Riding With Jeb Stuart: Hunting Adventures With An English Pointer

by Geoffrey Norman

A long and tempestuous relationship builds between a man who enjoys upland bird hunting and a dog that is bred to hunt birds. While this would appear natural, a merger of mutual interests, it takes time for the man to understand the dog, and, likewise, for the dog to learn what it is the man really wants from him. The dog--an English pointer fittingly named Jeb Stuart, after the Civil War hero known for his dashing rides around the Yankee armies--is a high-energy package who decides running, flat out, is life''s greatest pleasure. He likes to chase things he isn''t supposed to chase, and he loves to wander aimlessly around the Vermont countryside. To Jeb, getting lost is no big deal. The hunter, on the other hand, desperately tries to get the dog to stay within his sight while they''re in the field, but soon realizes he has no control over him and simply gives up. And even after the dog eventually learns to hunt close to his owner, more challenges always arise.

Riding with Jeb Stuart is the story of how dog and man come to understand each other--or at least try to--and how one hunter learns to appreciate, and love, a dog that is anything but perfect.

197 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2005

About the author

Geoffrey Norman is an American writer and editor based in Vermont.