Foxhunting

Foxhunting is the "must see" during your visit to Thomson. If you have never hunted, you are sure to be surprised to find out what this sport is all about. If you have hunted anywhere else, you will discover this to be the most beautiful hunt country and some of the finest hounds in the country.

This spectacle of tradition and sportsmanship begins on the first Saturday in November, when the Blessing of Hounds heralds the opening meet of The Belle Meade Hunt. Then, hunts are held each Wednesday and Saturday through March.

The Belle Meade Hunt is one of only 150 fox hunts registered by the Masters of Foxhounds Association of America (MFHA). The hunt was organized in 1966 by two gentlemen who loved riding and the rolling beauty of McDuffie County land. Just two years later The Belle Meade Hunt was granted membership in the MFHA.

Riders in recent hunts spanned age groups from 6 to 71. Riders are grouped according to ability, so the expert and novice can still follow the "Tally Ho!" One area family has several generations to participate yearly.

For those not riding in the Opening Meet, the hunt can be experienced from Tally Ho wagons. The single wagon riding at the first meet has grown to 25, carrying 500 riders and is the main reason why Belle Meade's Opening Meet is the most unique anywhere. Riding in the wagons along with visitors are natives who haven't missed a hunt in years. Wagons extend across a mile or more of fields and woodlands, a whooping and hollering part of the chase.

Then there are the well-bred foxhounds who know and care about one thing - hunting. They are tireless, maybe running a fox or coyote eight miles in an afternoon. As one hunter observed, "If mankind would serve the good Lord as well as these hounds serve their master, the world would surely be a better place."

Along with the sport, fox hunters love to celebrate this season with parties. Homes and halls of Thomson ring with elaborate Southern hospitality, from the Opening Meet Hunt Breakfast to barbecues and February's Hunt Ball.

As horses and riders thunder over the 40,000 lush green acres of hunt country, spectators snap pictures and passers-by slow or stop their cars to see the fabulous scene. Belle Meade not only draws viewers and visitors from as far away as Canada, Switzerland, and Australia; it also accounts for many who arrive for a hunt or a season, then return to live and retire in Thomson.

One of the founders of the Belle Meade Hunt wrote, "It is like nothing else - a world of its own - a group of people who, twice each week from November to March, leave the hectic pace (of the modern world) to participate in the grand tradition of fox hunting, kept alive at Belle Meade."

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