Article & photos by Gretchen Pelham
Tennessee Valley Hunt (TVH) 2016 Opening Meet and Blessing of the Hounds was held at our Big Valley Fixture in Greeneville, TN on October 28, 2016. We moved our Opening Meet back a week to try for colder weather – and it was 80+ degrees! We did have rain at the fixture on Thursday, so since we were in a 7-inch drought, that bit of rain helped a lot.
Ryan Johnsey, MFH and Prof. Huntsman, hunted 16 ½ couple of Penn-Marydels. We had over 110 people riding and on foot at the event – a record crowd for us! Two tally ho wagons, several four wheelers and farm utility vehicles for the local landowners, and three fields. Several coyotes were viewed, and the pack tried to keep the scent without much result – until we were going in. And then the pack hit hard on a coyote and ran it out of country. The pack was stopped and the riders were only an hour and a half late to the breakfast.
Breakfast was in a tent at our landowners’ house, Dr. Tracy and Debbie Dobbs. Tables were set with a full dinner service for 110, and an open bar. TVH held a silent auction during the breakfast, where the most contested items were a set of bourbon baskets (filled with $400 worth of Kentucky Bourbon) and a basket of Precious Syrah, a Spanish wine aged in used Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon barrels (Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon sells for $3,000 a bottle!) Needless to say, we all had a lovely day.
Tennessee Valley Hunt (TVH) 2016 Opening Meet and Blessing of the Hounds was held at our Big Valley Fixture in Greeneville, TN on October 28, 2016. We moved our Opening Meet back a week to try for colder weather – and it was 80+ degrees! We did have rain at the fixture on Thursday, so since we were in a 7-inch drought, that bit of rain helped a lot.
Ryan Johnsey, MFH and Prof. Huntsman, hunted 16 ½ couple of Penn-Marydels. We had over 110 people riding and on foot at the event – a record crowd for us! Two tally ho wagons, several four wheelers and farm utility vehicles for the local landowners, and three fields. Several coyotes were viewed, and the pack tried to keep the scent without much result – until we were going in. And then the pack hit hard on a coyote and ran it out of country. The pack was stopped and the riders were only an hour and a half late to the breakfast.
Breakfast was in a tent at our landowners’ house, Dr. Tracy and Debbie Dobbs. Tables were set with a full dinner service for 110, and an open bar. TVH held a silent auction during the breakfast, where the most contested items were a set of bourbon baskets (filled with $400 worth of Kentucky Bourbon) and a basket of Precious Syrah, a Spanish wine aged in used Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon barrels (Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon sells for $3,000 a bottle!) Needless to say, we all had a lovely day.
