Years of evolution have gone into creating the Calf Pasture Bassets.

My hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind,
So flewed, so sanded; and their heads are hung
With ears that sweep away the morning dew;
Crook-kneed, and dew-lapped like Thessalian bulls;
Slow in pursuit, but matched in mouth like bells,
Each under each.
                         -William Shakespeare
                          

Perhaps the concept of a pack of Bassets appeared likewise in the dreams of a young girl called “Jeep” and evolved through a lifelong interest in hounds and hunting into the Calf Pasture Bassets.

The love affair began with Jeep’s mother’s hound, Jerry Basset, followed by Beau Basset.

MBH Evelyn “Jeep” Ledyard Cochran recalled taking Beau to Cape Cod on childhood vacations. “We laid a drag for her over the countryside. We probably used old rotten chicken or something equally disgusting,” she said with a chuckle. “Then a bunch of kids and I would set her loose and chase after her. She didn’t go too fast, I can promise.”

When Jeep Ledyard married Peyton “Skip” Cochran, her friend Dede Pine gave the couple Hilda Basset for a wedding present. The Cochrans lived in the heart of Maryland’s Green Spring Valley Hounds hunting country, and both were avid foxhunters. Still, a dormant interest in Bassets as hunting hounds lingered.

“Although foxhunting was primary in my life at the time, I thought it would be fun to have two or three Bassets to hunt rabbits when the foxhounds weren’t going out,” Jeep said. “I bred Bertie and got Barton, and suddenly I had my pack…of two.”

Charles and Meena Rogers had an active foot pack nearby called the Timber Ridge Bassets. “Meena was kind enough to encourage me and invited me to bring my hounds,” said Jeep. “What a joke; mine were completely hopeless.”

Then as things are wont to happen in the country, a neighbor heard of Jeep’s interest in Bassets and showed up at Calf Pasture with her two, Abby and Heidi.

“These were not the AKC variety that I had had growing up. These were hunting Bassets, and they were fabulous hunting fools. It took a while, but finally I persuaded the neighbor to sell them to me,” said Jeep.

She was hooked, but she is quick to credit all the help and camaraderie of other Basset aficionados. Meena Rogers took her to the Aldie Trials (Va.) and introduced her to Elizabeth Streeter and her Skycastle Hounds (Pa.). Jeep also got to know Jimmy Jones and his Tewksbury Foot Bassets (N.J.) and was befriended by Betsy Park, MBH of the Sandanona pack (N.Y.).

In addition, the legendary huntsman of the Green Spring Valley Hounds, Les Grimes, took an interest in the development of the Calf Pasture pack, giving Jeep a primer in hunting hounds. Grimes followed behind the foot pack, always observing, always encouraging, always critiquing.

“Mrs. Cochran has developed as a huntsman,” said Grimes. “When she started, she tried to do it all. Now she leaves her hounds alone. I don’t mean that she doesn’t hunt them, but she lets them find the rabbits for
themselves. The hounds do most of the work; they figure it out for themselves. She directs them and disciplines them to hunt as a pack, but mostly she leaves them alone to do the hunting.

“I hope I helped her out some,” he added. “Mostly I taught Mrs. Cochran about conformation and how important it is to hunting, same as with foxhounds.”

Not Just For Show

A hunting Basset is far different from the AKC show hound. A good hunting hound differs greatly in conformation and must possess a good nose, drive, great voice, bidability and the nature to hunt as a pack.

“None of the 14 active hunting packs in America are AKC today,” Jeep explained. “The show variety may weigh, for example, close to 100 pounds; the hunting average is 30 to 40 pounds. The AKC are very low to the ground, while our hounds have longer legs and a fluid way of moving in order to cover ground in pursuit of the quarry.

“Hunting is instinctive with our hounds. All the whips and I do is make sure that the puppies stick with the old hounds. We don’t want an independent hound; each must fly to the hound that opens. If one doesn’t tow the line, I can’t keep it because it will mess up the whole pack.”

To develop these characteristics, Jeep noted, wryly, “Having a pack of two or three hounds to hunt just
doesn’t cut it. You always need more hounds, and you need better hounds. So, what do you do? You start to breed, of course.

“And that’s not so easy. You may go, for example, to the harrier hound from England for nose and drive but then lose some of the Basset cry and the wonderful long ears and domed head. The trick, of course, and what we [the masters and huntsmen of all the Basset packs] strive for is to get it all in one awe-inspiring pack,” she explained.

In the past decade, Jeep has looked to an infusion of the Bleu de Gascogne qualities through her imported stallion hound Oscar. Originally from Gascony in the southwest part of France, the Bleu is known for its voice and looks. The color is predominantly white but ticked, which gives a bluish appearance.

“One glaring problem I’ve found is that the Bleu offspring are not very good in the shoulder,” Jeep said. “This shows up in the way a hound moves. Now I have bred my bitch Tarnish, who has a lovely shoulder, to offset this trait to Veronese, a French import from Scotty Lees’ Ashland pack. I’m exceptionally pleased with my new litter so far. The six puppies are the most uniform I’ve ever had; the proof will be, however, in the hunting.”

The Calf Pasture Bassets are a regular fixture at the Aldie Trials and the Bryn Mawr Hound Show (Pa.). Jeep admitted that the winning hound at a show is not necessarily the best hunting hound. She’s quick to point out that she wouldn’t keep a hound just because he or she is beautiful. Showing, she contended, is only one day, but good hunting, that’s the real fun.

“Shows have their purpose, nevertheless,” she added. “It’s a chance for all of us to get together. We see each other’s hounds, and we see where we may want to breed, how we can include certain characteristics to improve our own pack. And, oh, yes, there is the competition—big time! My ‘laughing’ goal is to win at Bryn Mawr with an all-spotted pack. It really doesn’t mean anything special; it’s just my personal preference.”

A Pleasure

Now, at the age of 72, Jeep maintains a pack of approximately 101⁄2 couple of hunting hounds (not to mention a few who retire to her house). The Calf Pasture hunt the Green Spring country in Glyndon, Md., from the time the corn and soybeans are sufficiently high until the Aldie Trials in April. For January and February, the master/huntsman transports the pack to Twickenham, her family’s lovely old rice plantation
in South Carolina.

Jeep and her hounds have also made trips to Canada to hunt hare and to Montana to hunt jackrabbits.
“The Montana country is incredible; we hunt there for five days straight and come home exhausted,” Jeep said. “I first went to Roscoe to fly fish. It was so wonderful that I took the grandchildren to the ranch. Then I asked if I could bring the Bassets. Betsy Park and her Sandanona Hounds make the long haul with me through St. Louis and South Dakota, but the hunting is marvelous.

“There are no ground hogs, so there are few holes. The rabbits seem to run farther and longer there. I also think the hare and the jack rabbit have a stronger scent than the cottontail. The hunting is very fast, and sadly, I have to leave some of my older hounds at home because they wouldn’t be able to keep up,” she noted.

Grimes said Jeep’s Bassets aren’t the old-time Basset hounds he used to see. “They are smaller and really fast,” he said. “The pack today is very nice with lots of voice, and they hunt well.”

If Jeep has any regrets in her pursuit of the perfect Basset pack, it’s that there are so few children in the field to carry on the tradition.

“We are a welcoming lot, I think, but it’s hard to get the children out. There are so many competing interests, and also when they are there, they need to be kept involved. What we need is a Pied Piper in the Basset field,” she said.

On a hot, muggy, cloudy Saturday morning in September, with Hurricane Hanna looming, Calf Pasture went out. According to those in the field, the hunting was good, and it was imperative to get hounds out since they were off to Montana the following week.

As Master and huntsman Cochran blew her pack in, one hound didn’t appear immediately. It started to rain a little and then much harder. But the master and her whips waited patiently for the tardy hound to return, no matter if they went home soaked to the skin. Each and every hound is significant for Jeep Cochran.

“Of all the things I have done in my life,” she said, “these hounds have afforded me the most pleasure.”