By South Florida standards, Jan. 7 was a cold morning, at 47 degrees, when the members and guests of the Palm Beach Hounds gathered at 7:30 a.m. at the Quailands territory to open the 27th season of hunting.

The whips gathered the hounds and proceeded down Stirrup Cup Ln., led by The Royal Palm Highlanders, a pipe and drum corps, dressed in traditional kilts. The horses were mesmerized by the sounds as the riders enjoyed a classic moment.

A family illness kept Rick Sapir, former MFH, from hunting the hounds as planned.

So whipper-in Sibyl Dance was pressed into service for the first time on very short notice.

But she had been working with the hounds at their temporary kennels, and they’d been responding to her. Due to the destruction of the Palm Beach Hounds kennels by Hurricane Wilma, the hounds have been boarded in Palm City. We’re all looking forward to getting the new kennels built on MFH Bob Pelio’s farm.

But another problem arose—Sibyl did not own a horn! She turned down three loaned horns before starting a nationwide hunt for a suitable reeded horn by phone, fax and Internet. Finally she found probably the only reeded horn available in America at the Middleburg Tack Exchange in Middleburg, Va. They graciously sent it to her overnight, and it arrived on the day before opening day. It was a perfect match!

Forbidden Territory
After the blessing, we were off to the sounds of Sibyl’s new horn. New Jt.-MFH Bob Pelio and returning MFH Dr. Allan Hetelson led the field. They’ve taken over following Sapir’s resignation. Hetelson served as MFH for several years before resigning because of family health issues, but he’s come back to help Pelio shoulder the master’s responsibilities.

Corneila Henderson led the hilltoppers. We really don’t have hills in South Florida and all of our jumps are optional, so her group proceeded at a more controlled pace than the wide-open gallop for which the PBH field is known. Henderson was the first member ever to receive hunt’s colors.

The hounds, eight couple of Crossbreds with a strong Penn-Marydel influence, were cast near Canal Point. Watson and Wilson, both 2-year-olds, found the line, with veteran Rooter verifying their find. The pack was off and running giving beautiful deep voice that resonated through the piney woods.

The field galloped along the west Jeep Trail, jumping several coops in old fence lines along the way and following as the pack crossed a deep ditch and working a shallow ditch between the East and West Jeep Trails. After a thrilling run, the line was lost in the old quail field.

The hounds were gathered and moved to cast south from Arel’s Crossing. Once again, Watson and Wilson found quickly and were off. The pack was in full cry as they worked through the pine woods. It is a real art to ride a horse at high speeds through the trees without getting a tree trunk in the face.

We broke out of the woods onto the canal road. The hounds were in full pursuit. About halfway down the canal road, the lead hounds leaped into the canal with recently entered hounds Xactly and Xray, swam across, and picked it up on the other side. The field watched anxiously, hoping no alligators were lurking in the canal as hounds headed for the forbidden swamp.

At the sight of the hounds swimming the canal, whips Crockett McLaughlin and Genna Hofmann headed for the crossing some quarter mile down the canal. Whip Joe Ford and his mount, Hank, gamely slid down the bank of the canal and began to swim. The huntsman, worried about the ability of horse and rider to be able to climb up the steep bank on the other side, called Joe back.

But Crockett and Genna had flown down the canal to the crossing and were galloping at full speed up the other side. They were close behind as hounds took off for the forbidden swamp. With an all-out effort and good teamwork, Genna and Crockett were able to turn the hounds.

Into The Swamp
Everyone was glad for a few minutes to catch our breath and cheer on the work of our staff. After a short deliberation, Pelio and Hetelson decided that the huntsman should let the hounds hunt on the way back to the trailers–and hunt they did.

It didn’t take long before Watson and Wilson were on again, giving voice and running hard for Dog Bone Swamp, so called because it is actually two sort of round swamps connected by a canal, giving it the look of a dog bone.

The hounds charged into the swamp, but the field preferred to stay out to watch and listen. Finally, Sybil called hounds out. Most responded, but two couple weren’t ready to give it up. The whips worked to get the hounds to leave, for they were sure they had their quarry.

As the field waited, Crockett eventually walked out of the swamp with Xray and Queasey lashed together with his hunt whip–all were soaking wet and rather cold in the still below-50 degree weather. It was going to be a long walk back to the trailers, but Christy Powell, mounted on 19-hand Lurch, a Clydesdale-Thoroughbred cross, loaned to her for the day by Art and Shari Cirkus, offered Crockett a ride back behind her. He gladly accepted.

The day ended with a hearty hunt breakfast at Pelio’s farm in Palm City.