Karen Kandra Wenzel 50 Packs in 50 Years of Fox Chasing
by Katherine O. Rizzo
It started in 1965 with a pony and a junior hunt, and it immediately be- came a lifetime passion of following the fox, fi rst in the saddle and then with a camera. Karen Kandra Wenzel of Woodbine has 50 years of chasing the fox by hoof and foot, capturing 50 packs (and counting) with her lens. “I got my fi rst pony, Co-
coa, in 1964 from Hansen Watkins, who was a for- mer Goshen [Hounds] master,” Karen said. She instantly joined Redland Hunt Pony Club, and a year later was at Dough- oregan Manor for her fi rst foxhunt, a Howard County Hunt junior meet. She hunted a few more times but became an offi cial fox chaser a few years later when she was 16, the year her parents got her a junior membership to Goshen. From then on, foxhunting would be a part of her life forever. “I met [hus- band] Gary in the hunt fi eld when we were both freshman at the Univer- sity of Mary- land and then 20 years later, we got married!” Karen explained, laughing at the funny way they met.
“It was
1969 and he was a junior member of Iron Bridge, and I fell off in the fi eld at a joint meet, and he caught my horse!” Although Karen took some time off from hunting to show hunters, even competing at the Washington International Horse Show, both at the old Armory and Capi- tal Centre, Gary became heavily involved in the sport, whipping-in for Goshen, and eventually as huntsman of his own pack. “In 1987, I had some young horses and
started hunting again,” she said. T at same year, Gary bought her a nice Nikon and she started taking her camera to meets. “Janet Hitchen was a huge inspira-
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The late Janet Hitchen, who Karen considers her foxhunting photog- raphy inspiration, snapped this photo of Karen hunting in 1987.
tion to me,” Karen said. “We have so many of her photos on the walls of our house.” T rough the rest of ‘80s and most of the ‘90s, Karen hunted regularly with Gary, sometimes on a horse, and sometimes following with her camera. It was not until after a riding accident in 2000 that Karen decid- ed to switch to just her camera. “I did get back on and ride a few more seasons, but in 2003 I just decided to quit riding, but still love the sport,” she explained. Gary and two of their friends, Julia Beal and Pat McDowel, hunted her homebreds while Karen honed her
Karen on her fi rst pony Cocoa, hunting as a junior Goshen member
photography skills. “I think it is important for people to know I am a foxhunter who takes photos, not a photographer who foxhunts,” she said. “I have 50 years of foxhunting experience and zero years of photography training,” she added with a laugh. Karen does not consider herself a professional photographer, and says she has no ambition to be one either. “I don’t want to spend money on fancy equipment, and I don’t want to make money with my photo- graphs either. I am just blessed to be able to follow my passion with a camera.” T is passion for foxhunting has led her up and down the East Coast taking pho- tos of packs from Florida to New York, and everywhere in between. As of press time, Karen has photographed every pack in Maryland, and 50 packs in total. “I love getting to see other people’s country and hounds,” she said when asked why travel just to photograph foxhunts. “T ere are so
many beautiful places and to see where diff er- ent packs hunt… I just love it!” Even though she considers herself an ama-
teur, Karen’s photographs have been published in several magazines, including T e Equiery, Covertside, Foxhunting Life, Horse of Delaware Valley, and the Chronicle of the Horse. “It means so much to me to have all those magazines publish my work since I am not a pro,” she
Karen showing the OTTB Dark Scarf at the Washington International Horse Show
added. Several of her photos were also used in both foxhunter Norman Fine’s Foxhunting Life calendar and the annual MFHA calendar. Karen remembers her fi rst time making it
Karen, on her homebred Thoroughbred Sea Drums, and Gary at Goshen’s 1987 opening meet
on an Equiery cover: “Crystal [Brumme, the Publisher] came to [Howard County-Iron Bridge’s] opening meet with the new issue in hand and held it up showing my photo to ev- eryone. It was so exciting!” Although this Art Director personally favors her shots of huntsman surrounded by hounds, many of her fans love her fox photos. “To me, it is not a great day unless you see the fox… or coyote in some cases,” she said. Karen credits fellow Equiery photographer Bob Keller for helping her move into the digital age, but all her talent for catching the sly fox on fi lm is credited to her husband. “His passion and his instincts have taught me so much. All his years of experience… he knows how the fox will run and we often get views even when the fi eld may not.” Now Karen’s passion for photographing hunts is combining with her passion for travel, as she has declared 2018 as “my year of travel!” - with the goal of getting to see as many diff erent territories and packs as possible. She already has a plan to spend a week or so in Aiken, S.C., and hopes to be able to head out west. “If someone wants to send me a plane ticket, I’ll head there too!” she said, adding with a smile, “have camera, will travel!”
continued... JANUARY 2018 | THE EQUIERY | 61
Janet Hitchen
Rick Bate
913661-180118
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