PrintNEVER OUTFOXED--IN FULL CRY. Hardaway Documentary c/o Tish Ray, 129 Mattox Rd., Newnan, GA 30263. 770-251-3436. Videotape. 174 min. $49.95.
Making a movie about a foxhunter like Ben Hardaway had to have been a daunting--some might say impossible--task. He's absolutely larger than life. And, to make this assignment tougher, Hardaway makes no bones about the fact he's bred his "dogs" for more than 50 years to kill, not just chase, fox, coyote and bobcat.
Perhaps that's why this self-described "comprehensive documentary about legendary foxhunter and hound breeder Benjamin H. Hardaway III" can't seem to decide what it is.
It's certainly a no-holds-barred testimonial to the man who reshaped American foxhunting in the second half of the 20th century.
But it also tries to be a textbook on foxhound breeding and care, in the main 110-minute body, in a 10-minute addendum called "Tour The Midland Kennels," and another 15-minute addendum called "Breeding A Pack Of Crossbred Hounds."
Plus, the producers never seem sure of their audience. Was it to be a memorial for the dozens of friends and fans who underwrote the production costs (allowing proceeds to benefit the Masters of Foxhounds Association), so they could forever remember their hero? Was it to be instructive to foxhunters who'd never been lucky enough to meet the man or hunt behind him? Or was it for a wider audience, to be educational or inviting to outdoor types or to riders who'd never hunted?
The producers seemed to want to make it all things to all people, and so it goes on for just too long, with narration that's overdone and at times simply incorrect or improper. The narrator describes Hardaway as "infamous" (actually, he's "famous"), his hounds as "voracious," and the field as "Midland's red-coated majesty." Ugh.
Still, there are lovely parts to this movie. The marvelous photographic and audio work on the numerous hunting scenes often gives a vibrant sense of what it's like to follow hounds. The testimonials and remembrances by people like Hardaway's wife Sara, son-in-law and Jt.-MFH Mason Lampton, Daphne Wood, Henry Hooker and a score of others are captivating and enjoyable. And the scenes of Hardaway, now 84, hunting, feeding or just walking among his hounds give a sense of his genius, of his connection to his hounds and to his sport.
Foxhunters--whether or not they had the chance to follow the legend in search of a quarry--will find sections of this movie to love. But Hardaway's 1997 autobiography Never Outfoxed, which inspired this movie's production, is the work you'll want to keep more.
John Strassburger
HERBAL HORSEKEEPING. Robert McDowell & Di Rowling. Trafalgar Square Publishing. No. Pomfret, VT 05053. Hardcover. Illus. 288 pp. $35.00.
Homeopathic remedies for ailments both human and equine are gaining a foothold in medical circles. No longer are homeopaths derided for being from the world of granola crunchers, and no longer are herbs something used only for cooking.
Authors McDowell and Rowling have written a thorough and detailed book about herbalism. The authors also differentiate between the use of herbs for the general riding horse, the high performance horse and breeding stock.
Making a movie about a foxhunter like Ben Hardaway had to have been a daunting--some might say impossible--task. He's absolutely larger than life. And, to make this assignment tougher, Hardaway makes no bones about the fact he's bred his "dogs" for more than 50 years to kill, not just chase, fox, coyote and bobcat.
Perhaps that's why this self-described "comprehensive documentary about legendary foxhunter and hound breeder Benjamin H. Hardaway III" can't seem to decide what it is.
It's certainly a no-holds-barred testimonial to the man who reshaped American foxhunting in the second half of the 20th century.
But it also tries to be a textbook on foxhound breeding and care, in the main 110-minute body, in a 10-minute addendum called "Tour The Midland Kennels," and another 15-minute addendum called "Breeding A Pack Of Crossbred Hounds."
Plus, the producers never seem sure of their audience. Was it to be a memorial for the dozens of friends and fans who underwrote the production costs (allowing proceeds to benefit the Masters of Foxhounds Association), so they could forever remember their hero? Was it to be instructive to foxhunters who'd never been lucky enough to meet the man or hunt behind him? Or was it for a wider audience, to be educational or inviting to outdoor types or to riders who'd never hunted?
The producers seemed to want to make it all things to all people, and so it goes on for just too long, with narration that's overdone and at times simply incorrect or improper. The narrator describes Hardaway as "infamous" (actually, he's "famous"), his hounds as "voracious," and the field as "Midland's red-coated majesty." Ugh.
Still, there are lovely parts to this movie. The marvelous photographic and audio work on the numerous hunting scenes often gives a vibrant sense of what it's like to follow hounds. The testimonials and remembrances by people like Hardaway's wife Sara, son-in-law and Jt.-MFH Mason Lampton, Daphne Wood, Henry Hooker and a score of others are captivating and enjoyable. And the scenes of Hardaway, now 84, hunting, feeding or just walking among his hounds give a sense of his genius, of his connection to his hounds and to his sport.
Foxhunters--whether or not they had the chance to follow the legend in search of a quarry--will find sections of this movie to love. But Hardaway's 1997 autobiography Never Outfoxed, which inspired this movie's production, is the work you'll want to keep more.
John Strassburger
HERBAL HORSEKEEPING. Robert McDowell & Di Rowling. Trafalgar Square Publishing. No. Pomfret, VT 05053. Hardcover. Illus. 288 pp. $35.00.
Homeopathic remedies for ailments both human and equine are gaining a foothold in medical circles. No longer are homeopaths derided for being from the world of granola crunchers, and no longer are herbs something used only for cooking.
Authors McDowell and Rowling have written a thorough and detailed book about herbalism. The authors also differentiate between the use of herbs for the general riding horse, the high performance horse and breeding stock.
