Have a fantasy on us!
In this PG-rated fantasy, you are wearing a green jacket made from 24oz British-woven cavalry twill. Three or four gold buttons adorn the front of the tailored (and flattering!) cut, a single center vent at the back. Two outside slanting pockets carry your emergency whistle and small folded multi-tool. You are glad of the tightly woven jacket because of a cool mist swirling around your ankles, but there is nothing to be done for the brisk autumn air nipping at your cheeks. Still, the hounds love this weather. A descending fog energizes the Foxhounds, their wagging tails a blur of motion moving with the rhythm of a metronome set to allegro.
This is the world of a subscription pack hunt.
Readers may wonder what a ‘subscription pack’ is. The short answer is that while foxhunts are a specific hunting activity, a ‘subscription pack’ is a way of organizing and funding hunting activities.
In this world, hounds are counted in pairs referred to as “couples.” A subscription packs usually has 5 to 16 couples, or about 10 to 32 individual dogs. The subscription pack is supported by members who pay fees to participate in activities on a regular schedule, typically March through October.
There are subscription packs in North America, and the oldest one in America on record is currently active.
The Rose Tree Foxhunting Club founded in 1859 in Media, Pennsylvania was named after the old Rose Tree Inn, an old fieldstone tavern that become synonymous with the hunt because on a crisp fall day in 1859, inn landlord, J. Morgan Baker, opened his doors to a group of passionate fox hunters. He invited the group of bone-chilled hunters to find comfort from his roaring fire, a hot meal, and the inn’s finest ale. There, the sportsmen rehashed their morning adventure, and made plans for future ones – and for the next 105 years, hunters and spectators congregated at the Inn at the start of each thrilling chase.
The legacy continues to be celebrated even decades after the club’s relocation to south-central Pennsylvania in 1964, a move necessitated by encroaching development in their original location. After the move, Rose Tree merged with the Blue Mountain Hunt to form (wait for it)……the Rose Tree-Blue Mountain Hunt. The merger introduced new traditions, but the move also meant twenty-two miles of diverse terrain that included natural jumps and open galloping through orchards and grain farms. What didn’t change was its status as a ‘subscription pack.’