The Hunter's Horn
June, 1966
Page Twenty-eight & Twenty-Nine
Notes on U.S. Open History
Pine Ridge Fred
By Arthur Cook, US Open Secretary, PO Box 434, Florence, Ala

On Monday, Dec. 5, 1949, hunters from all over the country began arriving at the Reeder Hotel in Florence, Ala., for the running of the 4th annual U.S. Open. They would first kennel their hounds at the fairgrounds, and then renew acquaintances with old friends and meet new ones.

John Allen, the genial president, was one of the first to arrive, along with Mason Houghland, master of hounds; Emmet Guy, assistant master; and Bill Beard, secretary.

The judges were a splendid lot, most of them young, eagle-eyed and hard riders.They were John Genseal, Lyle Pippin, Jack Hosch, Red Thomas, Jim King, Dave Ware, W. N. Buckner, Hugh Jeter, Eugene Torbett, Sowell Yates, Andy Jones, Edmond Power, Bill Shillings and Ernest Davis.

For the first time in any major field trial, the problem of good horses for the judges was solved by "Squire" Henry Bell Covington and Robert Covington of Cross Plains, Tenn. In fact, Henry Bell and Robert have furnished the horses up to the present time.

I have always contended the only right way to find the true value of a hound in the field is to have a good horse, to be able to ride close on the hounds, and to observe the work of the hounds and then give each hound the score that he rightly deserves. It is no wonder there is so much controversy today about the endurance score and speed and driving score in our hounds. A judge on foot or in a Jeep just can't observe a hound long enough at one time to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion as to the true worth of that hound.

Personally, we think more hunters should breed for more nose and less speed. A great many hunters think it takes a speed demon to win a field trial; maybe it is at a trial where you have lots and lots of running. But a speed demon can do a lot of damage at a field trial.

The competitive spirit is very strong in our present-day hounds. Nothing can get a hound's mind off his business of trying to work out a trail of a fox and get him lined out, as quickly as a hound trying to steal the show. Oh well, that will be another story.

The official results of the 4th USO:
1.Pine Ridge Fred (Pine Ride Slick ex Lucky Wing Stride) Dr. L. H. Robertson, Salisbury, NC
2.Buster Blanton (Windsor's Andy Ricker ex Nancy Neighbors) L. O. Parker, Salisbury, NC
3.Knox Bowers (Yard Bird ex Ginger Bowers) J.E.B. Bennett, Greer, SC
4.Monte's Last (Monte K. ex Fair Test)T. O. Logsdon, Shawneetown, Ill
5.Sleet (Tobe ex Carrie)Reeves Hughes, Germantown, Tenn
6.Hank Kelley (Hank Daley ex Miss Skinner)Lowe and Elliott, Huntsville, Ala
7.Fairy Wade (Alka Setzer ex Lizze Wade)Grady Turner, Winnsboro, SC
8.Horse Fly (Sam Brooks W. ex Sadie W.)Dr. C.D. Falls, Woodruff, SC
9.Blaze Winn Jr (Blaze Winn ex Betty Jane)JF Manning, Greensboro, NC
10. Scott Henslee (Gabriel Heatter ex Little Baby Lou) John Allen, Iuka, Miss

Monday night at the business meeting Mr. Allen was unanimously reelected president. Bill Beard, the efficient and capable secretary-tresurer since the hunt was organized, resigned for business reasons. The directors then elected Emmet Guy secretary-treasurer.

Of the 69 hounds entered, all answered roll call. There was a heavy frost, and as the sun rose a cold east wind came up. This made scenting conditions bad. It would be hard to estimate the number of red fox sighted by the judges and spectators. There wasn't a great deal of running, however the judges got a respectable number of scores.

The second day was better, but the cold east wind was still with us.The third cast was made about three miles southeast of Rogersville, at what is known as "the burnt chimney." I can truthfully say it wasn't five minutes after the cast that the hounds were hot after a big red fox. There was never a better cry. The main pack was running in a dangerous country, crossing the highway three or four times.

The Birmingham News reported as follows: "Carolina hounds continue to dominate the trials today as the event goes into its final running. Arthur Cook, Haleyville, Ala., popped up with a close second-place hound, Buddy Buzzard; however, Pine Ridge Fred, owned by Dr. L. H. Robertson, remained in first place. Knox Bowers kept a firm grip on third place yesterday."

"Here are the leaders and their points: Pine Ridge Fred -- 60 hunting, 50 trailing, 225 speed and driving, 20 in endurance, total 355 points. Buddy Buzzard -- 95 in hunting, 45 trailing, 170 speed and driving, 25 endurance, total 335. Knox Bowers -- 80 hunting, 55 trailing, 100 speed and driving, 25 endurance, total 260."

The last day seemed to be the best for scenting conditions, as the hounds would jump quickly and run with their heads up; 44 hounds were cast. Dr. H. L. Downey, Antone Dyer and the writer cut hounds off about three miles on a pass road and thought we would be the only ones there, but when we arrived the hounds were crossing and the judges were in hot pursuit.

We never saw hounds running when there wasn't a judge pretty close behind them. It ws uncanny the way the judges could stay up so close to the hounds.

Thirty-two courageous hounds finished the tough 4-day trial.Of the 37 eliminated, 21 were caught loafing, 8 babbling, 5 rabbiting, 1 running dog tracks, 1 withdrawn and 1 lost.

As you an see, the 1949 winner was a good looking hound as well as being a good hound in the woods. He was crowned the 1949 bench champion at the South Carolina State. He was also 3rd in the 1951 Count of Sires. You see Pine Ridge Fred in lots of our present-day hounds.

For the four years (1946-49), sportsmen from all over the U.S. had attended the USO and all had had a happy time--well, except us who came out on the little end of the horn, and even those returned home with praise upon their lips for the reception accorded them, and with renewed determination to be back in 1950 with a better hound.

The cast described here at the burnt chimney would have been somewhere between Joe Wheeler State Park and Elk River State Park.
Maybe Dick can remember if the last day of the 1950 hunt was held near there.




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Florence, AL would be a nice location to have a hunt. Easy to get to from every region of the foxhunting country. The old pen at Waterloo would have been a good place to meet if it had stayed open.
Of course, I'm gonna build my 2,000 acre pen on I-20/59 West of Birmingham or on I-65 South of Birmingham. That should be close enough for everybody.

How much would you pay to be able to go to a hunt where there are 65-80 hounds entered from 10 states, have 12 good judges mounted on horses that will follow the pack thru mostly open country, running red fox, no deer to mention. Don't you know you can pick a good foxhound under those conditions.


Notice also that the Birmingham News had a story on the USO that told the top three hounds at that point in the hunt. Aside from the fact we don't get coverage in the mainstream media these days, just think about how far behind we are now in letting folks know where the hunt stands after the first day, after the second day, etc. I try to post a little info for everybody if I'm at a hunt and I know there are several others that will do the same. At the 2009 Masters I even posted the entire S&D category ranked from first to last after 2 days. But that sort of thing is rare. Seems like we leave it up to each hunter to walk up to the sheets and figure things up himself and then call his buddies to let the rest of the world know what is going on at the hunt. If they were running stories in the Birmingham News in 1950 that told the world who was leading after the third day of the USO then shouldn't we be a little farther along now 60 years later in the computer age. We have the capacity to post current standings in each class and in the HGA/GTP after every day. Why aren't we doing something like that?