Coal Valley Cocktail Party April 10th

We left rolled out of our barn near St. Louis at high noon in the pouring rain. Lei Ruckle and I took two of my homebred paints for the trip. We pulled them straight from the pasture and they were a muddy mess. Five hours later we pulled in to B& N Ranch.

We parked our trailer and Rachel Joyce kindly showed us where to put up the horses for the night. They went out together in a very roomy pipe pen. We got them some water and hay and gave them their evening grain. They were happy horses.

We went into the clubhouse looking for a restroom and met the judges, Rob Kornacki and Susan Gentry. We also met Jeff Sandness who made us feel right at home.
We went back to the trailer and spruced up a little (not a lot as the cocktail party was casual) and went back into the house. It was a great party with wine, beer, and snacks.

We met Trevor Robinson, a local photographer and looked at some of his work, much of which was framed and on the walls.

The hunt box was very cozy with great photos of the Coal Valley hunt with other equine bronzes and memorabilia as well as two mounted coyotes.

We watched as Rachel and some of the others tried to bring the staff horses in from the pasture for the night. The pasture was huge and the Kornacki girls practicing their horn calls had stirred them up. It was quite the roundup, someone was out there trying to bring them in with a four wheeler and not having much luck. Finally they got them in.

We found out that MFH and huntsman Wes Sandness was in the hospital and that Rachel Joyce would be filling in for him. Rachel is a young lady about 25 with a quiet confidence about her. Very sweet and helpful to everyone. She is the kennel man paid by Coal Valley to take care of the hounds and normally whips in for Coal Valley.

As the evening went on we met folks from several hunts. As well as Coal Valley, there were folks from Ft. Leavenworth, Mission Valley, Misty River, Cloudline, Bridlespur and one from Shakerag. It was a very interesting group and tall tales were told of Foxhunting. The coyote that got away, hot info on hunt horses for sale, etc.

One great character Tracy from Arkansas was very graphically relating her foxhunting adventures in Ireland. She was very entertaining.

Trevor showed us more of his photos and some photo slide shows he had done.

Rob Kornacki related some of his experiences on the tour. The most memorable to him was when a golden eagle swooped down and killed the hunted jackrabbit the day he was out with the Kingsbury Harriers.

It was a great party, everyone was very friendly. About 8:30 they brought in several locally made Pizzas. Until then I didn’t realize how hungry I was. The pizzas really hit the spot. We left for our hotel in Pittsburg, KS around 9:30pm eager to go hunting the next day.