The members of Chula Homa Foxhunt hosted members of the Oak Grove Hunt Club to a joint meet on February 19, 2011 at their hunt fixture near Canton MS. Also guests that day were four members of the Tulane Equestrian Team, none of whom had ever been on a fox hunt. One of the members of the Tulane Equestrian team declared, “Before today I didn’t know what fun was!”
The weather was unusually warm for mid-February: sunny with highs in the 70’s; great weather for a leisurely trail ride, but not conducive to the necessary good scenting conditions and fast pace needed for fox hunting.
Master and Huntsman Sue Skipper “excused coats” for the riders, thus no one was in heavy wool Pinques. Many of the horses were trace clipped. But as Sue said,” The hounds can’t take off their winter coats.”
The hounds had needed their coats the previous weeks for protection from the record number of snow falls this winter. Indeed, just two weeks before, a joint meet for the two clubs in Oak Grove’s hunt country had been canceled because the roads were too icy for safe hauling. Everyone knew this warm spell was just a fluke.
Scenting conditions were not optimum. Hot air rises and scent evaporates quickly, and dry air exacerbates the problem. In spite of this the hounds did well in this heavily wooded area. There was plenty of fast-paced action. Hound music reverberated through the thick underbrush that is criss-crossed by wide, well-pruned paths with excellent footing.
It is difficult to see the elusive fox in such a dense forest, much less catch him. Sue drew several coverts and the pack struck every time for short but fast runs, once almost chasing the quarry out of the territory.
After several hours Sue called in the pack and the riders retired to Chula Homa’s “Too Cute” club house for a sumptuous feast and the chance to swap stories about their fox hunting experiences. Oak Grovers will have a chance make up for the previous “ice out” and host the Chula Homa members to a fox hunt later in the season.
