Speed is the culprit... Hunter's Horn, July, 1959
The Hunter's Horn
July, 1959
Page Thirty-Two
Speed Is The Culprit
In my contacts with fox hunters over the country, at field trials, sectional hunts and with
hunters just out for an enjoyable hunt, I get the definite impression that many fox hunters
are just a little speed crazy. Why are so many hunters looking for the first dog to cross the
road?
I believe I appreciate speed as much as any man. I have been an employer of men, and
women too, for 40-odd years, and when I find one who has both speed and accuracy, I
thank the good Lord that I have been so fortunate. But please deliver me from the
employee who goes at break-neck speed, and then the rest of us have to work the rest of
the day in an effort to find his errors. Where a man is efficient, and can increase his speed
or production a little, that is fine. But the Lord help us with the fellow who sacrifices
accuracy, neatness and efficient work, just to be recognized as a fast worker.
I have been observing men and women at work, for over 40 years. I have yet to find a fast,
efficient worker who did not have a good head on him. In other words, a man must have
good sense to use his speed efficiently, otherwise his speed is a handicap.
In fact, a good, fast, efficient worker is a good all-around man. He will just about fit into any
situation in his organization, with some exceptions of course, because he uses his head,
pays attention to what others around him are doing, and learns his business from various
angles. It is this type man who gets the promotions, salary increases, and places in a
position of responsibility. He learns the business from the ground up, as the expression
goes. He not only has ability to work himself, but knowing the business he has that
much-sought-after something, the ability to direct the work of others.
What significance does this have when thinking about foxhounds? Well, we think we can
use the same logic in selecting our hounds. If his feet are faster than his ability to think,
then he is too fast. Have you ever seen one of these speed demons come back and
straighten out a track? We never saw one. You probably will see him sweeping the hills, or
perhaps standing on high ground listening, waiting for the dog with a good head to put him
back on the trail.
We have been fox hunting for a long time, and cannot recall a single instance where a
speed demon ever added anything to a pack of good hounds. The only thing they ever did
for us was to shorten the chase by running the fox off and losing him, or scattering the
pack so that further running was hopeless.
I am negotiating now with a man from Missouri for the purchase of a hound owned by a
friend of mine. He wrote to me and asked if I could buy the hound for him. Said she was the
very type hound he wanted. He wanted speed, regardless, just to be in front.
Well, so far as I am concerned, I shall be happy whenever this hound is removed from our
pack. She runs with us usually on Saturday nights, and if she runs we know the chase will
soon be broken up. She has the speed. By herself, she really can push a ref fox, but when
running with the pack all she thinks about is cutting, cheating--anything, just to get ahead
of the pack, and the first time the fox makes a sudden turn, she is out sweeping the
country, hoping to run across the track. If she can't make it that way, she pulls back toward
the pack and begins sweeping back and forth in front until she picks up the track again. It
is only a short time, with us, before she has completely ruined an otherwise good chase.
At the present time w run about 20 dogs with all hunters present with their dogs. But I can
tell you one thing, when only two of us go, with our ten hounds, things are different. You
would never recognize our ten hounds as the same that run with the 20, because some few
hounds in the other ten hounds play havoc with the rest. With our ten, closely culled and
observed, we have steady running. These ten hounds have speed enough. They keep a
fox moving far better than the 20 do, largely because of the few speed demons who pull
the other dogs off.
So let's begin to select for all-round good qualities, and I believe we will have much better
running. After all, the real sport is not in having one lone hound way out in front. It is the
music of the pack, well grouped together, all working toward the same end; namely, to
keep the fox on the move with as few breaks as possible until he is holed, treed or caught,
which is seldom with a red fox here.
In my business, which is commercial banking, we have many individual employees. They all
work for the same organization, but their duties are different, their individual
responsibilities vary from job to job. Some are short on experience but long on ambition.
Others have worked for years, and where they have applied themselves their progress has
been rapid. Some are good bookkeepers, but that is the limit of their banking experience.
Others are good bookkeepers, good paying and receiving tellers, and they do a good job.
Still others, a very few, can fill almost any position in the bank; they are indispensable.
The one who can do any and all jobs in the bank, and do each job well, is of course a more
valuable member of the staff than some beginner whose knowledge of the business is
limited. We try to train each member of the staff in every job in the bank. It requires time,
patience and a lot of hard work on the part of the trainee. But when he has learned to do all
jobs well, he is assured of a full-time job and his good efforts are well rewarded.
I like for my foxhounds to work toward a common goal, that of becoming a good foxhound.
If one shows any marked deficiency in any one of the many qualifications which we demand
of a good hound, out he goes. Life is too short to worry with a babbler (one of the first
signs of a poor hound), neither do we have the time and patience to keep a speed demon,
or the road runner. If he enjoys sitting around the casting grounds, we just ask someone to
let that hound sit around their casting grounds. If he forms the habit of getting behind
there is no hope for him, so out goes another pretty hound.
I don't think I am asking too much of my hounds to get out and hunt, trail, jump and run a
fox. I can do all of the sitting around, and don't need any help from him. Also, when I feel
good I can babble just as much as he can, and with much less ill effect on the running pack.
Besides, when I am babbling there is no running going on. I have sense enough to shut up
when the pack start running, but the babbling hound never shuts his mouth so long as you
leave him in the woods.
Believe me, fellow, I do not own a perfect hound. Neither do I own one with any serious
fault. We had as promising a two-year-old bitch running in our pack as anyone would
expect for her age. She got just as much of the front as any of the older hounds. But she
came by us the other day running the back track. The only time we ever saw her do
this--but that was enough. A few such trips by her on the wrong end could easily start some
other young hound on the wayward trail. She is gone.
J. G. Dickerson
Amelia, Va