The Blessing of The Hounds is an annual tradition in the Virginia countryside. Every year on Thanksgiving Day, hundreds gather to watch as hounds and horses are blessed before setting out on a mid-morning Fox Hunt.
Fox Hunting is an equestrian sport in which hounds chase a red fox. The Hounds are trailed by the Huntsman who are on horseback. Fox Hunting, also called Fox Chasing, as many groups no longer kill the foxes, can be traced back to colonial times. Fox hunting started in 16th century England by farmers as a method to control the fox population which threatened their livestock. Over time it became a popular leisure sport for the wealthy and lives on today as such. On some hunts, a fox is never even found. But when one is, it is chased until it returns to its den in the ground.
The east is home to the few fox hunting groups that still exist today. Virginia and Maryland are the states where hunts are still common. Fox hunting is a niche sport and many people are not aware of it.
This set of photos were all shot at the 2025 Blessing of The Hounds at Grace Episcopal Church in Keswick, Virginia. The Hunt staff gather near their trailers before crossing the street to collect in front of the stone church where a crowd is sectioned off by rope. The hounds are blessed and then the hunt commences in the field where they began.
