FACTFILE

Chairman: Dr Cathal Cassidy

Masters: Stephen Hutchinson, Martin Laverty and Andy Oliver

Huntsman: Ryan Carvill

Whipper-in: Paul Kinane and Lloyd Parr

HISTORY

The South Tyrone Foxhounds was reformed in 1960 after being disbanded in the 1940s. The hunting country is South Tyrone, North Monaghan and North Armagh, and has a mixture of all types of obstacles, hedges, wire, drains and gates.

Noel Mullins

THE South Tyrone Foxhounds braved absolutely atrocious weather for the meet at Brackaville. They are serious businessmen and women, but when it comes to hunting, they are free spirits, abandoning all sense of caution, practising that well-known ethic, ‘work hard, and play hard’.

Miraculously it has worked so far but there have been some near misses. They don’t challenge their huntsman or their hounds as there is no need to do so as they hunt so well, but they challenge each other, and hunting is not meant to be a competitive sport! However, try telling them and you are wasting your time. Nobody would have the courage to get down and open a gate as they would never live it down. So visitors are few and far between, and for some unknown reason, they don’t come back, one wonders why?

It was the anniversary of the engagement of Saffron Hutchinson to trainer and joint-master Andy Oliver, now husband and wife. Her sister, Olivia, has since got engaged to Toby Tyrone, a London developer. Their father Stephen, who owns Tayto Snack Foods in Northern Ireland and Britain, was travelling by car for a change, having had a freak accident after an end of season polo party in Cirencester where his Tayto polo team is based. In the evening he went outside to light up one of his favourite Café Creme cigars in the dark, accidentally stepped on a bottle and broke his leg. It’s ironic that Hutchinson, known as a fearless rider across the South Tyrone country always taking less than calculated risks over the years, should break his leg lighting a cigar. I suppose if he did not smoke it would never have happened!

Two people who make the journey from Kildare every week are Paul Kinane and Amy Fitzgerald, a lecturer in equine science in the University of Limerick. Kinane is honorary whipper-in of the South Tyrone. As well as producing made hunters, Kinane has also supplied, through his Kinane Bloodstock, a number of racehorses to the Czech Republic with another consignment going in the coming weeks. Two of the most successful in 2015 are both by Galileo, Tamarind Cove who was the leading Czech miler, and Touch of Genius who won both the Czech and Slovak Derbys. They are trained by Josef Vanya who, as a jockey, won the famous Pardubiche Velka Steeplechase eight times, was runner up 16 times and trained eight winners of the race. It is an unequalled record which has him honoured by a bronze statue at the racetrack and even Frankie Detorri insisted on having his photograph taken with Vanya at the famous steeplechase last October.

On horseback was that well known thruster Mark English, Paul Raine, Alex Buller, who represented Ireland in show jumping ponies, Tori Mills, Alexander Mills, joint-master of the Iveagh Foxhounds, and point-to-point jockey Johnny Creswell.

South Tyrone joint-master Martin Laverty, who now hunts the Co Down Hounds, was on a young coloured hunter accompanied by his son Nicholas, while his wife Paddy followed in the comfort of her jeep. As if a reminder of what the winter has in store was needed, Austin and Tony Weir, and Austin’s son Jonathan are taking precautions this winter having all received their flu vaccinations. Following by car were injured whipper-in Lloyd Parr and his son Lloyd junior. Sinead Curran, who was not hunting, was sharing a car with senior master Stephen Hutchinson.

Refreshments were at Paddy and Yvonne McAvoy’s Roughan’s Castle Nursing Home before they moved off to draw the hedges off the lower lane. Hounds worked on around Rahan Lough before moving on to Brackaville Glen which never disappoints. And sure enough, hounds had a fox moving near a sand hole where he tried once to go to ground but changed his mind and headed for open country, obviously game for a run. He was gone in a flash across the Tullaghbeg Road and as he tried to cross the Stewardstown Road, he was headed by car followers.

ACTION PACKED

Unknown to the huntsman, there were events happening behind as joint-master Martin Laverty’s horse fell on landing at a drain and managed to get away. So while the huntsman and his hounds were literally flying on a fox and making real music, the majority of the followers were hunting down Martin Laverty’s hunter with the huntsman, smiling like a Cheshire cat in managing to lose the field in the mayhem.

Mark English fell in the bog and had his jacket ripped off him with wire, and despite his predicament, was quickly reminded that there was a dress code in the South Tyrones, and to get cleaned up quickly!

Injured senior master Stephen Hutchinson was using the phone app ‘Find my phone’ to keep in touch with his daughter Olivia in the field. Only unknown to him, she gave her horse to field-master Andy Oliver which is not accommodated by the app. Instead he found himself heading back to her at the meet. There would appear to be room in the South Tyrones for a new app, like, ‘Find the field’!

Meanwhile some 19 ½ couple of hounds, mostly bitches, were screaming at the top of their voices away down the valley running right-handed over Issac McAteer’s farm and on through O’Neills where there was a line of really strong hedges. They crossed Lowes and then left by the Torrent River in the direction of New Mills over Ramsey Stewarts beside Stewartstown Gaelic Grounds. Hounds raced over New Mills Road and across a good stretch of land and checked at the junction of Cookstown and Pomeroy roads.

Those up front were compared by a road followers as like the ‘Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse’, the huntsman Ryan Carvill, Mark Patterson, Johnnie Weir and 18- year-old Nicholas Laverty, a fine young courageous rider, and one of the few - if only teenager - capable of crossing this challenging country.

While the followers tucked into a hearty serving of Irish stew back at the meet, Olivia Hutchinson was changing in the ladies before taking a flight to London for a party in the fashionable Annabels private members only nightclub, a favourite watering hole of the dressed up and well healed. Now that’s posh!