THE ONWENTSIA 



Starting with these disadvantages, but backed by liberal subscriptions 

 and an endless amount of enthusiasm, Mr. Aldis bought eight couples of 

 English foxhounds from the Chevy Chase, of which Mr. Clarence Moore 

 was M. F. H., — in April of 1 902. Mr. Moore took sufficient interest in 

 the formation of the Hunt to send out with this draft his huntsman, Robert 

 Curran, who proved very useful in showing the first huntsman of the On- 

 wentsia some of the tricks of his trade. A little later, hearing that the Mid- 

 dlesex Hunt was about to dispose of a pack of beagles, which had been 

 ridden after for some years and were admittedly the fastest of their kind in 

 America, Mr. Aldis also purchased a draft of them, but they never proved 

 very popular and were later disposed of. 



The next thing to do was to get the country into sufficiently good shape 

 to ride over, and this was accomplished by obtaining permission from the 

 farmers to build panels of timber from forty to fifty yards wide in the wire 

 fences. The rideable area was thus steadily expanded under Mr. Aldis's 

 energetic rule and the Fields increased both in numbers and experience. 



In 1 903, a draft was procured from the Montreal Hunt and in the fol- 

 lowing autumn these were augmented by more hounds from the Green 

 Spring Valley, which were hunted with the others with the idea that they 

 would improve the music of the pack. This they did, but were found to 

 be uncontrollable and were promptly dreifted. 



On December I st, 1 903, Mr. W. Vemon Booth succeeded Mr. Aldis 

 as Master, and continued to carry out the work begun by his predecessor, 

 his first step being to get more hounds from the Montreal and the Middle- 

 sex. He also engaged, as huntsman, Arthur Paley, who had been first 

 whipper-in to the Middlesex draghounds, and with the latter's experienced 

 assistance improved the pack in pace and uniformity and increased the ride- 

 able area, until his country now extends twelve miles south, nine miles west 

 and six miles north from the kennels, which are on the borders of the lake. 

 Drafts have been acquired from year to year from various eastern packs, 

 perhaps the most important being the acquisition of a large draft from the 

 London (Ontario) hounds in 1905. The country being chiefly grass, and 

 the fences mainly built of saplings, and therefore unbreakable, a clean, clever 



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