategically at every interchange of every major highway.  While some might characterize The Waffle House as Cheeze Whiz to aged Cheddar, I, for one, am smitten with their Pecan Studded Waffles (877,388,027 waffles served since 1955) and have become a regular breakfast customer.  There are three Waffle House restaurants within five miles of my home in Aiken so I can stop on any of my errands to Walmart (two of those in Aiken, too), the tack shop or the feed store for a quick bite to eat.  But, a romantic candle lit Valentines dinner for two at the Waf?  Reservations needed, no less.  Three weeks ago I signed my oh-so-game husband up for a dinner for two and off we went on Valentines Day for a 6:30 dinner date.  While we waited to be seated, we were served Sweet Tea (this is the South, after all) and chatted with the hostess.  We had brought a bottle of red wine hoping that this might be a BYOB opportunity but management wasn’t so sure whether that would work so the bottle got stowed back in the truck.  Light fixtures over the counter had been draped with gauze to create an intimate atmosphere.  Dinner was served on a red table cloth (plastic) and there were candles thoughtfully placed in a heart shaped bowl.  They’d even placed a cup of candy hearts at each table.  Included with dinner was a custom photo of the happy couple (us!) printed right off by the manager on a mini-printer brought into the restaurant for the occasion.  We had a tasty dinner, in and out in a half an hour, service was great, ambiance was pretty good, too.  Fun and different.

The Menu

The Decor

Taking a souvenir photograph

The Hostess and the Manager provided a cheery entre to the evening.

Among Waffle House Regulars, Valentines Day doesn’t appear to hold as much sway as New Years or Christmas, but we had a pretty good time and would recommend you try it yourself sometime.  See you there next year.

An old friend of mine who was Co-DC of a Pony Club with me in Pennsylvania moved to Aiken several years ago.  She came to town knowing not a soul but she did come with a horse and a pony.  The horse was a retired three-day event horse which had belonged to a member of the family; the pony was her daughter’s surgery pony when her daughter was in vet school.  The pony was basically un-broke but my friend took driving lessons, persevered and now Cindy is broke to drive and she goes out on excursions around town.

On a quiet Sunday morning in Aiken my friend and another pony driver met at The Green Boundary, a large estate on Whiskey Road which adjoins the horse district, parked their trucks and tacked up their ponies for a drive through downtown.  My horse being a been “there done” that sort of dude rounded out the threesome, although I was mounted.

Nifty and I enjoy the soft pathways maintained exclusively for horses in Aiken.

To get from my barn to The Green Boundary requires me to cross Whiskey Road, which is a very busy thoroughfare.  Fortunately, the town fathers and mothers have thoughtfully placed a button to push to change the light – the button being placed at such a height, and back enough from the road, that you can push it while on your horse.

How do you cross a busy intersection while on a horse?

Theresa tacks up Cindy, the Green Boundary in the background.

Both driver and passenger here are named Judy. The carriage in the foreground is called a Grasshopper.

The pony being an itty bitty thing is named Knee High.

All ready to go, we set out on the sandy roads - Knee High set to a Grasshopper, followed by Cindy set to a governess cart.

By ordinance, all roads in the horse district are and will remain sand. Horses, cars and trucks share the roads, with horses having the right of way.

Leaving the horse district, we cross South Boundary Avenue, another busy road, and enter the residential district.heading to Colleton Avenue, a parkway with trees, grass and shrubbery on the median.  Sand gives way to macadam and housing gets more dense.

Colleton Avenue

There aren't many places anymore where ponies traversing the downtown streets of a city barely get a glance from passers-by.

Knee High makes a turn for home.

Almost home.

Once a Pony Mom always a Pony Mom - Theresa gives Cindy a big hug.