Traveling from Aiken, S.C., to Middleburg, Va., for the Theodora A. Randolph Field Hunter Championships of America was just like going home for Susan McHugh.

McHugh used to live in Round Hill, Va., but moved to Aiken five years ago.

“It was wonderful to go back—I miss the land and the beauty of it and the people. I knew so many people that it made it extra special,” she said.

The championship finals, held at Glenwood Park on Oct. 5, concluded a week of activities. Contestants had to qualify for the final by hunting with various Northern Virginia hunts and being selected by the panel of judges. Then in the finals, they participated in a mock hunt around the Glenwood Park grounds and were judged in a hack class. The top contenders were asked to complete a handy hunter course of jumps.

“It was just a fantastic week of hunting, with fabulous host hunts. I was staying at Susie and Pug Hart’s farm in Millwood, and their generosity just added to the experience,” said McHugh, who won aboard Dennis The Menace.

Susie Hart had won the Field Hunter Championships in 2003.

“The week couldn’t have been better—the horse went so well. The first day, we hunted with Old Dominion, and it
was quite hilly, and we ran quite a bit.

He was a little bit up at the start, but he settled back into it and was brilliant,” said McHugh.

“The next day we hunted with Snickersville, which was fantastic. The third day was Piedmont, and I was dying to hunt with them, but he really needed a day off; I wanted to save him because he’s Aiken-fit, not Virginia hills-fit. Then, on Friday, I went out with Fairfax, and we had a great time. The hound work with all three hunts was just spectacular, and we had great runs and lovely weather.”

McHugh qualified for the finals on her hunt with Snickersville. This was the third time she’d participated in the championships on “Dennis.” They’d made the final competition each year but never the final round.

“I just wanted to make the final cut—I never imagined I’d win it!” she said. “I always wanted to do the test. I’d sit there watching and think, ‘I could do that!’ So I was so happy to finally get a chance to prove what he can do.

“Nelson Gunnell led the field for the mock hunt and did a wonderful job. He set a great pace. I was second in line behind him, and we just jumped out of stride. We galloped on, and the jumps just came up perfectly.”

For the final handy test, McHugh relished the chance to show off Dennis’ handiness. After jumping down a bank and a set of offset logs, the finals riders had to negotiate a tricky set of verticals.

“The first vertical was facing the group, and upon landing you had to make a sharp right-hand turn in one stride to jump out over the second one. One stride after that was another jump that you weren’t supposed to jump, so you had to turn left or right to avoid it.

“It was very tricky, and that’s what got most of the people; several had refusals there,” she explained. “I knew I could angle the first jump and then go straight to the second one. We jumped right through it, and people commented that we made it look so easy that they didn’t realize how difficult it was. Then you had to go through two bushes and back over a big log, gallop back to the group and stop hard.”

Though Dennis is a Percheron-Thoroughbred, he makes short work of tough questions like that.

“He’s keen and game and lively, but he’s very controllable. He’s the type of horse who knows his job so well that if you’re galloping, and he sees everyone else stopping, he just slows down on his own. He’s a wonderful jumper. He’s also smart about footing and handy, which is surprising given the Percheron in him,” said McHugh.

McHugh bought Dennis as a 2-year-old from Elise Daniel and has had him for 11 years. She originally bought Dennis as a trail-riding horse for her husband, but when he didn’t show interest in riding, she started him.

“He wasn’t easy. He was what I would call a slow thinker. I had a Thoroughbred I was hunting, so having a half-draft was different. I didn’t really like the feel of it, but then the more I got used to him and the better he got, the more I liked him. And eventually I sold the Thoroughbred,” McHugh said.

She took Dennis to many activities to turn him into a seasoned veteran. They evented to training level and partook in competitive trail riding. Dennis even won a 50-mile trail ride.

“I’ve done so many fun things with him over the years. Any other horse I have ends up on the back burner because if there’s something to do, I want to do it on Dennis. I can always count on him; he never does anything wrong, and he always wants to please,” she said.

Dennis grew up hunting with Blue Ridge Hunt (Va.) and since her move to Aiken, McHugh now hunts with Aiken and Flat Branch (S.C.) Hounds.

“Aiken is a drag hunt, and Flat Branch Hounds is a live hunt. He’s gotten so much mileage and experience that I swear he knows the difference between drag hunting and live hunting,” McHugh said.