Opening Day:

Stirrup Cup

and

Blessing of the Hounds

with the

Carrollton Hounds

New Windsor (Carroll County), Maryland

There are more pictures here, so to reduce loading time for the page I'm using a smaller size for most of them. If you'd like to see a larger version, let me know! Thanks.

Steve Powell, mounted and looking dapper in formal dress!	Joe Bills, Honorary Secretary and Field Master, prepares to mount up.	Another shot of Joe, trying to appear incognito in his shades.
Carol and daughter Courtney, ready to ride, at Rolling Acres Farm prior to the Stirrup Cup.	Joint-Master and Huntsman Dulany Noble, MFH, approaches with some of the Hounds.	Closer shot of Dulany with equine and canine companions, just before the Stirrup Cup.
The Stirrup Cup. Carrollton Hounds and guests (some from Goshen Hounds) prepare to hack over to the Blessing.	Packing up. The Hounds gather around Dulany in preparation for the ride over to the Shriver Farm.	Off to the Blessing! The Carrollton Hounds and guests move out, on a warm and partly cloudy late-October morning (Sunday the 27th).
Coming up the road! The Hounds en route to the Blessing, through some of our beautiful Carroll County farm country.	Another gorgeous scene: Carrollton Hounds and guests await the arrival of Father Guy Hawtin at the Shriver Farm. The trees are just beginning to acquire their Autumn foliage.	Scarlet and black coats, against white barns and green grass, under a blue Autumn sky. Does it ever get any better than this? A li'l piece of heaven...

The Blessing of the Hounds

by Father Guy Hawtin, of St. Stephen's Traditional Episcopal Church, in Timonium, Maryland.

Alas, at this point I ran out of film, so I was not able to take several other lovely shots that commended themselves to my attention, nor to capture the Carrollton Hounds and honored guests as they rode out on the Hunt itself. And shortly thereafter, I was forced to absent myself from the scene, due to familial obligations. But perhaps someone else has taken photos of the Hunt (more successful than on many an Opening Day, or so I am told), and the delicious Hunt Breakfast which I am sorry to have missed as well!

Please direct comments and questions to Tom Harbold. Please direct complaints almost anywhere else!

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