Competing at the Canadian District qualifier for the Centennial Field Hunter Cham-pionships took Anne McKibbin on a walk down memory lane. In the months before the competition, held Oct. 15 in Caledon, Ont., she worked hard to make sure she would be in the running to win the best turned-out award.

"It took me three months to get ready for the turnout part. What fun we had, going through old trunks with family and friends to find such things as breeches with buttons, a sewn bridle and a three-fold leather girth with no elastic," she said.

What's it like to be a whip and why do you do it? This is probably the most asked question I get from people who ride in the field or just know about foxhunting.

The answer is complex because it involves a range of emotions from awful to wonderful. When it's good, there's a magic involved that touches the soul, which is hard to put into words. My most precious memories are when I've been alone with the hounds, far from the field or huntsman, on a hard scent running in full cry.

he finality of it has at last hit home. Vincent Tartaglia, the sometimes feisty but always brilliant huntsman who achieved national stature in his profession, retired his horn after more than 25 years with the Rombout Hunt (N.Y.).

On Dec. 2, he said good night to the hunting faithful one last time at a dinner honoring him in Hyde Park, N.Y.

The finality of it has at last hit home. Vincent Tartaglia, the sometimes feisty but always brilliant huntsman who
achieved national stature in his profession, retired his horn after more than 25 years with the Rombout Hunt (N.Y.).

quot;Don't Fence Me In" might have been the theme song for the Genesee Valley Hunt on Nov.4. Fence issues figured throughout the day, which began with one of the hunt's best runs on a very tricky red fox and ended with one of its most unusual point-to-points, in which more horses finished than started.