Dogs to the lay person but we’re talking HOUNDS! What a great day this past Saturday! I think the last time I had this much fun watching horses was at the Gold Cup in The Plains and how ironic the comparison! It was a last minute shoot as Joint Master of the Hunt for Old Dominion Hounds phoned me back on Friday night telling me of a hunt the next morning that was a fundraiser to stop the expansion of the power lines out past Foxhall Farm in Flint Hill. I quickly rearranged my schedule, couldn’t find a last minute Directory of Photography so opted to play all the roles myself and “wing it” and it came out beautifully.
ALL my misconceptions about fox hunting and fox hunters were completely dispelled! I have NEVER in my life met a more welcoming, down to earth group of people as in this field! By the end of the day three different people offered me horses to take out if I wanted to try it at some point in the future and MAN!.. do I? Are you kidding the hilltopping experience alone looks like an adrenaline rush and so amazingly fun and the range of ages was incredible! From one year olds on lead lines to who knows how old jumping past the little kids and everywhere in between. When emailing a dear friend and mentor about this she replied that “They are the salt of the earth” and how true!
Needless to say, I am so excited for this next episode “Introduction to Fox Hunting” to launch as well as shoot the series we’re planning. I must say it’s a big thanks to my interview with Robert Banner at The Chronicle of the Horse because our conversation and his passion for fox hunting and point-to-point really lit a fire under me to pursue this intro episode! This oh too cute picture of me shooting video of Gus and field member was titled “Proof that we survived” by this wonderful camera person I met. Karen Myers (along with some kind other folks) sent me some great images captured (as that is all that was captured being the fox got away!) that day. You can see Karen’s fabulous photo journal at http://www.karenlmyers.org/huntingdiary!