The English Foxhound’s Vocation

The English Foxhound’s Vocation

Like so many other breeds, what we know today as the “English Foxhound” was developed and perfected over centuries to perform a very specialized and singular purpose in an extremely limited geographical area. In the case of the EF, its development has had the benefit of exceptionally large kennels, almost unlimited financing, and Masters and Huntsmen whose life’s work was the perfection and preservation of the breed. By tradition, a larger number of pups are born early in the year and the process of sorting out the lot to determine which of them will “enter” to the hunting pack begins almost immediately. If you have 100 or more prospects from which to choose, and a lengthy period of time to make the selection, building and maintaining a superior pack of hunting hounds is not impossible, although it may take a decade or two.

Unlike their American cousins, English Foxhounds are bred for endurance rather than speed. The UK does not have the broad plains of America, nor the coyotes either. Hounds cover great distances, to be sure, sometimes 30 miles a day or more, but it is seldom in a straight line over open country or a long run at breakneck speed. The country is cultivated with stone walls, Gorse hedges, and other obstacles in many places. Gorse is a plentiful shrub that wreaks havoc with hounds’ ears and bodies. Ground cover is quite thick and dense, especially where dens are located. Hounds are directed into this “covert” by the Huntsman, to locate and bolt the fox.

English Foxhounds are nearly always hunted as a pack. They live as a pack, work as a pack and, in truth, think as a pack. In the 1990s, there was a study at UCLA which purported to find the dumbest breed of dog and concluded that must, of course, be the Afghan Hound. When I inquired as to the criteria for that conclusion, the researcher said they had studied the performance of dogs at Obedience Trials, among other things. When I asked how many EFs he had seen at the trials, the silence was deafening. The reality is that any EF that thinks for itself to any great degree is not likely to become a part of the pack, and thus, is unlikely to be bred. The breed has a wonderful, amiable, biddable disposition, but creative thinking is not an asset in a pack. You want a single-purpose hound whose nose, brain, and body are dedicated only to following that scent line. When you marvel at a pack of hounds being paraded in such a formation that you could throw a blanket over them, remember that this is part good training and part genetics. (Trivia note: When you see those parade pictures, note that the thong of the Huntsman’s whip is hanging straight down. So too is the thong on the whips of the Whippers-In. That is a visual signal for the hounds to “pack up.” The whip itself is a signaling device. It is NEVER used to punish a hound.)

Many of the larger hunts maintain three separate packs, each of them hunting one day a week. It is seldom that hounds can hunt every other day, even when they are in the best condition. The hunt season traditionally begins on the first of November and ends in March. There is an informal training season called “Cub Hunting” wherein the young hounds are trained in locating fox in covert, but not the long runs that come in the fall.

Within each pack are several hounds which may possess just a bit better sense of smell, a bit more common sense, or just a bit more experience. Quite often it is these “strike hounds” that will pick up a scent line, speak to it with their wonderful voice, and head out of the covert on the trail. The Huntsman will urge the balance of the pack (with voice and horn) to “Hark to ‘em,” sound the unmistakable “Gone Away” on the horn, and the chase is on. Quite often in the UK, and nearly always in the US, the fox is able to get to ground which, these days, signals the end of the chase and the fox will be left to hunt another day..

That, in four short paragraphs, is a synopsis of the English Foxhound’s vocation. Simple enough to describe, but much more complicated to fulfill. Each hunt country is a bit different, and therefore, each MFH or Huntsman will seek out slightly different characteristics in their hounds. This accounts for the rise of the Modern English Foxhound which is a bit lighter in bone and body and a bit faster all around. It accounts for the Welsh Hound whose shaggy coat is great protection for adverse weather conditions. Despite the emphasis on superior hunting ability, there is now and always has been great importance attached to proper conformation to get the job done. Hounds that break down, lag, or cannot keep up are a detriment to the pack as a whole. They don’t last long and will surely not be bred.

While the very few English Foxhounds that we see in the AKC ring are usually of excellent “Old English” conformation, they don’t represent even a small fraction of the hounds that are shown at hound shows in the UK and the US. The Masters of Foxhounds Association (UK) and the Masters of Foxhounds Association of America (US) sanction these events. There are literally hundreds of hounds from recognized packs exhibited and usually there are various divisions. In the US, these divisions are for English, American, Cross-Bred, and in some cases, Penn-Marydel hounds. Most often the judge or judges are knowledgeable active or retired Masters or Huntsmen.

At hound shows held in the late spring and early summer, English hounds are shown in the US by hunt staff (either professional or honorary) clad in the traditional kennel coat and bowler hat. In the UK, they are shown by staff in full hunt livery. One holds the hound or multiple entry on a slip lead while the other attempts to bait the exhibit into a free-stack. Hounds are shown “on the flags” which are flag stones or planks set into the ground of the ring. Hounds are never touched by the judges and the flat surface of the flags enables them to clearly see and evaluate the feet of each exhibit.

The AKC Breed Standard is brief and, for the most part, clear. It was originally written by two very knowledgeable Masters of Foxhounds, William Brainard MFH (Old Dominion) and A. Henry Higginson MFH (Middlesex), who scribbled it out over a weekend in Boston and sent it on to AKC. Bill Brainard was himself an AKC judge and bred Greyhounds. He was a superior judge of horses, cattle, and almost anything else with a pulse. Although there are (self-admitted) claims that they were both a bit tipsy when it was written, it has stood unchanged since 1935. Like other Standards of its day, the EF Standard contains a Scale of Points which attempts to establish priorities in conformation. They’re spot on!

Not surprisingly, the most important by far is the 20 points for legs and feet. It is impossible to overemphasize the necessity for perfectly tight, round, cat-like feet. Well-knuckled-up and looking like “upside down toadstools.” Perfectly straight pasterns and dead straight forequarters. Knuckling over is not acceptable, but many hounds of yesteryear came quite close. Some still do. (At one point in time, I was asked by a very proper and upcoming judge, DF, how to describe the forequarters of the English Foxhound. I responded, as foxhunters are wont to do, that the legs should be “like f**king fenceposts.” I had forgotten we were standing next to the PA system. I don’t know if that’s a valid answer during a breed interview, but I know one rep who will accept it.)

The ears of English hounds used to be “rounded.” In essence, the lower portion of the ear was removed. This was both a badge of honor, for it symbolized formal entry into the pack, and a preventative to tearing of the ear through the scar tissue that formed. This was as much of a necessity in the Multi-Flora Rose in Pennsylvania as it was in the Gorse of the UK. Although it served a purpose for centuries, I know of no packs rounding ears today. Suffice it to say that in an English hound one wants to see ear “leather.” Thicker, tougher, and more resilient. I honestly believe that the ears and tongue contain more blood than the rest of the body combined.

A strong back, dead level, with a high tail set comes next. So level, in fact, that you can set a 2″ x 4″ board on the backline and see no light anywhere along its length. A “stern well set on” references a longish tail. Mrs. Nancy Hannum MFH felt that a hound’s tail could not be set on too high (but at least shy of the withers) nor carried too proudly. When a hound finds a line in thick covert, all you can see is the feathering of the tail to indicate the find. Without it, you’re blind. With no voice, you’re deaf too.

Most of our breeds call for moderate rear angulation. The EF is not one of them. I’ve always equated a straight stifle with a greater transfer of energy to the lateral plane, resulting in greater endurance at the sacrifice of speed. If you’re old enough, think about pushing a hand lawn mower. The closer you brought the handle parallel to the ground plane, the easier it was to push. The end of the hunt frequently involves the need to round up stray or lagging hounds. One has an idea where they might be and takes a truck to collect them. My own experience showed that it was those that were more angulated that had trouble getting home. Give me a straighter stifle any day, both so the hound can get home and so I can get to the party.

And finally, if there’s a conformation pyramid, the very top (and perhaps least important) segment is levelness and symmetry. For all those extreme characteristics, the hound should have an unmistakable balance and elegance. Fortunately, many of the hounds being shown in the AKC ring today are splendid examples of those qualities.

So there you have it. A very brief Standard focusing almost entirely on the conformation elements necessary for the English Foxhound to do its job in the manner and place intended, both then and now. Some of the terminology is a bit confusing, but the purpose is clear; to judge the hound by the “tools of its trade” in the exact proportion to their importance in its vocation.