History of Farmer’s Day at the Steeplechase Course

Editor's Note: The following is written by Medfield resident Gil Rodgers and submitted for publication to Dover-Sherborn Patch. 2011 Farmers' Day will be held on Sept. 18 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Steeplechase Course on 240 North St., Medfield.

The Farmers' Day crowds would grow to over 4,000 local farmers, businessmen, spouses, neighbors and many children gathering from Medfield, Dover, Westwood, Sherborn, Walpole, Framingham, and Boston. 

This huge assembly was congregating at the large and spacious field on North Street, recently acquired by the Wardner Farm Trust for benefit of the Norfolk Hunt Club, and re-configured and landscaped from its former use as a golf course (Castle Hill Golf Links).

Families were dressed in their finest: women wore long dresses, fur coats, mink stoles, and decorative hats for warmth and to protect from the late fall sun, while men wore dark suits, white shirts, neck ties, and top hats or bowlers. 

Even Medfield’s public schools were closed on this special occasion so that pupils could participate in the activities and enjoy the once-a-year, annual community event. 

This was October, 1929. The purpose of the festivities was recognition and appreciation to the farmers whose land was used for drag fox hunting and to throw a giant “thank you” party for the community.

The Norfolk Hunt Club continues a long history of sponsoring equestrian activities with the Ninth Annual Polo in the Country on Sunday, Sept. 18 on the very same steeplechase course located on North Street; but a polo game will be featured instead of steeplechases. 

Other activities include the thrilling precision drill team riders – the Barnstable Barnburners, parade of the Norfolk Hounds, and pony rides for children.   

It was the roaring 20’s. The country had prospered after the World War I victory – just before the stock market crash and Great Depression – and the Norfolk Hunt Club was thriving. 

People were in a good mood for a day of fun and excitement including: a race dinner at the club house the night before attended by 125 guests and club members; drag hunt starting at 7 a.m.; breakfast at the club house; Farmer’s Day horse show starting at 9 a.m.; a luncheon at 12:30 p.m., and steeplechase races starting at 2 p.m.

Although prohibition prevented legal sales of alcohol (from 1920 to 1933), the hosts creatively managed to have an adequate supply of whiskey, beer and spirits for the race dinner. 

Prominent people from the community included Noah Allen, Walter Channing, Chester Heinlein, Robert Homans, and General Francis Peabody. Towering above all dressed impeccably in tail coat, spats, and his distinctive grey tall hat was Henry Vaughan, Master of Fox Hounds, greeting practically everyone by their first name.  

Vaughan was a lawyer of Sherborn with a passion for horses and the country. He served as Master of Fox Hounds and Huntsman for the North Hunt Club for 30 years – the longest ever for the club and one of the longest periods for the entire country and was the first secretary/treasurer of the Masters of Fox Hounds Association.

Farmer’s Day started in 1901, continued until 1917, stopped for a few years during World War I and began again in 1922.

By the late 1920’s, Farmers' Day included a horse show, but unlike today’s horse show that takes place annually at the steeplechase field. The program varied somewhat from year-to-year, but always included horse jumping contests with separate classes for men and women and organized by horse weight classifications – heavy, middle, and light. 

In some years, farmers brought their work horses that were regularly used on the property over which the Hunt rode, and competed in different types of obedience, conformation, driving, and pulling contests. 

In other years, competitions were held for the high jumper that reached an astounding six feet over a rail fence. The broad jump was another contest held with horse and rider leaping 28 feet from the take-off to the point of landing – about four lengths of a full-sized horse. Another amusing contest was “lemon slicing,” where the rider galloped full speed holding a saber and tried to cut in half a lemon that was perched on a pole.

Gymkana was another entertaining contest held in the early years that had many different varieties involving both men and women contestants. 

In one event, for example, men dismounted at one end of the field, ladies dismounted at the other end of the field. Men mounted their horses and rode to the ladies and then dismounted; ladies ‘dressed’ the men wearing costumes. All mounted and returned to the men’s starting point. The winner was determined by the fastest time. Sort of like the do-si-doing in square dancing.

Steeplechasing was born in Ireland in 1752 as an analogue to cross-country thoroughbred horse racing. It gets its name from racing from a church steeple in one town to another church steeple in the next town, typically four to five miles away; hence the name steeplechasing or sometimes called “point–to-point” horse racing. 

The first steeplechase on record is said to have been when two foxhunters – Denis O’Callaghan and Reginald Blake settled the argument of whose horse was best by racing from Buttevant Church to St. Leger’s Church in Doneraile, County Cork, Ireland, a distance of 4.5 miles, following a long day of fox hunting. Blake was the winner according to historians.

Steeplechasing came to the United States in 1834 and amazingly enough, started in Rock Creek Park, Washington, DC. It became a very popular sport in New England in the 1920’s and 1930’s with prominent events at Myopia, The Country Club in Brookline and Medfield.

The Medfield course was laid out by Nathaniel Thayer with assistance from Henry Vaughan, consisting of 9 to 10 wide hurdles covering a distance of 1.5, 2.5, and 3.5 miles, depending on the level of the race, starting at the upper field near North Street, circling around to the lower field, doing a giant figure eight around the gravel pit and ending up near the starting line.  

At that time, the entire course was visible to spectators standing at the brim of the hill. A wooden tower had been constructed elevating judges near the center of the property. 

In order to get the required distances, several cycles around the course were required. As many as 8 to 10 horses would race at the same time at incredible speeds; up and down the hilly and rough terrain;  jumping solid log fences and stone walls, ditches, water obstacles, and banks; and maneuvering for the lead position.

You still can see the locations for some of these jumps that are being used today, although the walls and fences have been narrowed and side skirts removed. Steeplechasing had its own schedule but was combined with Farmer’s Day in 1929.

Many competitors were young horse riders such as Edward and John Grew, Charles Heffenger, Edwin Webster and Richard Saltonstall. It was very exciting to watch but also quite dangerous – riders would fall off their horses over jumps, sometimes a horse would land poorly and do a somersault with its rider and several deaths occurred.

Due in part to these high risks and more directly the effects of the Great Depression that lasted until about 1941, steeplechasing lost interest and the Farmer’s Day program changed considerably ending in the early 1930’s to become a dinner for local land owners in appreciation of the use of their property. 

By the late 1950’s the Steeplechase field was no longer used for steeplechasing but for other horse events.

Similar to the Farmer’s Day celebrations of the past, on Sept. 18, from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Norfolk Hunt Club is sponsoring the Ninth Annual Polo in the Country for a day of fun, entertainment, and celebration open to the community. The activity takes place on the Steeplechase Course at 240 North S.t, Medfield. Proceeds are for the purpose of preservation and protection of recreational space in Medfield, Dover, Sherborn and surrounding communities.  

A six chukka polo match between the Norfolk Hunt and Dedham Polo teams will be played by three players and horses from each team; normally four players are used but because of the small field size fewer players are used in this match. 

Similar to steeplechasing, polo is an extremely exciting and fast action equestrian sport for both riders and spectators. To acquaint new spectators to the game a short demonstration of the basic shots and background on rules will be given.

At halftime, the Barnstable Barnburners will display precision drill team riding skills in formation flying across the field at top speed. This will be followed by the Parade of the Norfolk Hounds led by professional huntsman John Elliot and whippers-in from the Norfolk Hunt Club demonstrating drag hunting with the pack of 20 to 25, primarily American hounds, from the oldest kennels in America still in use. 

Additional activities include: pony rides, tailgate contest, candy toss for the kids and a few surprises.

The Norfolk Hunt Club invites you to attend. For more information see www.norfolkhunt.com, or to make reservations call (508) 359-6704 or e-mail: norfolkpolo@comcast.net.

The author expresses his appreciation to David W. Lewis, ex-MFH for his many hours of discussion on Farmer’s Day and Steeplechasing, and providing access to the Norfolk Hunt Club Run Books, news clippings, and photographs.  Thanks also to Bob Macleod who provided a black and white motion picture of the October 15, 1927 steeplechase and reviewed the article.  Gil Rodgers is a 20 year resident of Medfield and a member of the Norfolk Hunt Club. He can be contacted at gilrodgers@aol.com.

Related Topics: Dover and Sherborn, Medfield Farmers' Day, Medfield farmers, Norfolk Hunt Club,Polo, Sept. 18, and Steeplechasing