Ian Milne Award winner Donald Philhower, huntsman, Millbrook Hunt (NY) with his pack of attentive and adoring hounds / Capturing Moments Photography
The MFHA’s Ian Milne Award is a serious tribute to accomplished huntsmen across North America. It is awarded periodically to a huntsman of sound character who has made outstanding contributions to the sport of foxhunting. Recipients of the Ian Milne Award have learned the hard lessons of the field and the kennels as well as in life, and they have learned to do it right.
This year, that honoree is Donald Philhower, huntsman for the Millbrook Hounds in New York State. Consider the namesake whom the award personifies.
Ian Milne was respected and liked by all. His hunt service began in England and continued until his last breath here in North America. He was a genuine friend and a generous mentor to aspiring and established huntsmen. He was a gentleman, honest as the day is long, and he lived for hounds and hunting.
Jury of Peers
Candidates are proposed in writing, reviewed by a committee of Master-Huntsmen, who then narrow down the field. The chairman of this committee is Fred Berry, MFH and huntsman of the Sedgefield Hunt (NC). Fred worked for Ian as a stable boy, kennel help, and whipper-in many years ago when Ian was huntsman at Sedgefield. What goes around, comes around.
“Ian and I were friends and had many an adventure together,” Fred said. “He was a Yorkshireman, and all he was was a huntsman, but that was enough for an inspirational life. Ian’s fame, if you can call it that, was achieved when he was huntsman for Fairfax under Randy Rouse, MFH. Ian befriended everyone in hunt service. He and his wife Brenda created a hunting social world at their house at the Fairfax kennel, and their party the Friday night before the Virginia Hound Show was the place to be for every huntsman. Ian turned out perfectly for every hunt and his hounds worked hard for him.”
Donald Philhower joins the esteemed and stellar company of the previous recipients: Larry Pitts, Tommy Lee Jones, and Johnny Gray. Larry’s American hound lineages continue to produce winners at shows for Potomac and many other hunts, plus he came out of retirement to carry the horn for Bedford with great expectations of his magic touch on the pack of Penn-Marydels and Crossbreds. Tommy Lee just finished up his version of observing his vernal equinox of sport: Casanova in the Virginia Hound Show and Upperville Horse Show with its multi-ring, both sides of Route 50 with FEI CSI4* jumper classes that attract riders from Europe. Then there’s Johnny Gray, still walking on air after Hillsboro Walnut and Starlight swept English and Crossbred honors at Virginia, then starred as Grand and Reserve Champions for a clean sweep of Best In Show and the coveted Bill Brainard Perpetual Trophy.
Donald Philhower, the newest addition to this roster, leaves next to no digital footprint on the internet. His infrequent appearances in print and/or online are confined to being mentioned in a broader sense, usually in context of meets and being part of performance trials. The deadline for this story looms, so you email Nancy Ireland Stahl, the senior Master at Millbrook Hunt, asking for info, not certain that you’ll get a reply in time. Within ninety minutes you receive a most gracious reply from Nancy, including a mother lode of information about Donald in language that captures the true significance of the Ian Milne Award.
“Donald is responsible for re-building our pack,” said Nancy, “and he brought in some of his Penn-Marydel breeding which invigorated our hounds and added incredible cry, perseverance, nose, and what I like to call a deliberateness that was greatly needed.
“As a Master I cannot begin to tell you the joy it has brought us to re-build this pack with Donald. Without a good pack of hounds, one is sorely pressed, to say the least. Thanks to our landowners, we’re so fortunate to have the territory and the pack that Donald has built and bred which is superb and suitable for our country.”
The Making of a Huntsman
Donald began his career at the Essex Fox Hounds (NJ), learning about hunting and whipping-in to Buster Chadwell, and was in his early twenties when he went to Golden’s Bridge Hunt (NY). The Chadwell family figures prominently in Millbrook history: Elias Chadwell hunted Millbrook hounds from 1928 until 1950 when his son Earl stepped up to the plate, followed by Betsy Park from 1978 until 2003 when Donald, longtime huntsman for Golden’s Bridge, heard that Millbrook was looking for a new “lead hound.” He made the move and has been there since May 2004. He is only the fourth professional huntsman at Millbrook, which was established in 1907 and recognized in 1909.
In the 1980s, Crossbreds were introduced to the Millbrook pack with drafts from Midland, notably Midland Dancer in 1981. Donald is a Penn-Marydel man, but he breeds to suit the country. Millbrook is now primarily American and Penn-Marydel with three couple of Crossbred hounds.
“It’s well known that Donald is first and foremost a hound man,” Nancy said. “He knows his bloodlines, and he’s always thinking about what we are breeding next and how to improve the pack. Millbrook is tough scenting territory, and Donald has been able to find a balance that works so well for our county. And the cry is to die for!”
Nancy observed that, as a huntsman, Donald knows exactly where his field is and counts on his whips: “His primary concern is always his hounds. He’s also great with the farmers and landowners. He has a wonderful quiet way about him and he’s always grateful, assumes nothing, and cares deeply about our country and the upkeep.
“People enjoy hunting behind him, he is kind and explains a great day as well as a bad one where scenting can be horrendous,” Nancy continued. “He is approachable. As a Master, my true love is hounds and the breeding program, and he’s open to suggestions, diplomatic, a great teacher and fun to work with. I have learned a lot. We have many hunts asking us for puppies. That says a lot in itself. Donald is the consummate gentleman and he’s a great teacher.”
Ed Kelly, MFH, Golden’s Bridge Hounds (NY), also wrote to Fred with his endorsement of Donald as a potential recipient. “Ed was just thrilled that Donald got this award,” Nancy said. “Ed called Donald after the presentation to congratulate him and express how much he felt that Donald deserved to be honored.”
If all this sounds glowing, here’s what Nancy wrote in her email to Fred Berry on behalf of the Millbrook Huntsman: “Hounds aside, Donald is one of the most respected huntsmen, I believe, in America. His personality, humility, love of this sport, and respect for every aspect of it is what makes him the person and huntsman he is. Arrogance is a word that does not exist in his persona, and he is one of the fairest people I know. He has always listened, discussed, and worked so well not only with me, but with our other Masters and our landowners, workers, volunteers… you name it… in a word, he is a true gentleman.”
Donald, as he prefers to be called, is not into tooting his own horn unless he’s with his pack. He admits feeling more at home with hounds and horses than being the center of (human) attention. He still feels a bit blown away by the award.
“I was lucky I got to meet Ian a few times,” Donald said. “Back in the mid-1980s, Vincent Tartaglia was huntsman at Rombout and we were friends. So I went to Virginia a few times with him and we stayed at Ian’s house. One of the most important things I remember Ian saying to me was ‘to keep focused on your passion and your profession.” I’ve always focused on my passion, which is foxhunting. Nothing comes between me and my hounds and my job.”
Donald went to Golden’s Bridge in 1973 and, three years later, began hunting hounds. He was there for thirty years. “I loved that pack; it was like my own,” he said. “I bred them the way I wanted and how I wanted to suit the country.”
But having grown up around Essex Fox Hounds where his father worked, Donald had the opportunity to visit Millbrook in 1968 with a friend who was horseman for one of Essex’s Masters at the time. That’s when Donald fell in love with their country. “I got to know Betsy Park,” he said. “Over the years we had a good relationship. We’d bring hounds to Millbrook for joint meets with Betsy. We had a lot of good hunting, a lot of fun. If the opportunity at Millbrook hadn’t come up, I would have stayed at Golden’s Bridge.”
He still feels honored to follow in Betsy’s footprints and his goal has been to continue what she spent twenty-eight years in building. Rebuilding the pack took five to six years, and he’s still grateful to the people who helped him.
“I was getting in hounds from people I trusted,” Donald said. “The person who was the biggest help was Larry Pitts. He and I became very good friends. I always liked his hounds even though I was a Penn-Marydel guy. When we had a break at hounds shows, I would go over to watch the American ring, and I said to myself, “Someday, if ever I’m somewhere where I can have a pack of American hounds, I want hounds like Larry had.” The beginning of my first season here, I called Larry and I didn’t know him that well back then. He was so gracious. He helped me out tremendously.”
Again, what goes around, comes around. “I was tickled pink because, last spring, Larry called me up and said, “I’m going to need some old hounds.” I said, Why? Are you starting a pack? He said, “No, I’m going to be hunting the Bedford County Hounds this coming season.” I gave him five or six really good hounds. That tickled me to death.”
So, what did Donald think of being proposed for the Ian Milne Award? “No idea. I had no idea,” he admitted. “That evening at Morven Park in the tent, you could have knocked me over with a feather! I don’t remember a word that Fred Berry said about me. It’s all pretty much a blur.”
Ah, the wonders of high tech; click on this link for the MFHA’s video of the presentation. Fred Berry is a funny, entertaining, albeit serious emcee. It’s a special little presentation, with Brenda Milne looking on, and Larry Pitts and Johnny Gray there to honor the fourth recipient of the Ian Milne Award. It’s fun and moving, literally and figuratively. The horn blowing is, of course, out of this world and quite thrilling.
“It was a huge honor to be able to present the Ian Milne Award to Donald,” said Fred via email from Iceland. “He epitomizes what the award stands for: dedication to the craft and tradition of being a huntsmen and respect among your peers.”
What sets the standard ever higher as Donald joins Larry, Tommy Lee, and Johnny is the fact that the recipients of the Ian Milne Award serve by example as serious role models for all huntsmen.
“We could send Donald to visit the Queen of England with full confidence, because he is an excellent ambassador of our beloved sport,” Nancy said. “If we could bottle him or clone him, we would! Donald has given his life to hunt service and this sport that we all adore so much. In my book, there’s no one more deserving of this award.”
Posted June 25, 2018
Author’s Note: I absolutely adored Ian, thanks to one year in the mid-1990s when I was co-renting a lovely house around the corner from the Fairfax Hunt Kennels. During the off-season (before moving to a different county), I had the pleasure and privilege of helping Ian walk hounds now and then. It was terrific exercise and great fun, plus I got to know Ian and Brenda, who invited me that year to their pre-Virginia Hound Show party, although I think I went home before they started their moonlight jam session (daggnabbit). I love the sound of hunting horns, and, most of all, I love to listen to hounds sing.
Capturing Moments Photography