The second time I hunted I didn't hunt with Lynn's pack. It was a bunch of little dogs who, instead of galloping long distances after coyotes, darted in short spurts in chase of bunny rabbits. Luckily, there were no hunt stopping hills here. The terrain was mostly flat and when we did come across a bunny, incredibly fast paced. As old Nikko was (and still is) extremely competitive, it was no time before we were near the front of the field and it was also all I could do to keep him from passing the Field Master. It was also I could do to keep him from running into the Field Master when we lost the bunny. The hounds are so interesting. Because I grew up visiting Lynn during the summer, Christmas, and any other miscellaneous holidays I've always known that every hound has a name, personality, and personal connection to Lynn. It's always fun to see people finding this out for the first time. "There's HOW many of them?!" One hundred eighteen. "And they ALL have names?" Yep. "How do you tell them apart?" Because they all look different (although I can only distinguish three). The hounds are also incredibly friendly, and mostly polite. Almost anyone who has found one of Lynn's hounds that was left out could tell you that they weren't aggressive, or that they didn't want to come into the house or get in the car (because they know that they are not allowed in the house). They might say that they were worried about the kids being around the big hunting hound, but that fear didn't last very long. And then Lynn comes to get the hound and they are so happy to see her. It's that personal connection the hounds have with her. Somehow they can distinguish between Lynn and all the other members in the field, even though she doesn't always ride the same horse. The hounds are truly amazing and hunting couldn't be the same without them.

Ruth and Terry Ruth and Terry are two wonderful working students who have spent the past year with Lynn , the Red Rock barn and kennel. They will return to their homes in Austria on August 5th to finish their secondary education in agricultural school and then move on to careers in the equine industry. Ruth and Terry have been a joy to experience for every hunt member. And although in this brief memoir they make light of their early hunt season mornings, let me be the first to recognize and thank them for their hard work throughout the year. They are both young women of strong character and delightful personality. Good luck to you both on your return home, and please come back soon to hunt with us again! Trees, grass, rain and a lot of people - that is how we remember Austria. Here we are now: in the desert with just a few people around and Reno an hour away (and no drivers license)! I'm 17 in a couple of days and Terry is 18 now. We are VERY glad that we were able to spend a year here in Lynn Lloyd's barn with about 50 horses and 100 + hounds. I came in August, so Hunt season wouldn't start for another month. Almost every day we had to exercise hounds to keep them fit. It was fascinating to watch horses, hounds and people working together just to have fun. Very exciting were the couple times I got to play a whipper-in. Keeping hounds together and taking off galloping after them gave me a great feeling. Once Hunt season started it got very busy but luckily Terry came over to help us out. After ponying a lot of horses around the block we were able to go on some hunts. Waking up early in the morning and getting all the horses ready was one thing, but the actual hunt was great.