What are the most famous hunt clubs in the U.S. (and where are they located)?
Virginia.
[QUOTE=JSwan;3729263]
Virginia.[/QUOTE]
:lol: Way to be descriptive JSwan! :winkgrin:
Other states to consider…
Midland -Georgia
Belle Meade-Georgia
Arapahoe-Colorado
Red Rock-Nevada
Genesee Valley-New York
Millbrook-New York
Myopia-Mass
& a bit further to the north…
Loudon-Ontario
Montreal-Quebec
and many more!
The best is …
Cheshire - PA.:
APOLOGIES.
Sorry subconscious took over , meant to put dont forget Cheshire - PA.:winkgrin:
[QUOTE=TBlitz;3729286]
:lol: Way to be descriptive JSwan! :winkgrin:[/QUOTE]
Just havin’ some fun. I’m a bit partial to my home state.
Green Spring - MD
Piedmont Foxhounds (oldest in US still existing) and Middleburg Hunt …along with their famous fights over territory. Both territories are in western Loudoun County, VA
Gloucester Hunt was the first recorded foxhunt in the US - located in western Gloucester County, NJ. They hunted Woodbury NJ and Philadelphia area on alternating days. No longer in existence.
Live Oak Hounds…Monticello, FL
Most famous, as in hunts that today’s hunting people from around the country and around the world know something about (for whatever reason)… I’d definately say Piedmont (VA), Middleburg (VA), Green Spring Valley (MD), Cheshire (PA), Belle Mead (GA).
About 30-50 years ago, some of the NY hunts were pretty big (you’d see a lot of article on members in the NY society pages), but not so well-known today. Some of the other hunts mentioned are good hunts, but I don’t think they are “famous”.
If any of y’all are interested the Warrenton Antiquarian Society published “The Jericho Turnpike”. Very interesting reading. Articles and photos of hunts from the early 1900’s, historical perspective of foxhunting the US from NY to VA.
It’s a very interesting read.
Here’s a link to order it - it’s a great Christmas gift and the money is used to restore Weston. (Weston is on the list of “must visit” when touring this part of Virginia.)
http://www.historicweston.org/jericho.htm
I think you can order it on-line from Horse Country (horsecountrylife.com) if you want to get it in time for the holidays. Oh - I think you can order it from Borders too but I’m not sure.
Wanabe - I think you might really enjoy it.
As a non-foxhunter but lifelong equestrian, I would rank my Top Five “most recognizable name brands” as:
- Middleburg
- Piedmont
- Myopia
- Warrenton
- Cheshire
And even though I’m from GA, I would not put either Shakerag or Belle Meade in the top 10 of “famous” hunts. I had to really WORK to find out about them when I first moved down here 25 years ago (prior to t’internet!).
Because of Jackie O I would include Orange County.
Really War A - no Midland? I remember articles about Midland in the 80s.
[QUOTE=xeroxchick;3730707]
Because of Jackie O I would include Orange County.
Really War A - no Midland? I remember articles about Midland in the 80s.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, I was surprised nobody mentioned Orange County. Seems to have a reputation as a very fashionable hunt! 
Okay, I shouldn’t get started…but as a history buff AND hunting buff, yes, the ‘famous’ hunts have shifted over time coincident with the loss/relocation of the industrial/textile riches in NY and NE in the 19th and first half of 20th centuries. There were many, many hunts up thataway that were ‘famous’ in their day, but are now defunct. Millbrook and Genesee Valley and Goldens Bridge and Rombout come to mind as still doing well and providing great sport.
What put Virginia ‘on the map’ as the chic hunt country was the Great Foxhunting Match of 1905, in Piedmont country, where Harry Worcester Smith’s Grafton Hounds (American:)) beat Henry Higginson’s Middlesex Hounds (English) fair and square. Also around that time was when the wealthy northeastern scions- Harrimans and others- commenced to bringing their hounds south for winter hunting-- which is how Orange County came to be where it is- it retains its original name from Orange County NY.
And if the Jackie O link is a criterion you have to include Essex, where she also hunted.
I do recommend the Jericho Turnpike (Santa brought it to me per my request for a previous Christmas!) I also recommend Mackay-Smith’s book, Foxhunting in North America- and if you want to go further back and world-wide, I like Longrigg’s History of Foxhunting published in the 70s (saw a copy for sale cheap not long ago, maybe while surfing on Amazon).
Must. Stop. Now. Before I write a treatise.
Ha, the most famous hunt is entirely fictitious. It is the “Jefferson” hunt in Virginia. Just ask Rita Mae,
One of our hunt members was asking about it the other day. He thought it was a real hunt.
[QUOTE=Painted Wings;3731016
One of our hunt members was asking about it the other day. He thought it was a real hunt.[/QUOTE]
You’re kidding!:lol::lol:
I don’t see Elkridge-Harford anywhere…
Say, the top DOZEN in America?
OCH, PH, MH, (VA); GSV, EHH, (MD); Cheshire (PA); Essex (NJ); Millbrook and Genesse (NY).
Ok, room for only three more! 
Presuming maybe another NY hunt belongs on this list but not terribly familiar with them; also think some SC/Aiken area hunts have a lot of history too.
And maybe another from VA…Warrenton? Blue Ridge?
Most of you I bet are not old enough to remember Rose Tree Fox Hunting Club in Media PA. It was THE place to be a member. Samuel Ridlde would bring Man O’ War there on race day. Now, that was before my time, but I sure remember the spring and fall race meets. In the 1960’s it was the only dumbell shaped race track left. HUGE natural brush fences and timber fences. Radnor Hunt was nothing compared to Rose Tree. Rose Tree club left Media in the 1960’s and moved to York County PA. I still wonder what happened to all that Man O’ War memorabilia that was on display in the club house.
The county bought the grounds and slowly tore everything down. So sad to see the kennels go, then the paddock, then the grandstand, then the upper barn, then the racetrack. Now it’s a county park with only the lower barn (all redone, but not for horses) and the club house still standing. Totally sucks to see how they paved everything and reconfigured the land.
It was famous in its day.
