Claire grew up in England and always wanted to ride. Her parents supported her aspirations and purchased a 13.1 hand New Forest pony named Banjo. Thus she began fox hunting at the age of 12 with the Cheshire Forest Hunt. “It was all about jumping for me,” she said. “We had big hedges that we soared over. It was quite thrilling actually.” They would begin hunting at 10 or 11 in the morning and hunt until dark. Some members would exchange their mounts for a fresh horse around 2. “After we finished we’d meet up at a pub and talk about the hedges we jumped. After several pints the hedges got bigger and bigger,” she said laughing. “And then we boasted about jumping over barbed wire.”

Next Claire got into 3 day eventing. She bought a horse from the Cotswolds’ that was ¼ Irish Draft and ¾ Thoroughbred. She rode him every day on the beach in Formby where Red Rum the famous 3 time winner of the Grand Nationals trained. Claire would gallop through the salt water which is credited for healing Red Rum’s hooves. Claire would go for a therapeutic swim with her horse in the Irish Sea. She would later bring her horse over to America and competed at FEI level eventing.

She studied Equine and Business at Bishop Burton Agriculture in Yorkshire. She passed her British Horse Society Exams in the UK and began teaching children to ride. During the summer of 1996 she became an exchange student and accepted a position at Falling Creek Camp in Tuxedo, NC in Henderson County running their horse program. One day she decided to explore and was driving on the Saluda grade on I-26. She decided to take Hwy 176 into the quaint downtown of Tryon where she saw the colorful statue of Morris the Horse. “Wow,” she remembers thinking. “This is a lovely town that is dedicated to horses. And then I discovered The Farm House Tack Shop!”  (If you know, you know.) The first question she asked if there was any foxhunting in the area. She was told there were several and was pointed to the Greenville County Hounds and Gerald Pack, MHFA.

Claire had a big decision to make. Could she leave England and really move to the US? When camp was over that summer she made a plan to go to London and see if she’d like living in a big city or was she really a country girl at heart. She landed a swanky position at a gym in the West End where all the celebrities worked out. She soon found herself catching the train on Fridays to go foxhunting. “It only took a month for me to realise I was happiest in the country,” she said. She moved to Hendersonville, NC and worked at Falling Creek Farms, capped some with the Greenville County Hounds and excelled at Three Day Eventing.

In 2009 she met Cindy Boyle who hunted with the Tryon Hounds. Cindy hired Claire to be her “Girl Friday” which entailed working Cindy’s horses throughout the week and hunt with Cindy as a team. She joined the Tryon Hounds as a professional and truly enjoyed the camaraderie she found there. She spent many seasons with Cindy. Jenny Taylor asked Claire if she would entertain working for her since Cindy was spending winters in Florida. Claire presented the idea to Cindy who gave her and Jenny her blessings. Claire continues to work with Cindy and Jenny  simultaneously over the years with hope for many more to come.

Claire moved into the Guest House at Jenny and Alan Taylor’s Thanksgiving Farm. While Jenny and Claire were both from England they had never met. Over the course of enjoying her new Girl Friday friend they decided they must have crossed paths before. Being a generation apart Claire discovered she knew Jenny’s sister’s boyfriend. Then discovered that she had hunted with Jenny’s stepfather and had even attended a Hunt Breakfast at the house Jenny grew up in. “What great fun to find a friend to trade memories and gossip about growing up hunting in England,” she beamed. She eventually got burned out on eventing. While she took up driving, she truly enjoyed riding with the Tryon Hounds.

Once, while exercising one of Jenny’s horses on the trails she came upon three bobcats sitting by the river. “What beautiful creatures they were.” Another time when the Tryon Hounds were hunting at Tyger Ranch a deer ran through the legs of Jenny’s mare, Minnie. Minnie behaved and simply stood there. There were viewings of coyotes and one beautiful red fox that she saw almost daily near Thanksgiving Farm. Claire admits she feels most peaceful hunting in the beautiful foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. “Who doesn’t enjoy the adrenaline rush on a crisp wintery morning, galloping with the hounds singing and with all the lovely members who had become such fun friends?”