08/27/2026
Horses, Hounds & Heritage on the Historic Mount Airy Hunting Grounds at Rosaryville Park
Saturday, October 24, 2026 • 10:00–11:00 A.M.
Pavilion at Rosaryville State Park
Free & Open to the Public
The Marlborough Hunt Club invites you for a special morning of horses, hounds, and living history. The history of foxchasing and riding across the Maryland countryside is deeply connected to historic Mount Airy Mansion, located within Rosaryville State Park. The landscape harkens back to a time when this countryside served as a colonial retreat and hunting ground for Lord Baltimore in the 17th century.
Learn about George Washington's favorite sport and this popular 18th-century pastime—foxchasing. We'll share the history and traditions of the sport in Southern Maryland, you'll have the opportunity to meet MHC's PennMaryDel hounds and horses up close, and we will do a brief demonstration — showing off the hounds at work!
Established in 1936 by Benjamin H. C. Bowie and a core group of founding members, Marlborough Hunt Club members remain dedicated to the traditions, camaraderie, and sport of foxchasing, while supporting land conservation efforts across Anne Arundel, Prince George's, Calvert, and Charles Counties. MHC is one of just two foxchasing clubs that survive in Southern Maryland, despite dwindling open land and encroaching development. MHC has been hunting at Rosaryville for decades, back when it was privately-owned and surrounded by large swathes of open farm land.
While the sport has been transformed for the modern day, it still centers on watching hounds “work up a line.” Guided by the huntsman, the pack uses their keen noses to follow the lingering scent of a fox—or, more commonly today, a coyote—that has recently passed through the area. Rarely, if ever, do the hounds actually see or catch their quarry. Coyotes can outrun the hounds as they leave the territory, while a clever fox may run in circles, outsmarting the hounds until it finds its way back to its den. Once safely “gone to ground,” the fox is out of reach.
Foxchasing was once woven into the fabric of rural life. It brought together farmers, landowners, horsemen, huntsmen, and hounds— helped control vermin, and required an intimate knowledge of the countryside. Today, organizations such as the Marlborough Hunt Club carry forward the traditions of horsemanship, hounds, camaraderie, and preservation of open countryside, helping keep this important part of Southern Maryland's rural heritage alive.
Come bring your family and friends and experience a remarkable piece of Maryland history on the very landscape where generations once hunted, rode, and lived with the land—a historic landscape that will come alive with the sounds of horses, hounds, and riders.
SIDEBAR: GEORGE WASHINGTON—FOXHUNTER-IN-CHIEF
As we celebrate the 250th, we couldn't miss the opportunity to connect this event to George Washington, who began riding to hounds as a young man and became an accomplished horseman and devoted foxhunter. He maintained his own pack of hounds at Mount Vernon and carefully recorded his hunts. His love of the sport was so well known that he is often remembered as “Foxhunter-in-Chief.” In fact– George likely rode on this very land. In 1774, he attended the wedding celebrations at Mount Airy of Eleanor Calvert and John Parke Custis, Martha Washington's son.
