By Anne-Marie Lacey
The Cedar Knob Hounds opened their 2015 hunting season on Sunday, November 1, 2015 at Foxview Farm, owned by Master and Huntsman Albert Menefee III. It rained all day on Saturday, and more was predicted, so the riders were anticipating a wet start. The day dawned cool and foggy, but the weather cleared in time for the Blessing of the Hounds at nine a.m. Father Breen blessed the seven couple of Penn Marydel foxhounds, and thirty-three riders.
The conditions turned out to be perfect for scenting! Albert drew the first cedar covert behind the farm, and within twenty minutes, Honorary Whipper-in Rob Caldwell tally-hoed a coyote away! The hounds followed it in full cry, ran it for over an hour and a half, and traveled some fourteen miles. The steep rocky hills of the Cedar Knob territory are very challenging, and at the end of that time, Kennelsman and Whipper-In Clare Pinney had run the steam out of her second horse! The field’s mounts were exhausted as well. So Albert collected his tired, happy hounds and the group headed in for a barbeque lunch. Over one hundred guests, including local landowners, were served.
The original Cedar Knob Hounds was a private pack organized by Buck Allison in November 1971, who hunted in Lincoln County, Tennessee. In the early 1980s, this group merged with the Hillsboro Hounds, becoming the Hillsboro-Cedar Knob pack. In November 2008, Albert Menefee III revitalized Cedar Knob Hounds as his own private pack, comprised exclusively of Penn-Marydel foxhounds obtained from MFH Todd “Doc” Addis. Menefee continued the traditional livery of the old Cedar Knob hunt, in which the coats worn by gentlemen members, and lady staff members, are dark green with gold piping rather than scarlet. The Cedar Knob Hounds have hunt territory that spans Giles and Marshall Counties in Tennessee, as well as the old Cedar Knob territory in the Coldwater area of Lincoln County, Tennessee.
As of the 2015-2016 season, Cedar Knob Hounds is now a registered hunt with the Masters of Foxhounds Association (MFHA).
Cedar Knob Opening Hunt 2015
