24 -

Sports

Wednesday, November 13, 1985 ~ North Shore News

Aidergrove fox hunt missing real thing

From Page 17

although it's from
practical plastic instead of
fine sterling.

But two things as in-
digenous to fox hunting as
any of the above were miss-
ing — the snobbery and the
fox.

The FVH is a ‘‘drag’’
hunt where the hounds are
cleverly duped into following
the scent of fox urine rather
than the real thing.

A ‘‘drag-boy’’ just ahead
of the pack lays a predeter-
mined trail over hill and
dale, across rivers and
jumps, through bush and
briar by dragging behind
him a fould smelling rag
soaked in ‘‘eau-de-fox
scent.””

Drag hunting not only is
humane, but it makes for a
good day’s hunting, said
John Twidale, the president
of the FVH and a
veterinarian.

“We know we are going
to find a scent, have a good
gallop and jump some
fences,’’ he explained.

It is the one equestrian
event, he said, where ‘‘there
are no ribbons, no prizes, no
judges — the only thing is to
complete the day and have a
good time.’’

Burt and Robbie Nichols
of Lonsdale Florist agree
that’s what brings them out.

“It's the camaratierie,’’
said Burt. ‘‘We're all out to
enjoy ourselves. Oh, there is
a bit of vying to see who can
be up front but that’s
nothing. We are a group that
basically shares the same
ideas and it’s founded all on

horses."’

For Barbara Beckett of
Langley, it is the thrill of the
hunt. Seeing the hounds in
action, hearing them ‘‘sing
when they’re after the kill’*
that she enjoys.

The hounds, which are
never referred to as ‘‘dogs’’,
diligently follow the preor-
dained path, instead of go-
ing helter-skelter after
another scent, because they
are held in check by
“whips”.

Jennifer Jensen, a whip
who didn’t ride because of a
leg injury from the previous
hunt, said they work on
hand signals, eye contact,
and whenever they are out of
the huntsman’s sight, the
horn.

““As suon as the drag has
stopped we've got to be on
the ball because the hounds
could pick up another
animal's scent and. be on
again.”

Leading the hunt was the
master, Doug Loughran who
shares the honor jointly with
David Graham. Following
behind was huntsman John
Jensen. It is his job to con-
trol the hounds and plan the
hunt.

Traditionally reserved for
men, the scarlet jacket, call-
ed “hunting pinks’’ (not for
the color but because of the
original designer Mr. Pink),
was bestowed on a woman
last year.

The FVH broke away
from tradition and honored
field master Sue Mills with
the privilege of wearing the
‘shunting pinks’? for her
long years of service to the
hunt and the hounds.

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“Ht was our way of poin-
ting her out as a special per-
son,” said huntsman Jensen.

Hills sees fox hunting as a
“courteous sport’? and one
she has been doing since she
was six years old back in
England.

“It’s not snobbish by any
means,’’ added Barbara
Beckett. ‘‘We're all just or-
dinary folk. In other parts of
the world there are different
levels of the hunt club, but
here in the Fraser Valley we
are just a good bunch. Some
people have money, mind
you.””

Yet ‘‘horse poor’? is a well
known term in hunt circles.

There are some people
who would eat Kraft dinner
every night of the week in
order to keep their horses fit
and healthy for the hunt
every Saturday, said Jane

‘Yellow Pages.
Good for business.

Norris, 29, 9 13-year veteran
rider.

Even a casual observer
seeing the pack of hounds
and a full field of riders
thunder past can understand
why the hunt is so much a
part of their lives.

Monetary status is
downplayed. What is impor-
tant, according to the hunt-
sman, is ‘‘good cheer, good
comradeship and good horse
sense,”’

Jane Norris and her
mother, Maureen Pepin,
have been members since
1972 and both are experi-
enced riders. But as Norris
said, no matter how familiar

you are with the terrain or

how good a rider something
unexpected could happen.
Most of the riders are very
good. By the time people get
into fox hunting, they are

usually accomplished
equestrians. And as harmless
as the FVH version is to the
fox, it isn’t so easy for the
riders. The sport demands
great control over the
mount, experience at jump-
ing and thrashing the bush,
and a willingness to risk
your neck.

Although the local version
of the traditional fox hunt
has been adapted to suit the
people and the land, with

much of the highbrow for-
mality gone, it is still filled
with all the color and drama
of an exciting chase.

Every Saturday from now-
until Boxing Day, you can
listen for the baying of the
hounds, the blare of the
bugle, the rush of thunder-
ing hooves, and look for a
flash of red coming through
the forest green because... a
hunting the Fraser Valley
Hunt will go.

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