We confess a weakness for breeds around which a culture has been built, and certainly the Foxhound has unto itself a sport, lexicon, dress, and traditions. Largely gone are the days when a real fox was hunted, today’s version using scent. What remains, however, are rich customs, and that includes terminology. During a fox hunt, for example, the “whipper-in” is the person responsible for the Foxhounds’ safety. They act as the huntsman’s assistant who brings stray hounds back into the pack. Lest you suspect that a whipper in is a lowly position, you should know that a whipper-in can be the decisive ingredient in turning a mediocre hunting day into a brilliant one. When huntsman and whipper-in work in harmony, the field hardly notices the moving parts. A huntsman relies on the whipper-in to be in the right place at the right time doing the right thing. Put in dog show parlance, a whipper-in anticipates what the huntsman expects the way an experience ring steward anticipates what a judge needs.
Image: Penn MaryDel Foxhounds with the Camden, South Carolina Hunt club by Rachel Parker
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My grandparents rode to the hounds in the 1930’s..Grandma Chew is in Blue holding the fox.. North Carolina
Thanks Elaine! Your photo is proof positive of the legacy that purebred dogs leave us!
My sister, Donna Johnson, was a whipper in for the Bedford County Hunt Club. They did not do many ‘drag’ hunts, as there are real foxes on the properties where they hunt. Donna would sometimes tell us of some hilarious things that would happen as she would try to bring a young dog back to the pack. After she retired from her day job, she spent a lot of time at the kennels getting to know the dogs. She passed away in 2017 from ALS.
We suspect we’d love hearing those stories, but we’re so sorry to hear of Donna’s passing. ALS is a horrible, horrible disease.