TNYH Celebrates 175 Years of Sport

This year the Toronto and North York Hunt celebrates 175 years of sport, and to coin a fact noted by Michael Byrne, longer than Canada has been a nation.

To commemorate this historical event an Invitational Joint Meet was held Saturday, October 27th from the Toronto and North York Hunt kennels in Mulmur, Ontario and our fellow Canadian Hunts were invited to attend. As of Friday, October 26th we were expecting over 70 riders and an additional 30 guests for the complimentary breakfast, a lot of pressure for our Huntsman, Rosslyn Balding and our hounds to perform!

Saturday morning, if you lived in Southern Ontario, you woke up to a blanket of snow and much more falling! Slippery road conditions, jack-knifed tractor-trailers on routes to the meet left many riders with the disappointing decision to leave their trailers and horses at the barn. So on the day, approximately 40 riders braved the driving conditions and 40 additional guests for the breakfast attended. As it turned out, contrary to normal winter storms, the further north you travelled, the less snowfall had accumulated and by mid-afternoon, the skiff of snow covering the grounds at the kennels had completely disappeared.

Those fortunate enough to ride in the hunt were not disappointed, with hounds finding straight away in the first draw! A blistering pace was set off to the northwest. After a long, fast, run through some difficult terrain, hounds checked and were cast but were unable to pick up the line again in a deep gully. Hounds were collected and taken to the far side of the gully. Working well, hounds found again and relentlessly chased their quarry north once more. Two coyotes were viewed, but hounds stayed together on the hunted one. Both fields were treated to several views of the quarry closely chased by the pack in open, harvested cornfields where he tried his best to double back and lose his pursuers. GPS signals identified the area where hounds slowed down and the hunt was concluded. Ros rode in to be with her hounds and determine the outcome, unfortunately, it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack, so hounds were gathered and the horn signalled “Going Home” with all on.

The hunt from start to finish lasted over three hours with tired hounds and staff returning to the kennels after four hours. Many riders without mounts followed by road and at times the traffic jam on some of the narrower paths almost required a traffic signalman! The clubhouse was full, the open bar was bustling and the food was warm and hit the spot on the first snowy day for the fall of 2018.