The Horse, Hound and Harvest Parade takes place in Creemore on Thanksgiving weekend.
The parade, which has become a favourite annual event and a tourist attraction, is expanding this year to give spectators a prolonged look at the hound dogs, horses and their riders.
The huntsman and whipper-in lead the riders – men in red and the women in black dress coats and all sporting the blue collar of the Toronto and North York Hunt – as they follow the hounds on a route through the village.
The hunt, founded in 1843, is the second oldest hunt in Canada. It started in Toronto, on the shore of Lake Ontario, as the Toronto Hunt but moved northward to escape development.
The hunt’s stables are now located south of Creemore where it employs a full-time professional huntsman, whose job it is to care for the pack of English foxhounds, owned by the hunt.
The hunt rides twice per week during the season. In the spring and fall, members of the hunt head out on parcels of land where they have gained permission to ride, near Creemore, Singhampton, Maxwell and Thornbury.
Riding to hounds is an English fox hunting tradition. In England, riders would meet in a small village with their horses and hounds and go off to hunt. It became so popular that people formed hunts where the dogs would be kept together in a kennel and cared for by the huntsman and remains popular with riders who want to get out into the countryside.
The hunters do not carry weapons. The hounds sniff out and kill their prey, usually coyotes in these parts.
On Saturday, Oct. 10, the riders will gather the animals at Gordon’s Feed and Seed lot before the official start of the parade at 11 a.m. They will travel the length of Mill Street (from Johnston Street), south to Edward Street and then loop over to Mary Street, past the nursing home, and return via Caroline Street. They will travel the parade route twice.
Afterwards, people are invited to come to the Gordon property off Francis Street West for a blessing of the hounds and horses and a meet-and-greet. Visitors are asked to maintain a two-metre distance during the parade and ask permission before touching an animal and always approach from the front.
Also on Saturday, Oct. 10 is the last outdoor Creemore Farmers’ Market of the season, at Station on the Green from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and the annual apple pie contest, beginning at 9:30 a.m.