Opening Hunt

It was an absolutely beautiful day to ride and a perfect day for Opening Hunt! The  was shining, the sky was so blue and the wind was barely moving.

Photo credit: Michelle Tjardes

Huntsman David Kruger, Professional Whip Bre Osborn, Honorary Whips  Nancy Evans,  Jubilee Miller & Junior whip Morghan Herman carried the hounds to the first field that had been harvested. With all the rain, the farmers have had a difficult time getting into the fields.

We had 30 riders mounted, including several new members! Michelle Tjardes(on the reserve list, recovering from surgery), Catherine Dargin, Lauren Kundert, Jessica White, Laura Allen, Krista Brown, Wayne Van Pelt, Judith Jolene and her 12 year old daughter, Averyle.

New member Judith Jolene & daughter Averyle

Also on the injured reserve list, Beth Van Dyke. She had a ground tester a MAS. No decision has been made on the exact injury.

We had about 8 cars following, including a hayrack driven by Huntsman Dave’s dad, Steve Kruger. I rode on the hay rack and it was a fun ride. I think it should be a tradition!

Ready to hunt! New members Catherine Dargin and Lauren Kundert

First WW break

Sarah Arnold

MFH Dave Keffeler

NHH Board President Holly Barrett.

We had three ground testers. One at the kennels, rider was ok. One in the field when a deer jumped out, scared one horse and it slammed into another horse. That rider fell off, but is ok.

Keith Rohwer, beautifully turned out!

Keith Rohwer had a bad day 🙁 He was at a gallop when he and his horse had a parting of the ways. He fell hard on his right ankle and suffered a Tri mallelor fracture. Which means he broke his fibula, tibia and talas. Daryl was with him in the field and helped him take his boot off (Saved from the scissors!). Wayne and Danny (Krista’s boyrfriend) drove into the field to pick him up. Melinda Brahms drove him to UNMC where they fixed the dislocation (OWWWW), put a splint on him, gave him some excellent pain medication and he headed home (Daryl drove). He will have surgery in the next 10 days or so. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers as this will be a long recovery and he is in the midst of harvest, plus his dad is out of commission as well. If you would like to send him a card: Keith Rohwer,  5768440th Street, Paulina, Iowa 51046.

Field ambulance

We returned to the clubhouse for a wonderful meal provided by the NHH Board of Directors. Broccoli, scalloped potatoes, salisbury steaks (I think? It was good!), bread and cake.

Next weekend is our Junior Hunt. We will hunt Saturday from the kennels @ 10:00 am. Sunday we will have a paper chase at Quail Run Horse Centre. 10 am. A paper chase is when we have a make believe hunt. Whipper-in Jubilee Miller will be our “Fox” and we will try to find her and chase her =) we will have 3 flights and accomodate all riders. Please RSVP to me lcstava@gmail.com or text 402.981.9826 to make sure we have enough food.

MFH Dave Keffeler and Rebecca Fellman, Huntsman Dave, Professional Whip Bre and Superstar Hound, Lyse will be flying to Alabama for the Performance Trials. Affliate member MFH Marcella Thacker-Norman and NHH member Brit Vegas-Gengenbach will be driving there and hunting. 36 couple of hounds from 37 hunts across North America qualified. Twelve qualifier performace trials were run during the 2017-18 season and these were the best hounds. Lyse is one of them! WHAT AN ACCOMPLISHMENT!! We wish her well !

Have a wonderful, sunshiny week. Rest well, Keith! (He is giving up smoking because the doctors said it will help with his healing)

Carine

NHH Honorary Secretary/hay wagon rider