Keeping tradition of the hunt alive

Through the New England countryside, riders take part in an adventure at once ancient and modern: A formal fox hunt, no fox necessary. (Photographs by Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)
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The hounds follow closely behind their Huntsman and Kennelman Kate Selby in Shoreham, VT. The dogs wear GPS collars so that Selby will be able to find them if they go astray. In New England, most fox hunts are drag hunts, so the hounds are not chasing a real fox but rather a scent. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)
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Betsy Cartland holds tightly to a bottle filled with a mixture of water, glycerin, and anisette. She will use it to lay a line of scent for the hounds to follow, as she does her best to think like a fox in Charlotte, VT. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)
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Peggy Racine walks her horse, Stretch, over to the barn where the Blessing of the Hounds will take place before going out to lead the second field of riders in Shoreham, VT. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)
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A Wentworth Hunt Club rider fills her flask before the start of their fox hunt in Kensington, NH. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)
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Sarah Bellavance, of St. Albans, VT, uses the rearview mirror of her truck to get ready for Green Mountain Hounds first Fox Hunt of the formal season as her horse, Rowan, waits patiently at the trailer in Shoreham, VT. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)
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Spencer’s owner had taken great pains to braid his mane for Green Mountain Hounds first hunt of the season in Shoreham, VT. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)
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Huntsman and Kennelman Kate Selby calls the hounds before Green Mountain Hounds’ first Fox Hunt of the formal season during their joint meet with Wentworth in Shoreham, VT. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)
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Riders are silhouetted as they follow the hounds during Green Mountain Hounds joint meet with Wentworth. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)
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A fox figurine sits atop Betsy Cartland’s dashboard as she drives down a driveway at Philo Ridge Farm where she will lay a scent for the hounds to follow in Charlotte, VT. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)
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A hound looks out across the pasture during the club’s first formal meet of the season during the Green Mountain Hounds joint meet with Wentworth. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)
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A Green Mountain Hounds rider returns to her mount during a break between lines in Charlotte, VT. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)
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The second field of riders arrive on the other side of a bean field after the hounds found their “fox” during Green Mountain Hounds joint meet with Wentworth in Shoreham, VT. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)
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Green Mountain Hounds Riders share a flask as they take a break at the end of their first line in Charlotte, VT. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)
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Riders gallop across a field to try and catch up with the hounds during Green Mountain Hounds joint meet with Wentworth in Shoreham, VT. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)
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Wentworth Hunt Club’s hounds band together as they take a break between lines during the hunt in Kensington, NH. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)
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Green Mountain Hounds Whipper-in Terry Hook rides to the outskirts of the lines in order to keep an eye on the hounds, gathering up stray hounds and/or keeping them from jumping on the scent of a nearby deer. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)
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Wentworth Hunt Club Joint Master of Foxhounds Sue Levy (right) embraces fellow Joint Master of Foxhounds Marilyn Mariano during a potluck breakfast held at the end of their fox hunt in Kensington, NH. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)
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Betsy Cartland, the “fox” who laid the line of scent for the hounds to follow, waits at the end of the line to shower the hounds with treats. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)
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