West Hills Hounds: Terms
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Babbler . . . A hound that gives tongue unnecessarily.
Blank: . . . Is blank or drawn blank when no scent is found within. A blank day is one in which the hounds fail to find a scent.
Blind country . . . Is terrain overgrown with weeds and underbrush, where it is difficult to gauge the jumps and footing.
Blue-ticked . . . When a hound is mostly white with small splashes of black mixed in giving a blue appearance.
Brush . . . The tail of a fox.
Burning scent . . . Scent is so hot and strong that hounds pursue the line without hesitation.
Burst . . . Hounds get away quickly or when there is a short, fast run during a hunt.
Bye day . . . When the hounds are taken out on a day not regularly scheduled on the fixture card.
Carry (a good head) . . . When hounds run abreast in following a line.
Carry (a line) . . . To follow the line of the scent.
Cast . . . Huntsman escorts the hounds to an area where the scent could have recently been left, or may encourage the hounds look for themselves.
Catch hold . . . Huntsman collects his hounds and takes them forward for a check or halloo indicating that there has been a view.
Challenge . . . When a hound first owns or speaks to a line.
Charles James . . . Fox.
Check . . . When hounds lose the scent and stop. Hounds may search for the line or are cast by the huntsman.
Cold line . . . A faint scent that may have lain for some time. Could also be a fresh scent but too faint for the hounds to carry.
Counter . . . When a hound runs a line in reverse.
Covert . . . Wooded areas where quarry might be found.
Cry . . . The voice or music of a hound, which varies with the quality of the scent.
Cub . . . The young fox.
Cub hunting . . . Informal hunting in the late summer and early fall before the regular hunting has started, in order to enter young hounds.
Den . . . The home of the fox.
Dog Hound . . . The male hound. Sometimes called a stallion hound if used for breeding.
Double back . . . When the line of scent turns back on its course.
Doubling the horn . . . A series of thrilling notes made by using the tongue.
Draft . . . To acquire hounds from another hunt.
Drag hunt . . . A form of hunting which uses an artificial line of scent.
Draw . . . Search for a scent in a covert.
Draw a blank . . . An unsuccessful draw.
Dwell . . . When a hound lingers unnecessarily on a line instead of going forward.
Enter . . . Hounds put into the pack during the cubbing season.
Eye to hounds . . . Listening and watching the hounds so one can tell which way the line has gone and what the hounds will do.
Feathering . . . A hound that follows a line, moves his stern from side to side but gives little tongue indicating that he is unsure of the scent.
Field . . . Designated followers of the hounds, whether afoot or on horseback, other than the master and the hunt staff.
Find . . . When hounds first open on a scent.
Fixture card . . . A statement of where and when the meets will be held.
Flighty . . . Undependable (hounds). Foil . . . The line crosses itself or the scent of another animal that may cause the hounds to check.
Forrard . . . When huntsman directs his hounds straight ahead.
Fresh . . . An adjective to describe a scent that is not cold.
Full cry . . . Heart warming voice or chorus given by the hounds when they are hunting enthusiastically.
Gone away . . . When the hounds are on full cry on a run
Hark forward . . . A call by the huntsman to cheer his hounds into a covert or to encourage them on the line.
Head (verb) hounds . . . To cause the hounds to get their heads up. Not good!
Heads Up . . . When the hounds, losing the scent, raise their heads to search for it.
Heel . . . Hounds that hit a line and run it backwards.
Hilltoppers . . . Riders and those afoot who follow the hunt from vantage points at a safe distance from the staff and field.
Hoick . . . Huntsman's cheer to encourage the hounds.
Hold hard . . . Huntsman's warning to the field not to override his hounds.
Honest hound . . . Dependable tongue, not a babbler.
Honor a line . . . When a hound speaks on scent.
Huntsman . . . Person who hunts the hounds.
Larking . . . Jumping fences unnecessarily.
Lift . . . Taking the hounds away from a lost line, and casting forward.
Line . . . Track of the scent.
Line breeding . . . Offspring from parents with common ancestry.
Livery . . . The attire of professional members of the hunt (old); also refers to horse rental.
Manners . . . Deportment of hounds and horses.
Meet . . . Site where the hunting day starts.
MFH . . . Master of Foxhounds.
MFHA . . . Masters of Fox Hounds Association of America.
Mouthy . . . Hound that is noisy and a babbler.
Music (of hound) . . . The cry of the pack.
Mute . . . A hound that fails to give tongue when following a line.
Noisy . . . Mouthy, babbling.
Nose . . . Scenting ability of a hound.
Out-cross . . . Infusion of new blood into hound breeding.
Over-ride . . . To press the hounds too closely, especially at a check.
Over-run . . . Hounds shoot past the line when the scent has shifted by a change of course or foil.
Own . . . To speak or honor a line.
Pack . . . A number of hounds hunted together regularly.
Pack sense . . . Trait of pack working together and honoring each other.
Pad . . . Foot of a hound. Pie . . . A reference to certain colorations of a hound.
Pinks . . . Scarlet coats of the hunting staff, named after a British tailor of the same name.
Point . . . The distance from where the scent begins and ends.
Point to Point . . . Race across country, originally from one Church steeple to another. Now a race across flagged country following a defined course.
Ratcatcher . . . Informal dress worn during the cub hunting season.
Rate . . . When the master or huntsman punishes his hounds with the thong or sharp words.
Recover . . . When a scent is picked up again after a check.
Ride . . . A lane cut though a covert.
Ride in the huntsman's pocket . . . A rider, often a greenhorn, who follows at the heels of the huntsman.
Ringer . . . A scent that runs in circles.
Riot . . . Hounds that follow scents other than the designated scent.
Rising scent . . . Scent that is poor at ground level, caused by the combination of cold ground and warm air.
* Adapted from: The Chronicle of the Horse, September 19, 1986.
