Thanksgiving tradition afield

MILLBROOK, N.Y. — A gathering of more than 60 horses and riders assembled for the Millbrook Hunt’s Thanksgiving Day meet on Fraleigh Hill in Millbrook.

They were accompanied by friends, family members and well-wishers enjoying the spectacle of beautifully turned out riders in formal dress and horses with braided manes and tails.

While the Millbrook Hunt often has a few foot-followers, the Thanksgiving Day meet always draws a large crowd, for the obvious reason that so many people having family gatherings afterward.

Many of the spectators communed with the hounds. Though the hounds are sporting dogs and not family pets they are extremely friendly and seemed to love the attentions of the children.

Like so many sports, hunting has its own lexicon. For the uninitiated, the following is a short description of the terms and traditions associated with foxhunting.

First of all, they’re hounds not dogs. And the red riding coats are sometimes referred to as pinks, but more often as scarlet. These are worn by the masters of the hunt, the staff and men who have “received their colors.� Colors is how at a quick glance you can tell if someone is a member of a hunt in good standing. You get colors when you’ve proven your dedication and knowledge of the sport.

When a man gets his colors, he wears a scarlet coat. When a woman gets her colors, she puts a distinctive colored cloth (Millbrook’s is forest green) on the collar of her black riding jacket.

Guests of the hunts and uninitiated members wear plain black jackets. When you get your colors you also put buttons that have the insignia of your hunt on the jacket. Each hunt has its own colors and insignia.

As in so many areas of life, there is a pecking order to the hunt. These strata are called flights.

In first flight, you’re riding just behind the field master who is leading the field who is following the huntsman and his hounds. The field refers to all the riders on horseback.

The huntsman leads the hounds from the meet in the direction he hopes to find a scent trail. If the hounds cannot pick up a scent, then there is no chase. That is called a blank day. Experienced members of the hunt will say they can tell whether the pack is chasing a fox  (they’ll run around in circles) or a coyote (they generally follow  a fairly straight line or a much bigger circle).  

First flight should be the most experienced riders, the members of longstanding on horses that can keep up. These are riders and horses that can jump.

Second flight is for riders who want to be in on the action but maybe want to go a little slower or not jump.

And then there is hilltopping. This group is great for people who want to experience the hunt but not be in the fray or for a rider with a green (inexperienced) horse that needs to be introduced to the hunt slowly.

Hilltoppers sometimes ride behind second flight but often take a completely different route, observing the action from a distance.

The whippers-in, or whips for short, don’t follow the huntsman. They serve to contain the hounds. Four or five whips will go out in different directions, like the wings on a hockey team, the huntsman being the center. They are in effect encircling the area in which the huntsman is working the pack.

The hounds bred by the Millbrook Hunt are American foxhounds, with a strong emphasis on the Pennmarydel type, which is known especially for it scenting ability and melodious cry. These hounds are traded between hunts but never bought or sold.  

The Millbrook Hunt has been in continuous operation since 1907. And more significantly, hunting the same country for 100 years.