The Hurdy Gurdy: Brett Owings and Church Music

For the 2016 season, the MSA board selected Brett Owings and Church Music as the Hurdy Gurdy winners. The pair had a stellar season, winning two out of three races. But it isn’t their wins that earned them this honor. It was their spirit and sportsmanship. “They are very deserving of this award,” said Church Music’s owner J.W.Y. “Duck” Martin, Jr., who won the Maryland Hunt Cup in 1972 aboard homebred Early Earner. “They are a foxhunting combo that also race. Foxhunting is the best way to make a timber horse. The only way to make a timber horse.”

“It is a great honor to win this award,” Brett said. “She’s a really old fashioned horse that shows the tradition of taking foxhunters and turning them into timber horses.” What makes winning this award even more special for Brett and Duck is the homebred history of the mare.

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