Two years ago, my friend Ginny and I started a fun tradition on Thanksgiving morning of attending a Blessing of the Hounds service. We wake up early, grab some Starbucks and head out to this beautiful little church, nestled in the hills of Keswick, VA. We gather outside the church and at 10, the church bells sound and the hounds, horses, and their riders arrive. As for the service, it is a pretty typical Thanksgiving day service with a few hymns and an offering that goes towards 2 animal charities.
Reading through the program, It seems that the blessing of hunting hounds is a tradition which began in the eigth century by St. Hubert, patron saint of hunters. The best part is that he was hunting one time and saw a stag with a "luminous crucifix" between its antlers. Pretty epic. Fox hunting became more popular in Virginia during colonial times and George Washington is known to have been a rather skilled hunter.
Pictures! From 2008 and 2010:
and yes, obviously I tried to fit in and wore my boots :)
