Ms. Beth Blackwell, Huntsman
“Fox hunting is like fiction, everyone is writing their own story," claims Beth. "The day is never the same for any two people. Everyone has their own feelings and memories. One person may think everything went wrong. Someone else may believe it was the best hunt ever. It’s an eyewitness sport. You have a window of experience, your own little reality.”
Beth was a hunter/jumper trainer who was very involved in the show world. She had a show barn for kids. She was also riding some young horses for Herb Schneider who was head of the riding program at Auburn University. One day Herb asked if she would help him take some of his Basset Hounds out to hunt rabbits. Watching those dogs changed Beth’s life.
“When I watched the Bassets do their thing, what they were born for, I was hooked,” said Beth. Herb became her mentor. Soon she left the show ring behind and began foxhunting. She then fell madly in love with the foxhounds too.
Beth has hunted all over the place. Her first hunt was whipping-in to the Hardaway Hounds in Alabama. After a couple of seasons there it was Howard County Maryland, Radnor, PA , Big Sky Hounds Montana, Tennessee Valley, Red Mountain in NC, and DeLa Brooke in southern Maryland. When she was foxhunting with the Tennessee Valley Hunt, two of the Masters, the Whippers-In, and Beth took a pack of hounds (15 couples), 8 horses, the Bassets and joined up with 18 different hunts. They hunted with clubs in Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Montana, and Arizona. The latter was wide open with no cover but very dry which makes it more difficult for the hounds to pick up scent. They viewed a lot of coyotes and offered up an epic adventure as they could see the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.
After working with several hunts Beth decided it was time to settle down and find the perfect hunt club that she could make her home. The Tryon Hounds had everything that Beth was looking for. “They had extremely strong leadership,” Beth said. She was impressed with Bonnie Lingerfelt’s knowledge of foxhunting and hounds.
“I was struck with Bonnie's understanding of the hounds both as working animals and individual needs and personalities,” she explained. “The kennel property was well laid out for an efficient working environment. The Board was organized and the finances were stable. The Riding Members as well as the Social Members seemed down to earth and friendly. The whole package was exceptional.”
In turn, Bonnie was excited when Beth said she needed to see the hounds before she could accept their offer. “No one, not one Huntsman ever asked that question before, “said Bonnie. That question sealed the deal for Bonnie and Tryon’s hounds won Beth over.
Dean McKinney enjoyed riding First Flight behind Beth Blackwell. “With Beth, everything is perfect. You see everything if you keep up. Beth’s hounds are so well trained you can almost always control them using just your voice.” As Beth said, “It’s all about the hounds.”
Find out how many of her favorite fox hounds sleep in Beth’s bed in another weekly Spotlight on Tryon Hound Members.
Jim’s favorite horse was Statesman, an 18-hand Cleveland Bay “super star”. Evelyn had never been a horse girl but she does enjoy the social side of the Tryon Hounds. At the first Hunt Breakfast she attended, Dean introduced himself to Evelyn. Dean smiled broadly and said, “We are so pleased to have Jim hunting with the Tryon Hounds. And he’s so well mounted!”