Martin scott
The hound showing season is upon us and masters and huntsmen all over the country turn their thoughts to breeding programmes for next year. The doyen of hound breeding, Martin Scott, shares his thoughts on what works
H&H talks to the doyen of hound breeding
MARTIN SCOTT’S tall figure, keenly focused on the action in the ring, is one of the unmistakable sights of the summer hound show season. He is renowned throughout the hunting world for his great knowledge of hound breeding, particularly hounds’ bloodlines and the Foxhound Kennel Studbook.
His own hunting pedigree is immaculate. Martin’s father, Major Bill Scott, was a master for 34 years, starting with the United Pack in 1927 and including two stints at the Portman before and after World War II. During the war, despite being away with his regiment (The Royals), he kept the North Cotswold going. Once, returning on a particularly short leave, he went to church on Sunday and then immediately hunted the hounds, still in his uniform, before returning to Holland.
After the war, finding the North Cotswold country to be wired up and ploughed up, the family moved to the West Waterford in Ireland. Martin remembers sharing his pram with a hound called Lottery and he had his first hunting there aged two.
“While we were there, I was bitten on the face by a hound called North Cotswold Landlord 44, who was promptly drafted to the Portman,” remembers Martin. “But we were reunited as, in 1949, we returned to Dorset, where my father hunted the Portman doghounds while his great friend, Sir Peter Farquhar, hunted the bitches. I didn’t have any chance of not going hunting.”
A short military career was followed by eight years as master and huntsman of the Tiverton and then seven years in the same role at the VWH. He retired from hunting hounds in 1983 and has since pursued a successful career as a financial consultant with the St James’s Place Partnership. He has, however, continued to breed the hounds for the VWH, as well as advising many others, and has enjoyed a great deal of success on the flags with the handsome VWH hounds.
It is doubtful there is anyone else alive today who has such an in-depth knowledge of hound pedigrees and the all-important sires of yesteryear. Just as thoroughbreds have the General Stud Book, started by Weatherbys in 1791, hunting has the Foxhound Kennel Studbook (FKSB). The first volume covers 1800-1844, hence a hound’s lineage can be traced back more than 200 years. Martin Scott is the acknowledged authority on this fascinating window into our past.
What is its relevance to modern breeders and what are the aims and perils of line-breeding?
“The object is to get the hounds as level as possible, so that they run up together as a pack and don’t get strung out on a long hunt. When I first came to the VWH, the two packs [the VWH Cirencester and the VWH Cricklade] hadn’t been amalgamated for long and were all shapes and sizes,” he says. “My first task was to make them as level as possible. It took quite a long time — these things can’t be done overnight.”
Line-breeding is breeding back to the heroes of the past, in the fourth, fifth and sixth generation. As it is a form of inbreeding, one needs continually to alternate the male and female lines, plus the occasional outcross.
“Cherish your female lines and look after them,” Martin advises. “In my time, I have maintained a number of tail female lines and have introduced some new ones. I have lost three lines important to me, but have recovered them at a later date. One was the Tiverton ‘F’ line I brought up with me to the VWH. It just fizzled out for no good reason, but I think the relevant bitch missed [wasn’t in whelp].
“I recovered it when Tony Holdsworth [who moved from the Tiverton to the Beaufort] brought a brilliant one with him to Badminton. Both the Beaufort and the VWH have had a high regard for this line, maybe because of College Valley Governor 95 bringing extra voice and nose. I lost the Old Dominion Gorgeous 68 line, having given two good descendants back to them, but have regained it. Last year’s Harrogate champion, Jubilant
15, is the result. She also has an outcross to the College Valley — this line does tend to be on the small size.
“The Carlow ‘F’ line had bad feet and did not improve with the next generation, so I let it go. The one I really regret losing was the Bathurst female line that had a very good nose. When this died out, sadly no one else had it.”
But Martin says that his biggest mistake in his decades of hound breeding was not to alternate the female lines.
“I went through all the litters I had bred over 40 years and where I had used a sire and dam of the same female line, it had not produced the goods,” he states. “They just didn’t sparkle; they were disappointing instead of being bloody good! You also lose size and hybrid vigour. Ultimately, you never stop learning and you must expect disappointments. It is important, however, never to discard anything too soon.”
ONLY THE BEST MARTIN says that his breeding programme is based with one word in mind — work.
“I go through the hound list on a regular basis with the huntsman, marking the hounds out of three. If the whole litter have three against them, then you can breed from any of these. If they don’t have three, why are they still there? Though younger hounds, particularly the doghounds, need a bit of time [to prove themselves].
“Having got an idea of what is available in the kennel, select the best bitches to breed from these families. Also, do try to do something different within each year’s entry. This way you can then use the progeny from the various families on each other in the future. Always try to look ahead, which is why you should have a number of different female lines.”
What about choosing a stallion hound?
“I have in the back of my mind what I want to use. I then consult with the huntsman. I have been fortunate to have worked with two top-class huntsmen at the VWH — Sidney Bailey and Philip Hague — who have been great
‘If you have one star in a family of bad ones, don’t be tempted to breed from her. Sure as eggs are eggs,
you’ll end up with a litter of bad ones’
assessors of hound work and totally honest about it.
“It’s important then to do test pedigrees, either with a split pedigree book or using the Masters of Foxhounds Association (MFHA) online studbook. I check it out to ensure that one goes no closer than the fourth generation in doubling up on the heroes of the past and, if it works, I check it out again to see whether lines go back to the hounds I want to breed back to. I also like to lend stallion hounds and their brothers to other people to get a separate opinion on their working abilities.
“To give outcrosses a chance, you need to breed from two of your best bitches. There is absolutely no point in using a moderate dam; even by using the best, you will only have a 50% success rate. If you are a small establishment and can’t afford to make mistakes, let someone else do the work for you. Then, when someone else has something that has worked out well, go and use theirs, thus reducing the risk.”
Martin believes one big mistake people make these days is breeding too close, as well as breeding too many hounds. Other issues include,“putting a big dog on a small bitch or a long one on a short one, meaning you just end up with all shapes and sizes rather than the desired uniformity”.
“I also think people are far too ready to breed from a young doghound before he is fully proven,” he says. “I would also advise that if you have one star in a family of bad ones, don’t be tempted to breed from her. Sure as eggs are eggs, you’ll end up with a litter of bad ones.”
MEASURING SUCCESS IN recent years, the VWH hounds have been hugely successful on the showing circuit as well as producing many influential stallion hounds. It was therefore interesting to learn which hounds Martin considered among the best he had bred. These included VWH General 80, who had wonderful “fox sense” and was grandsire to the famous Guinness 92. VWH Darius 04 and his siblings Daystar and Dashing all hunted into their 10th season, longevity being an important asset that is sometimes overlooked.
Darius’s progeny have proved extremely successful, with some exceptional workers who have undoubtedly inherited the brains and fox sense of their ancestors. From his Tiverton days, he remembers Ginger 76, who goes back to College Valley, Heythrop and Old Berks bloodlines. Though he didn’t produce any sons of note, his daughters proved useful breeding stock. His great nose and voice were inherited from his grandsire Old Berks Grammar 61 (the VWH Butler 84 line goes back to him).
Despite their triumphs on the flags, Martin is keen to stress that showing shouldn’t be taken too seriously.
“Of course, it’s nice to have the occasional win, but really it should be a summer exercise that allows you to talk to other people about their hounds and for people to see your hounds,” he stresses.