About the Film
This 1975 film by Tom Davenport and Harrison O’Connor captures the traditions and excitement of foxhunting in Virginia during the 1970s. It features legendary foxhunters Melvin and Peggy Poe and the hounds of the Orange County Hunt near The Plains, Virginia. The film follows the Poes as they work with and train their distinctive hounds, known as the “ring neck reds,” and includes dramatic scenes of the hunt across the Virginia countryside.
The narration is drawn from Lord Peter Beckford’s 18th-century classic Thoughts on Hunting, edited and narrated by the late equestrian sports scholar Alexander McKay-Smith.
The film opens with a rare scene of a grey fox being killed by the hounds. This sequence has made the film controversial, particularly as attitudes toward foxhunting and animal welfare have changed since the film was made.
Thoughts on Hunting was funded by philanthropist Paul Mellon and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
