Southern Pines' Foxhunting Season Is Already Underway. Thanksgiving Morning Is When Everyone's Invited.

By Thanksgiving morning, the Moore County Hounds will be about eight weeks into their season. Their hunting season runs from October 1 to March 31. The Blessing of the Hounds on Thanksgiving Day is the formal opening meet. It isn't the first day the hounds go out. The club calls itself a private pack, and riding with it takes an invitation. For one morning a year, though, the club opens the start of its season to anyone who shows up. The club says more than 1,000 spectators come.

The rest of the season runs three days a week through the longleaf forest just outside town. Those are the same sandy lanes walkers, riders, and carriage drivers use all year. Knowing the schedule makes Thanksgiving morning easier to follow, and it makes a Tuesday walk at Walthour-Moss easier to plan.

A Private Pack With Three Days a Week in the Foundation

The season starts quietly. According to the Moore County Hounds' hunting page, fall hunting begins in October in informal "ratcatcher" dress. Meets are listed on a fixture card mailed to members with their invitations, and a second card goes out mid-season. The club's weekly pattern follows set locations:

The club notes that members should check the fixture card and hunt recorder for final meet locations, so the table shows the club's usual pattern and won't match every week. Still, it explains why hounds and riders in scarlet or tweed often turn up on the Foundation's lanes midweek in late fall.

The club lists five masters: Cameron C. Sadler, Michael B. Russell, David W. Carter, Lloyd "Jock" P. Tate, and Laura Lindamood. The huntsman, Lincoln Sadler, works the pack with help from whippers-in, who act as extra eyes and ears in the field.

The Forest the Hunt Shares With Everyone Else

The Moore County Hounds hunt the Walthour-Moss Foundation's roughly 4,000 acres by cooperative agreement. The Foundation's land sits about a mile from Southern Pines and is laced with sandy equestrian lanes and trails. It's open daily, year-round, from dawn to dusk, and the hunt calendar doesn't change that.

The Foundation's safety rules and land-use policies apply to every visitor, on horseback or on foot:

• Sign the Foundation's risk and release waiver once a year.
• Carry a cell phone.
• Know the 911 location markers at each major fire lane intersection, so you can describe where you are in an emergency.
• Wear clothing suited to the weather and activity. Protective headgear is strongly recommended.
• No dogs, no smoking or fires, no alcohol or picnicking, no firearms, no unauthorized vehicles, and no fishing, boating, or swimming.
• Pack out whatever you pack in.

The dog rule has a stated reason and one exception, and both relate to hunt season. The Foundation explains that dogs can create dangerous situations for horses, riders, carriage drivers, and people on foot. The only dogs allowed are foxhounds from a Masters of Foxhounds Association member hunt, participating in or training for hunting events under the direct control of a qualified huntsman and staff. In other words, the only dogs on these trails are the hounds of a hunt like this one.

The hunt's own rules give the pack priority on the trail. The Moore County Hounds' customs and etiquette page says hounds have the right of way. Riders should step off the trail when hunt staff pass, and if they can't, they should keep moving steadily instead of stopping. That guidance is written for riders in the hunt field. Beyond it, the Foundation's general rules are what apply to everyone else on a Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday.

The Foundation also keeps its lanes in shape for all of these users. Its volunteer Bushwhacker Club set aside Sunday, Oct. 18, to clear summer storm debris, and the Foundation scheduled the trails to close to riders and carriage drivers from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. that day. Closures like this are posted on the Walthour-Moss events page.

The Five Weekends Before the Opening Meet

Thanksgiving is the headline, but the local horse calendar fills the weeks before it. Here's what's scheduled between this weekend and the Blessing:

Carolina Horse Park is at 2814 Montrose Road in Raeford. It directs spectators and day guests to its main entrance on Montrose Road and says most of its events have free admission. The Hunter Pace is a Moore County Hounds event with paid entry, and its listing is aimed at riders.

There's also a way to take part without a horse. The Foundation's 100 Miles for Moss virtual challenge, now in its seventh year, runs from Sept. 1 through Dec. 31, 2026. Participants log mileage on horseback, on foot, by bike, by carriage, or any mix, and receive a commemorative 2026 medal when they finish. Miles count almost anywhere. Miles inside the Foundation count for everyone except cyclists. Registration runs through runsignup.com, linked from the Walthour-Moss events page.

Thanksgiving Morning, From the Car to the Horn

The club holds the opening meet every Thanksgiving morning, and Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, Nov. 26, this year. The club hasn't posted a 2026-specific listing yet, so check the Moore County Hounds before you go. The logistics The Pilot published in its Sandhills Best Bets for a Thursday, Nov. 27, Blessing give a reliable outline:

1. Plan for at least an hour to park and walk. The Pilot advised that much time to get from parking to the field.
2. Park at Lyell's Meadow on North May Street.
3. Walk to Buchan Field.
4. Be there before 10 a.m. The Pilot said the event begins promptly at 10.
5. Leave pets at home. Pets aren't permitted.

The club's own pages name different meadows. Its Blessing page places the ceremony at Cameron's Meadow on North May Street, and its hunting page lists the opening meet at Lyell's Meadow. Follow whatever the club and event-day signage say.

The club describes how the morning unfolds. Riders assemble first, around 10 a.m. The masters and hunt staff wear scarlet jackets, and the rest of the riders, known as the field, wear traditional foxhunting attire. Then the hounds arrive with their huntsman. They're Penn-Marydel hounds, a breed the club values for its scenting ability.

The blessing is a ritual the club traces to the Middle Ages. It includes a prayer from St. Hubert, the patron saint of hunting, asking for protection for rider, horse, and hound. Afterward, the riders split into three groups, each following a joint field master. The huntsman gathers the hounds, a horn sounds, and the hunt leaves Buchan Field for the woods of the Walthour-Moss Foundation.

After the Horn Fades

The opening meet comes about one-third of the way through the season, and the regular schedule continues after it. Walthour-Moss hunts carry on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, with junior hunts during the holiday season, until the season closes on March 31.

The forest has its own winter schedule too. The Foundation says prescribed burns usually run from January through June and cover about 1,000 acres a year. Specific burn days are posted on its events page and shared through alerts. So from January on, check two things before heading out: the hunt's usual days and the Foundation's burn notices.

At Realty World Properties of the Pines, we love seeing neighbors on the meadows off North May Street on Thanksgiving morning. If you're new to Southern Pines horse country and want to know which events are worth a weekend, or how the Walthour-Moss trails connect with life around town, contact us. We're glad to share what we know.