Over 120 women riders gathered at Lydia Bartholomew’s Plumstead Farm in Unionville for the annual Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds’ Vixen Hunt, writes Gina Lizzo for The Hunt.
With background music including hits like Cyndi Lauper’s Girls Just Want to Have Fun and Beyoncé’s Run the World (Girls), participants first enjoyed a lavish afternoon tea at the barn.
The interior featured a chandelier above a fox statue, surrounded by draped linens and highlighted by fully bloomed magnolia branches and forsythia. The tables were adorned with silver platters, glassware, and china.
Four-time Olympic equestrian Boyd Martin was also there for the event.
“The men are all in to help us pull this off,” said Vixen Hunt organizer Rachel Wilkoski. “They were pouring champagne and clearing dishes, wearing tuxedos while doing it all.”
Wilkoski takes great pride in the day.
“I don’t usually take a deep breath until 11 AM, when I know the rest is up to the hunting gods and the hounds,” she said.
Once the ladies were off hunting, unmounted followers could hop on a hay wagon to ride around the country with Jamie Hicks of Kennett Square’s Meadow Springs Farm.
Read more about the Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds’ Vixen Hunt in The Hunt.
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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on VISTA Today in March 2025.
