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Long Run Hounds
History
At the end of the season on
April 5, 1915, Judge Dalton was hunting the hounds and on a
run down the edge of Brooks Lane at Long Run, he didn’t see
a telephone pole guy wire which extended into a field and it
caught him in the neck, throwing him some 19 feet through
the air. As a result of this freak occurrence, the Judge
died in the hospital April 18, 1915 at the age of 72.
One of his most ardent
followers and admirers for many years, Mrs. Albert (Ming)
Dick, Jr., contributed the following, which gives a terrific
insight into the personality and Influence of Judge Roscoe
It. Dalton:
“Roscoe Dalton was not just a man, he was a way of life, a
part of nature and a friend of every farmer, hunter, horse
and hound. He was part of the crisp cool air of the early
morning cubbing and of the sun- warmed earthy smell of the
fields at noon. He was part of the soft foot falls of the
hunt in the deep snow drifts and the hurtled breath of the
chase when the scent was strong. He had a keen ear for the
voices of his hounds and appreciated their work, just as he
knew everyone of us and valued our contributions to the
sport, never sorting great from small.
His heart was with the
hunting and his enthusiasm was so keen that, unknowing, he
carried the weak along with the strong. He has left us a
heritage so great that we cannot fall but try to uphold the
banner of his spirit which shall wave forever over the Long
Run Hunt as a symbol of faith, fairness, understanding, and
good sport!"
The loss of Judge Dalton was a
great shock to the hunt and it faced its severest crisis
since inception. Reorganization of some aspects of the hunt
was obvious but at the same time continuity and stability
were desired by all members.
Nash sought the counsel of his friend and the senior Master
in Kentucky, W. F. Pursley of the Iroquois Hunt. With
Pursley’s advice and encouragement, Nash consolidated the
two packs of existing hounds and moved them all into his
kennel at Harrods Creek. Having them at his home under the
care of Don and Charlie Terry and easily available for
handling and walking out was most prudent. Judge Dalton had
during the past year asked Nash to hunt the hounds rather
regularly so that the pack was not unfamiliar to their new
huntsman. Don Terry was also available for transporting the
hounds back and forth to the Long Run country.
Nash also decided to appoint
two new Joint Masters. Stuart Dalton, the Judge’s eldest
son, who was an original member of the hunt and was an
honorary whip became a Joint Master. He would continue as a
whip and would help with the hounds. Walter Millard was also an
honorary whip and would serve as Field Master and be in
charge of paneling the country as well as other
administrative duties.
Thus a new era of the hunt
began. With three Joint Masters the work load was more
evenly distributed and hunting con tinned in 1976 and 1977
on a satisfactory basis. There were plenty of native red
foxes in the country and the combined pack ran well. With
the combined packs it was necessary to cull some hounds and
Nash’s preference for tri-colored crossbred hounds became
more evident in the pack.
In January, 1977, Nash was
elected to serve as Mid-West Representative and a Director
of the Masters of Foxhounds Association. In November of
1977, the officers and Directors of the MFHA held a
Directors meeting in Louisville and were entertained by Long
Run as well as shown a day of hunting. With the top Masters
of the U.S. present, it was a very special occasion which
fortunately went well. Nash became a Vice President of the
Association in January of 1981. Nash also served as
President of the American Foxhound Club from 1979-1981.
During 1977, an honorary
whip, Lindsey Burns began helping Nash in walking out hounds
and other duties at the kennel. The pack had grown to some
65 hounds and extra help was most welcome.
In the Harrods Creek country,
another kennel of foxhounds was being established by a group
of young people who hunted the old Oldham County Hounds
country near Sligo, Kentucky. They called themselves the
Hardscuffle Hounds, drafting hounds from Ben Hardaway’s
Midland Hounds pack and some from the old Oldham County pack
of D. Lampton, Jr. They did not interfere with Long Run and
never applied for registration. In August of 1980 they
disbanded the hunt, giving the hounds to Long Run and some
of their members joining Long Run.
In June of 1978, it was
necessary to raise the yearly dues to $400.00. There was
concern over the lack of revenue raised by the annual hunter
show and the need to improve it. Fortunately, the hunt was
able to make use of the services of an expert horse show
entrepreneur, Herman Miles, who made many suggestions for
adding classes and generally upgrading the event. Under his
guidance, the show did improve in quality and revenue. Also
about this time, Bud Waits had started giving his annual
summer time fish fry and invited all the members of the hunt
and farmers and landowners. It became a very popular event
as a “thank you” to the landowners, however the hone show
also continued until 1984 but the fish fry became the
principal farmer’s day event.
In August of 1979, Stuart
Dalton first suggested to the membership that perhaps the
Oxmoor Steeplechase event could be used as a fund raiser for
the Hunt. At that time the Idea was rejected. It should be
noted that the Oxmoor event was basically planned and
managed exclusively by members of the Hunt.
Concern over fundraising and
the dues raising to $500 annually led some members to
suggest a more formal structure for the organization. The
hunt had always been very low key with no charter or
by-laws. Nash encouraged that the hunt stay on an informal
basis although he recognized that members had a right to
govern since they were paying. For the time being it did
remain low key and exclusively run by the Masters.
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