WE owe a huge debt of gratitude to the horse and hound for creating so many lasting friendships around the world. And none more than between the members of the Genesee Valley Hunt and members of the Killinick Harriers. Numerous Irish hunt followers have hunted with the GVH, and as many more have hunted with the Killinick, they hold a special place for the Traditional Irish Hunter.

There are 170 packs of foxhounds and 10,000 hunt followers in North America, a huge untapped market for Irish hunters. The current president of the Masters of Foxhounds Association of America is Tony Leahy, originally from Oldcastle in Co Meath. He has introduced a novel initiative for his presidency, titled Hark Forward, which is a series of Hound Performance Trials, Field Hunter Trials, Joint Meets and Friendship Stops which has mobilised hunt followers across 34 States.

For my trip to the Genesee Valley Hounds, I had the honour of carrying Wexford stallion master Jack Lambert’s bag (singular). Despite being four score plus in age, Jack is like Superman on a horse, but I can testify that he is also like Superman when it comes to a packing for a week’s holidays. From a tiny bag, he produced a tuxedo for the hunt ball, outdoor wear for going to the races, and casual wear for attending parties. He could be a pin-up for Michael O’Leary in Ryanair!

The Genesee Valley Hunt comes with both a health warning and an endurance warning as I recall the three most memorable hunts in my career with runs of over two hours. One was from Craughwell to Kilcornan when Michael Dempsey was hunting the Galway Blazers, and a similar time on a stag hunt south of Paris with the Rallye Fontainebleau in France. But more recently I was privileged to ride Ann Morss’ Grange Bouncer mare Ashling, and we had a hunt of two hours 56 minutes tracked on a GPS covering nearly 30 miles on a coyote with the Genesee Valley Hunt. Their master and huntsman Marion Thorne is at the height of her profession, and her pack must be the hunting world’s best kept secret. Her husband Travis is whipper-in, and an integral part of the success as they were winners of the Hound Trials at Millbrook recently with their hound Tempo taking the individual honours.

Our host Ann Morss is the chairman and tireless worker of the Irish Draught Breeders Society of North America, which promotes, through a series of events, the Traditional Irish Hunter. Making up an interesting party of visitors was Jack Lambert’s son Tony who is based in Boston and Aidan Suntan O’Connell who had spent the previous month teaching coast to coast across the USA his very popular series of horsemanship courses particularly Riding Safely Across Country to foxhunters. He takes many of them hunting in Ireland, and sources suitable horses for hunting, showjumping, and eventing.

Sean Cully, master and huntsman of the Blue Mountain and Rose Tree Hounds in Pennsylvania, and his son Brady and wife Mary Ann, who I met a few years ago when he was hunting hounds off a smashing Irish Draught, took his pack up to join the Genesee Valley Hounds. And interesting for me having just published a new book, In Search of the Kerry Beagle both packs had some Kerry Beagles, Bridle, Blaze, Beatrix and Bourban from a litter that Richard Roberts of the Middleburg Hounds in Virginia bred.

All mounted on Irish Sport Horses at the Genesse Valley Hunt were Stacy Bennett, Sarah Batzing, on an ISH by the Irish Draught Stallion It's The Luck of The Irish, and Dr Lucien Rouse

FOUR DAYS OF HUNTING

Driving to the hunt on Nations Road, I caught sight of two horses I hunted on previous visits, Ann Morss’ Jumbo, a coloured hunter that has carried multiple Irish visitors, and Ashling, an Irish Draught mare by Grange Bouncer. There were many familiar faces at the meet which began four days of hunting. Sarah Batzing is a great supporter of Traditional Irish Sport Horses, as are Lt Col Martha Wadsworth and Tony Lambert. Also out were Stacey Bennett, and Turner and Sally Boone and Charity and Aaron Donnan, who milk 3,500 cows, who were off to hunt the following week in Ireland. Also hunting were Sarah Stacy, Herbie Wheeler, Sarah Kirk, Doug Hart. Henry Llop, Judge Jock Cleland and his wife Julie, Steve and Annette Strasser.

Hounds found a fox in the Swamp that ran to The Island. The pack swam the river and on through a corn field and were stopped. A second fox in the Sugarbush gave them a good run again across the river and back. It was non-stop hunting as they found again in the Gully and the pack crossed Route 39 in complete darkness but the huntsman got them all back eventually.

My partner for the Par Keys Pub Meet was the lovely Samantha, named after John Barrett’s lead guitarist in Bobs Brothers Band, this 17hh hunter allowed me to admire the wonderful scenery and rustic colours you associate with The Fall in New York state. John’s wife Janice was busy whipping-in.

Lt Col Martha C. Wadsworth, honorary whipper-in to the Genesee Valley Hunt, flies C130 military planes and has hunted with the Killinick Harries and Co Clare Hounds

The meet on Roots Tavern Road was another fast action-packed day with a strong-running coyote that ran through Ann Morss’ Yard into Linda Gibbs’ woods and onto the racecourse by Granger Woods. He ran north into joint-master Martha Wadsworth’s corn but he did a U-turn which was to be his downfall.

At the meet at Shelter Farm in Honeoye, another big black coyote, much bigger than a German Sheppard, was on the run. It was a Coywolf, a cross between a coyote and a wolf. The road whips Ann Morss and Patti Moran were busy on their radios and GPS hound collar trackers as coyotes and hounds crossed some busy roads. Margin, a really impressive foxhound, lead the pack all day and she was so accurate, even holding the line on the roads.

I met May Emerson, Steve and Sally Ashley, and Richard Knight who grows alfalfa, timothy and clover hay in an area of four and a half square miles, mostly in limestone soil. He sells not alone in the USA but also to Europe and the Middle East. Another farming enterprise was the Kyle Brothers’ 4,000-ewe production unit. It was yet another successful day out for the GVH pack.

RACING

I had an added interest in the jumps racing day as my nephew, Ivan Dowling, originally from Loughrea in Co Galway, who hunted Mr Stewart’s Cheshire Hounds in Unionville Pennsylvania for 12 seasons before opening his own livery barn and racing stables, had Whatdidyousee (by Tapit) running. His most recent winner Where’s The Beef, owned by Dr Tim and Nina Gardner, won at Shawan Downs in Maryland, and the New Jersey Hunt Cup with Waterford jockey Mark Beecher up. This meeting is the equivalent of the Breeders Cup for jumps racing at Far Hills in New Jersey which attracted Irish trainers like Gordon Elliot and Joseph O’Brien and Irish jockeys. Archie McCauley, son of West Wicklow Hounds’ master Rupert won the Oxbow Flat Race for Leslie and former champion jockey Paddy Young from Banbridge in Co Down, who is making remarkable progress after his near fatal fall.

Other good friends Skip and Vicki Crawford, masters of the Potomac Hounds, who own Senior Senator (winner of the Maryland Hunt Cup) were there with their daughter Celia. Also racing was Tara Elmore who trains horses in Maryland for George Mahoney, former master of the United Foxhounds in Cork. I met up with keen polo player and creator of the TV series America’s Most Wanted and more recently The Hunt, John Walsh and his wife Reve who is a member of Palm Beach Hounds and Genesee Valley Hounds. So far Walsh has been responsible for bringing more than 1,000 murderers on the run to justice through his TV program. English jockey Haddon Frost won the Martha S. Wadsworth Memorial Race on Jack Fisher’s Preseli Rock, who is by the Irish stallion Flemensfirth.

In all a great weekend – maybe we will do it all again next year!

FACTFILE

GENESEE VALLEY HUNT

Masters: Marion Thorne, Martha D. Wadsworth and W. Austin Wadsworth

Huntsman: Marion Thorne MFH

Whipper-in: Travis Thorne, Janice Barrett, Andrew Chandler, Erica Hutton, Kathleen Kirkwood, Ann Morss and Martha C. Wadsworth.

Field-masters: None, just don’t get in the huntsman’s way!

HISTORY

W. Austin Wadsworth founded the GVH in 1876 on land purchased by Colonel Jeremiah Wadsworth who was commissioned by George Washington during the American Revolution. Having fought the British, he would not allow any hunt follower to wear a red coat, hence the hunt colours of the American Revolutionary Army - dark blue jacket with a buff collar. He remarked: “I’ll be damned if anybody ever sees me in the hunting field in Tory Red.” The country consists of rolling pastures, farmland and woodland, with obstacles mainly coups and post and rails and hounds hunted 125 times last season.