The 2007-2008 Shakerag Hunt season was a seminal year in the history of our club. Shakerag’s long time huntsman, Mr. Rodney M. Swanson, retired after twenty years of service to the club. Another momentous occasion was Shakerag Sequel winning the Centennial Penn-Marydel Champion Dog Hound at the MFHA Centennial Celebration held at Morven Park in Leesburg, Virginia.
The hunting season started the first day of September with the opening of cubbing season and ended in March with the final hunt of the season. We enjoyed superb sport in Rod Swanson’s last year of carrying the horn. The majority of hunting days were filled with the joyous cries of the hounds as they pursued their quarry. Even on those days without long runs, watching the hounds try to work out the line was quite impressive.
In mid-December Low Country Hounds hosted Shakerag and Red Mountain for three days of hunting near Charlestown, SC. In February an away trip to Red Mountain had to be cancelled due to injuries to the staff. The season ended with a retirement dinner for Rod and a joint meet with the Green Creek Hounds. The Hunt Ball, which was held at the Athens Country Club, was a spectacular event.
Mr. T. John Eaton and his soon to be bride, Kelly Barrett, make up the professional hunt staff for the 2008-2009 season. The hounds are being walked out, and the Masters are working closely with John on assessing the pack for the new season. Presently everything looks good, and we (especially the hounds) are looking forward to another impressive season at Shakerag.
We have some exciting away trips planned for the hunt season, and many social and horse activities planned for the summer and fall. We will start with hounds exercise on foot and mounted, followed by the Poker Ride, Hunting Seminar, Landowners Appreciation Day, Hunter Trials, Hunter Pace, and Opening Hunt. The date and times for these events will be disseminated by email.
Tally-ho,
Sally & Dick
Sally Rasmussen, MFH
Richard Washburn, MFH
Shakerag Hounds
A Good Madison County Neighbor
Shakerag Hounds Hunt Club is the proud sponsor of this edition of the Mustang Mayhem. So we asked Mr. Rodney Swanson, Shakerag’s Huntsman, to visit our school and to bring one of the foxhounds. After the students in Mrs. Washburn’s and Mrs. Loftis’ classes came out to pet the hound named Igloo, we asked Mr. Swanson about foxhunting. He said that it was not very hard to train the hounds because they already have the instinct to hunt. He said that the hardest part of training is to teach the hounds what to hunt and not to hunt. We asked Mr. Swanson if he thought hunting was fun, and he said that it was very fun. We tried to ask the fox hound Igloo if chasing foxes and running around all day was fun, and all that came out was a big “Woof”!
To be the Huntsman at Shakerag, you have to know a lot about the feeding, conditioning and breeding of the hounds. You also have to know how to blow a hunting horn because Mr. Swanson communicates with the hounds by blowing different horn calls. The hounds have to be in really good shape because the average speed that the hounds run is 20 miles per hour. Shakerag has about 70 foxhounds, 45 females and 25 males, and that’s a lot to feed at one time, isn’t it? The hounds have really cool names, like Igloo, Seeker, Socket, Rebate, Sequel, Climber and Camper. Mr. Swanson takes out about 40 hounds at a time for each hunt. That’s a lot of dogs! We learned that the hounds are counted in couples, and, of course, a couple is 2. So if Mr. Swanson takes out 40 hounds, he takes out “20 couple”.
Mr. Swanson and the members of Shakerag have to know about horses too, because the entire hunt is done while riding a horse. The riders have a strict dress code because certain things are just safer. Everyone must wear a helmet, and the leaders of the hunt wear red coats so the deer hunters won’t shoot them thinking that the horse is a deer! The hunt goes out on Tuesdays and Saturdays during fox hunting season, which runs from mid October to mid March. The hunts start at 8 AM and last for 3 to 4 hours.
The members of Shakerag Hounds do more than just have fun riding. They also do a lot of things for Madison County, like sponsoring this newspaper edition. Shakerag Hounds also contributes both food and money to the Madison County Food Bank, raises money for Madison County Relay for Life, sponsors a handicapped riding program for the MCMS CBI students, and sponsors Riding for the Cure to raise money for breast cancer research.
If you have any questions or you want more information, you can go the web site, www.shakerag.com.
Annual Hunt Seminar a Huge Success
Some 60 Shakerag members and guests attended the annual hunt seminar on June 23. The group went out for a two hour morning ride to practice field maneuvers for safe riding during a hunt. They practiced reverse field, ware staff/hounds/huntsman, crossing roads safely, opening gates, riding through and around livestock, keeping to the headlands and all of the other riding maneuvers encountered during a normal hunting day.
Afterward the riders came back to the clubhouse for lunch and to learn about foxhunting and the history and traditions of the Shakerag Hounds. Helen and West Hamryka turned out in the summer heat attired in their best hunt clothes to explain correct attire for Shakerag and the functionality and tradition of hunt clothing. Helen also described the various bits and proper tack for horses. Later Rod Swanson and John Eaton brought up two hounds to talk about the PenMaryDel breed and the sport of hunting. Everyone was delighted to meet our Grand Champion Centennial Hound – Sequel, and Samson his handsome younger pack mate. There were many long-time Shakerag members in the audience and they really showed our guests what a teriffic community of friends we have at Shakerag.
The approximately 30 guests who attended received Shakerag calendars and handouts with information about the various discussions from the seminar. It’s possible that we may hold another seminar closer to opening hunt for members and guests who did not have a chance to attend this one.
Shakerag enjoyed an exciting end of the hunt season. The joint meet with Caza Ladron and Red Mountain hounds was written up and published in the March 31, 2006 Chronicle of the Horse. The hunt ball was lots of fun with over 100+ attendees and a record breaking silent auction.
Shakerag has had a busy winter season. The Thanksgiving Day hunt and dinner following had over 60 people for dinner and upwards of 40 riders. The Aden O’Connell riding clinic at the clubhouse was well attended as well as the riding, hunt clinic at Royston. Thanks to Carolyn and Tom Cadier for hosting the breakfast at Royston and putting on the clinic.
The novice hunt was a success with 37 Shakerag members turning out to help with the hunt. There were over 40 non-members hunting that day, some for the first time, and a good time was had by all. The hunters and guests had a great breakfast prepared and donated by Doug Bridges. The weather cooperated and the tally-ho wagons riders had a nice day. Thanks to Chris and Wayne Thrush and all the other volunteers that made the event sucessful.
The masters’ breakfast at the clubhouse following the New Year’s Day hunt was a success with over 130 people enjoying a delicious breakfast of traditional southern fare.
The hunt at the new Long Creek fixture was a great day. The hounds ran a grey fox for over 2 hours and the field, led by Daryl Buffenstein, did a great job helping the staff. The neighbors, from around the Long Creek fixture, roasted a pig that had been caught on the property. It was melt in your mouth good!
Thanks are due to all the members and friends of Shakerag that make these exciting events possible
