Middletown Valley Beagles Brought Great Sport to Loudoun Fairfax Hunt!

Never underestimate the cunning of a rabbit!

A foot hunt – no horses! The Middletown Valley Beagles introduced the Loudoun Fairfax Hunt and The Loudoun Hunt to foot hunting on December 28 at the LFH kennels at Overbrook; Hamilton, VA.

The Middletown Valley Beagles masters and staff arrived in style, complete with adorable beagles with huge eyes and long ears. The day was fair and the skies were blue. It was ideal for a walk across open fields, jumping over a few ditches, picking our way through low-lying muddy areas, to observing the hard working beagles, and catching glimpses of smart rabbits.

Their tails pointed up; their noses were to the ground. All at once, there was a symphony of beagle voices alerting us that they were on the scent of a rabbit! My heart skipped a beat with delight. It has been a long time since I have heard hounds work and now I see how much I have missed them. Fond memories flooded my mind.

**As riders, we take hills for granted**

It was a wonderful time to catch up with friends, and business associates whom I never would have expected to be avid fox hunters. We walked, we stopped, we listened and watched. All of a sudden, a rabbit darted out from a thicket, across a large open field and back into a wood. The beagles, in pursuit, stopped at the edge of the thicket to sniff for the rabbit. While they sniffed, their prey disappeared into the woods.

Much like a formal fox hunt, the Middeltown Valley Beagle staff and masters were dressed in their formal attire. Unlike fox hunts where scarlet coats are worn, the masters wore green coats with their club’s colors on the collars. The foot hunters enjoyed watching the beagles work. Their sweet melodic voices brought us to attention. The huntsman and his helpers never stopped walking and running; directing and following the beagles. The huntsman must be extremely fit because he never paused and ran up and down hills, over roads and through ravines.

The beagles were attentive and busy. They were expert sniffers and great communicators. They ran, they sniffed, they listened to the huntsman’s horn. Being much smaller than fox hounds, watching them work put us at a different and more intimate vantage point.

What a great learning experience! In my more than 20 years of fox hunting, I never appreciated the hounds’ work because I was focused on my horse and those near us. On foot, there were no distractions and we got much closer to the action. At the end of the hunt, no rabbits were harmed, three rabbits were discovered with each giving the beagles good sport, and the “hunters” enjoyed an interesting adventure with great camaraderie.