Gerald Pack, popular raconteur and horse expert, will speak at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Tryon Historical Museum.

Pack’s talk will be free and open to the public. The museum is located at 26 Maple St., Tryon.

With his long and deep history in the area, Pack will discuss tales of the region’s equestrian history and how equestrian sports have morphed and evolved.

Pack’s topic, fox hunting, is one of his favorites. Pack started hunting with the Tryon Hounds at around 14 years old.

“Back then, our hunting territory was the some of the best in the nation,” he said. “Farms were hundreds, and even thousands, of acres. Some of the land was grazed, and was some was used for timber.

“The land was teeming with game — grey foxes and red foxes, and coyotes, and the occasional bear.”

Pack hunted behind Tryon Hounds huntsman J. Arthur Reynolds, who he greatly admired and described as one of top people in the profession. Pack was very much surprised when, at 16, he was asked by Reynolds to lead the field, or riders who followed the hunt, which included socialites from Milwaukee, Michigan, New York and other urban hubs

Pack became more involved with — and still is — with show horses, but continued to follow the Tryon Hounds until summoned to serve as huntsman for the Greenville County Hounds, founded around 1962 by horseman Gordon Wright.

– Submitted by Jackie Burke