It all came down to size in the judging of the Mid-America Hound Show’s grand champion foxhound, on May 7 in Lexington, Ky.

The event, hosted by Iroquois Hunt and Woodford Hounds, drew more than 400 hounds to the Kentucky Horse Park, but Live Oak’s English bitch Staple topped all competitors to take the coveted grand champion trophy.

Staple bested Midland’s Crossbred bitch Kill and Long Run’s Penn-Marydel dog hound Sanction after careful consideration by the judges. The men–North Cotswold MFH Nigel Peel, former Vale of the White Horse MFH Martin Scott, and Howard County-Iron Bridge (Md.) huntsman Allen M. Forney–seemed to relish all three hounds but agreed that Staple’s size gave her the edge.

“Midland Kill was a beautiful bitch, a really outstanding bitch, and a great mover,” said Peel. “But the Live Oak won because she was bigger and moved very well. But we very much like the Penn-Marydel that was in there as well.”

Scott, who had given Staple the English championship earlier in the afternoon, concurred. “Really, she was flawless,” he said. “She was a class act. She was beautifully balanced, had great presence, and had wonderful movement.”

Staple was bred at England’s Cattistock Hunt, but it was Live Oak (Fla.) Jt.-MFH Daphne Wood who suggested breeding Cattistock Starter ’96 to Cattistock Laurel ’98.

“I was asked to judge Ardingly with Brian Fanshawe,” she explained. “When it came to the championship, he wanted another dog, and I wanted Cattistock Starter. So I just sort of said to him, ‘I am a junior judge, and I will defer to whatever you say, but look at the shoulders. My dog’s got better shoulders.’ So I browbeat him into picking Cattistock Starter.”

Visiting the Cattistock kennel some days later, Wood suggested the mating that produced Staple.

Live Oak Rolls On

The grand championship capped a triumphant day for Wood and her husband, Marty. Their unentered Mascot also won the Crossbred dog hound championship, much to Marty Wood’s delight.

“Mascot is one week past his first birthday. I thought he was a good-looking dog, and the judge thought he was, but you never know with an unentered hound,” Marty said.

The Woods’ Live Oak hounds were also successful in the English ring. Peel gave the nod to their Live Oak Digger, last year’s grand champion, as this year’s English dog hound champion.

For Peel, even the day’s unplanned moments gave him an opportunity to spot some quality.

“The nicest of the unentered was a Blue Ridge hound called Pilot,” he said. “He jumped out of the ring twice before we got it in, so you could see it move very well!”

A highlight for Peel was judging the stallion-with-get class, featuring two entries Peel bred. Peel chose one of them, sixth-season hound Iroquois Grundy, as the winner and cited the veteran hunter as an example of the longevity he breeds for.

In the Crossbred ring, where Peel also judged, Midland (Ga.) Jt.-MFH Mason Lampton overcame an early disappointment in the unentered bitches class to triumph in the end.

“I did show one bitch that I really liked that was small, and [Midland Jt-MFH Ben] Hardaway liked another bitch who is big,” Lampton said after losing in the un-entered class. “I thought the small one might have tickled Nigel Peel’s fancy, and it didn’t.”

But Lampton’s entered bitch, Midland Kill, did tickle Peel’s fancy and went on to win the Crossbred championship.

The Midland and Live Oak juggernauts were stopped in the pack class, where Long Run’s Penn-Marydels were unbeatable.

“There was no shouting, no whip-cracking, no noise,” Peel said after pinning Long Run first. “I thought they were very impressive. I would like to go hunting with a pack of those, because I think the noise would be tremendous.”

Although Midland, Live Oak and Long Run collected many prizes, the judges noted a depth of quality among the participating hunts, especially in the unentered English and Crossbred rings. “There were a lot of nice hounds tapping at the door,” Peel said. “In another year, they may cause Midland and Live Oak to scratch their heads.”

As Predicted

Peel’s wife, Sophia, an experienced foxhound judge, took on foot hounds for the first time as Mid-America’s Beagle, Basset and terrier judge.

Ripshin Rosebud, winner of last year’s best unentered award at Mid-America, won grand champion Basset hound for Jt.-Masters Edgar and Ann Hughston.

Hughston credits Ben Hardaway for the success of the Ripshin breeding program. The pack hunts all summer, a season that demands a lighter, faster hound that can tolerate the heat.

Hardaway suggested a three-way cross between the English Westerby, which is one-quarter Harrier, the AKC Basset, and the Griffon-Vendeen. The Westerby offered straighter legs, longevity, and biddability; the AKC Bassets are great hunters; and the Griffon Vendeen are lighter-boned and provide a fitting outcross.

Hardaway contributed more than just his advice. He also imported a bitch in whelp from the Westerby pack and gave her to the Hughstons.

“It’s interesting,” said Hughston, “Sophia pinned our Bassets just exactly as Ben predicted when he visited our kennel this spring.”

Sophia was clearly impressed with the bloodline combination too.

“They very wisely interbred with the Griffon-Vendeen,” she said, comparing the Ripshin hounds with the more stereotypical long, lower-slung Basset image. “That straightened up their front legs so that they’re more manageable, and it strengthened their backs.”

The Farmington Beagles took their division’s top honor with Icing, who may have appealed to the judge’s foxhunting background.

“Sophia liked the lighter, miniature foxhound type, as opposed to the AKC type of Beagle,” said Farmington M.B. Forbes Reback. He had just the hound to fit the bill in Icing, who edged out Clear Creek Saillard to take the Beagle grand championship.

In the terrier division, Why Worry Snickers took the grand championship for the second year in a row.

What Were The Judges Looking For?

Nigel Peel: “I tend to look very much for the movement. A good-moving hound moves like a wave, just rolls. I think the movement is all-important, because at the end of the day the hound has got to go for many miles. It has to jump the fences, splash through the streams, pull through the bushes. It’s got to work. It’s got to move well, and then it can go effortlessly all day.”

Martin Scott: When hounds enter the ring “there is an immediate reaction, an automatic reaction. I then look at the nice one to see what I like about it and also to be critical about it. If it is not a nice one, I will mark on my card what I don’t like about it and never look at it again. My time is spent on looking at good hounds, not bad hounds.”

Sophia Peel: “Like any foxhound, a Beagle has got a job of work to do, and what I need to see is not how big he is or how little he is. Is he built in such a way that he can do his job without causing himself undue strain and that he will last a long time? Because if he is not built to last, he will become a wise hound in perhaps his fourth season and be finished in perhaps his fifth season. But if he is well enough made, he can carry that wisdom further forward and be increasingly valuable to the pack.”

Allen Forney: “Handlers should be ready to be showing the hound right when they walk in the ring. It saves you a little time. I give every hound a fair look. Every judge has a particular type of hound that he likes. A type of hound just takes my eye, and then I look to see if it also has the conformation and quality of substance to go along with it.”