| October 19th 2005 By ROBERTA STRICKLER The Associated Press LANCASTER, Pa. - Fox hunting is about watching the hounds as they go into a wood or the fields. It's about a beautiful day, said Rob Meissner. The fox is seldom seen and just doesn't get caught, say those who chase this sport. Said Meissner of Wilmington, Del.: "The fun is in watching the hounds chase the fox. You are an animal, seated on another animal, watching two animals at play." River Hills Foxhounds revives a rural sport that flourished supreme in Lancaster County for a hundred years or more. Beginning probably with the iron masters of the northern end, the Furnace Hills crowd in the 18th century, the sport then spread to southern Lancaster County throughout the 19th century. The fox hunt is all about traditions. Coats and whips and even horses and hounds are handed down and cherished for the legends that come with them. Storytellers all. The River Hills group, an old club, calls itself a "farmers hunt" and meets in southern Lancaster County and southwestern Chester County. Doris Paxson has been chasing foxes for 36 years and has never seen a fox killed during a hunt. "Our license from the state says that we are fox chasers, not fox hunters," she said emphatically. "We don't want to kill a fox. We want the fox to go home at the end of the day when we go home, and we all come out another day for the sport of the chase." The River Hills group is well-organized, compared to the original: an early-American farmer setting off on a Sunday afternoon, with his hounds, to see if he can find the fox that has been raiding his chicken yard. His neighbors follow along. It's an outing. A fox hunt is about the hounds, not so much about the fox. The fox knows the territory best of all for he lives there full time. The horsemen and women of the new River Hills club see him as a sort of conniving hero, the competitor who says "Bring 'em on ... I can outwit these noisy hounds till I get tired o' them and then I will pop into my hole." Indeed, the red fox is a Brit, imported in George Washington's time, according to Jim Paxson, huntmaster and joint houndmaster. The native gray fox, says Leo Erb, River Hills joint master, is slow and would just as soon climb a tree as play games with hounds. Erb has watched a playful red fox walk a log, jump out of sequence and head into another direction to confound the pursuing hounds. Erb has been walking the territory between Strasburg and Kirkwood, where he has lived for all of his 80 years. As a young boy he worked for DeMont Skiles, who taught Erb how to breed and train fox hounds. The Skiles family started fox hunting in the River Hills early in the 19th century, congregating with friends on horseback at taverns in Gap, Vintage, New Holland, White Oak, Pequea, Andrews Bridge and other locales around Quarryville. On this late September day, River Hills held one of its first events of the season - "cubbing," so called because there are new puppies and cubs to be educated during the autumn hunts. Corn stalks were still rattling in the fields and the day was pleasant and warm. In such weather, the scent evaporates rapidly. "It's good training for the hounds," said Erb. "They have to keep their noses close to the ground. It's hard work." As a sport, for riders, however, winter is best. "When it's early morning and very cold, then it's fast," said Gregory Paxson, nephew of the huntmaster, riding a young and very spirited horse. The hounds can keep their heads up - when the wind rises, the scent is in the air - and keep going. This autumn hunt is a visual experience. Even without formal red coats, each man wears a shirt and tie. Horses are groomed. But, mostly, the hunt is about listening: Erb knows from the sound of the hounds where they are and what's going on. A full and harmonious bray rises up when they are in a close pack and following a sure scent. Individual yelps rise from here and there when the hounds are separated by dense brush or are meandering, trying to trace a scent. Different sounds come up when they are following a deer, for example, said Winter Stearns, a Conowingo, Md. woman who is one of the whips, the huntmaster's first lieutenants. Trailing after a deer is a no-no for a puppy in training. "We can't abide them following deer or other dogs or other animals," Erb said. After a few mistakes, that puppy will "make somebody a good house pet." The sound of the huntmaster or his whips tells another verse of the audio-story. The traditional horn calls the dogs to the master. "Tally ho" means the fox is sighted. Through distinctive vocal sounds, the huntmaster is keeping the hounds together and, at the same time, lets followers of the hunt know where to find the action. There is a lot of terminology: "Truck-up" or "Pack-up" or "Kennel-up" are commands to dogs to get in the truck or to come together. Words beginning with "Ware" convey ideas quickly to riders: "Warehorse" (beware of a horse nearby), "warefence or wareup" (fence ahead, look ahead). Never call those hounds "dogs." Hounds are counted as "couples." This day there are 14 and a half couples, 29 hounds in all, as well as the human element: four whips, 10 riders in the field and five others who followed in cars, because they were too old or too inexperienced to ride with the field. Courtesy is the name of the game. Everyone has a task. Whips spread out to watch for the fox at the hunt's boundaries and may ride out to pack in the hounds which scatter when the scent is lost. The riders behave carefully and hang back so they won't interfere with the flow of traffic. They may follow along and watch, but are careful to stay out of the way of the real work, which is a demonstration of well-trained hounds. After the hunt, riders share a meal. Food is simple because there's so much to do to get ready: preparing rider, horse, hounds and getting to the meeting spot, known as "the territory." Nancy Williams, who also rides with the Cochran Hunt nearby, speaks of the dedication needed. "You have to get up very early in the morning to prepare yourself, your horse, get him in the trailer and get yourself to the territory. It's a sport," she said. "It's also a commitment." --- Information from: Intelligencer Journal, http://www.lancasteronline.com/intell October 19, 2005 2:31 AM http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/281-10192005-557086.html |
