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The
Woodford Hounds was organized in 1981 by its
first MFH, Richard Dole, and his wife,
Tessa. Dick had been the
longtime master of
the Mells Fox Hounds in Tennessee and before
that he had served as master of the Blue
Ridge Hunt in Virginia. Tessa’s father,
Lieutenant Colonel Riddick, had been master
of the High Peak Harriers in England and
both Tessa and Dick shared a lifelong
involvement in breeding and hunting a pack
of hounds and making hunters.
They opened up the hunt country in southern
Woodford and western Jessamine Counties and
built kennels on their farm on Kidd’s Mill
Rd. in Woodford. Dick asked his old honorary
whipper-in from Mells, Dr. Charles Walker,
to come to Kentucky to join him and Charlie,
an equine veterinarian, upped stakes and
moved to Woodford County to a lovely
ante-bellum house on the banks of Craig’s
Creek on Ford’s Mill Rd. The hunt was
recognized by the MFHA in 1982. The kennels
were later relocated to Charlie’s place
where they remained for 20 years until the
summer of 2006 when the hunt purchased
property adjacent to the Shaker Village at
Pleasant Hill and built new kennels and
stabling for the huntsman’s horses. A house
on the property was completely renovated as
a huntsman’s lodging as well.
Dick carried the horn and Charlie whipped-in
and they soon had an enthusiastic group of
sportsmen and women following hounds through
the challenging country after the abundant
red and gray foxes and coyotes.
Charlie joined Dick as a joint-MFH in 1983
and assumed the huntsman duties as well. He
continued to hunt the hounds, showing
tremendous sport, and serve as Master until
retiring in 2000. For a number of years,
Dick and Charlie were joined by Dr. Herman
Playforth as a joint-MFH prior to his
resignation.
Ill health forced Dick to give up an active
roll in the hunt but he remained our senior
Master until his death in 1998. Charlie
asked Robbie Lyons to join the mastership in
1998 and they were joined by Jane
Winegardner in 2000. In 2004, Sam Adams
joined Robbie and Jane as a joint-MFH.
Following Charlie’s retirement, our first
professional huntsman was hired, Tim
Richardson, from the Zetland Hunt in
Yorkshire, England. Tim stayed with us one
season before returning to help run his
family’s farm in England. Robbie hunted
hounds himself one season, showing
tremendous sport and then in 2003 we hired
another huntsman, Paul Jeremy, who came to
us from Fox River Valley. Paul left at the
end of the 2005-2006 season, to be replaced
by Glen Westmoreland from the London Hunt in
Ontario, Canada. Glen’s wife Sharon whips in
to him as well.
As development and urban sprawl encroached
on our home country in Woodford County,
additional countries were opened up in
Mercer, Lincoln and Nelson counties. We now
have a challenging mix of countries with
everything from vast fields bordered by
stone walls to forested hilltops. More
country continues to be opened in Lincoln
and Garrard and Mercer each season through
the hard work of our masters.
With the addition of our new countries, a
dedicated team of masters and a fine pack of
hounds, the Woodford Hounds seems certain to
provide many years of challenging and
enjoyable sport for many years to come.
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