USPC Foxhunting International Exchange

The International Foxhunting Exchange is held on a invitational basis, and therefore does not have a regular rotation schedule for its exchanges. The 2007 International Foxhunting Exchange was be held in England. Members of the team flew into Manchester Airport and join the GB contingent in York. Participants will embarked on their journey home from Heathrow Airport. Hunting will be in Yorkshire, in the North of England and Wiltshire, in the South West of the country, with a variety of hunts, all recognized by the Masters of Foxhounds Association. Read below for an article written by Claudia Romeo, a member of the 2007 International Foxhunting Exchange. Click here for more information about the general selection criteria.

International Foxhunting Exchange 2008: Great Britain

by Claudia Romeo, Old Chatham Pony Club

Claudia Romeo, C3-Traditional, Old Chatham Pony Club, NY/Upper Ct. Region,

a member of the 2007 International Foxhunting Exchange.

It occurred to me somewhere between galloping down Britain's oldest racecourse and hunting on white cliffs above the English Channel with my new friends, that the 2008 International Foxhunting Exchange was the experience of a lifetime. For 10 days, fellow Pony Club team members from the US, Ireland, and England met for days of hunting, beagling, kennel tours, riding, and touring famous yards. The American Team was made up of four members Lela Hannagan C-3 from Maryland, Megan Wright C-3 from Ohio, Elissa Gerard B from South Carolina, and me, Claudia Romeo C-3 from New York. Our team chaperone was Rob Kornacki from Kansas. There were twelve of us plus three chaperones on the exchange, which started in York and ended in the Dorset area. Throughout the exchange, I had the chance to hunt with the Middleton and Holderness hunts up north and the South Dorset and Wilton hunts while in the south of England as well as beagling with the Hunsley Beacon Beagles. Although our perfect weather meant poor scenting conditions for many of the days, we had some runs and the stunning countryside kept us all entertained. Unfortunately, the only famous (or infamous) English hedges we got to jump were out hacking in between hunting days, but there were many tiger traps and post-and-rail fences to jump while out hunting. Our mounts were all very well behaved and the host families were extremely generous. Oddly enough, three out of the four different horses I rode were gray mare cobs and the fourth was a very pleasant bay thoroughbred gelding. While on the exchange, we also had many opportunities to socialize with the exchange members from other countries. We had several dinners together and also attended the Middleton Hunt Ball. In order to increase relations and friendships between countries, we did not stay with our own team, but lived with a member from either England or Ireland while with the host families. While there, we were treated to many meals of the local cuisine, which mainly consisted of pigeon, pies, pheasant, and the ever present beef stew. The beef stew became something of a running joke by the end of the exchange because of its popularity. We were also surprised at the number of pheasants that live in the fields and woods of northern England. Out hunting, we would scare up hundreds, and an unfortunate incident ended up with a pheasant in the grill of the organizer's lorry. We dubbed this unlucky bird "Phil the Pheasant", and he became the subject of an amusing poem written and read by our chaperone, Rob, at the master's dinner. At another dinner get together, the teams were each assigned a different country and told to do a tongue-in-cheek interpretation of that country's hunting. This provided many laughs as our American team galloped across the room, posing as the Irish shouting "Give 'im plenty o' wavin and drive

on!" or the Irish pretending to be posh English ladies and gentlemen out for a days hunting. Not to be outdone, the British team mocked the American's peculiar ways out in the hunt field. At the closing dinner, small awards were given out to each of the exchange members. We then provided the entertainment by singing, or shouting in some cases, our own rendition of "Molly Malone" which we learned on the 6-hour coach ride from York to Dorset. All in all, the 2008 Foxhunting exchange led to many international friendships and was an amazing experience for everyone.

General Selection Criteria for the International Foxhunting Exchange

Last modified: February 08, 2008