C. Martin Wood, III, MFH / Nancy Kleck photoFoxhounds weren’t the only newsmakers at the Virginia Foxhound Show. A few people were worth noting as well!
Huntsmen’s Room
Three individuals were introduced for induction into the Huntsmen’s Room of the Museum of Hounds and Hunting in ceremonies on Saturday evening. Before dinner under the tent, Jake Carle, ex-MFH, spoke eloquently, reverently, and at the right times humorously about the three men who have hunted hounds with distinction for many years: C. Martin Wood, III, MFH, Live Oak Hounds (FL), G. Marvin Beeman, MFH, Arapaho Hunt (CO), and the late Jim Atkins who hunted hounds for the Piedmont Fox Hounds, Old Dominion Hounds, and the Warrenton Hunt, all in Virginia.
G. Marvin Beeman, MFH Huntsman Jim Atkins
Ian Milne Award
John Gray, winner of the Ian Milne Award / Nancy Kleck photoThe Ian Milne Award, presented annually to a professional huntsman by the MFHA, this year honored John Gray, huntsman of the Hillsboro Hounds (TN).
Potential candidates for the award are proposed by more than twenty respected professional huntsmen around the country. They are asked to recommend one of their own (excluding themselves) who has distinguished himself or herself and has made an exceptional contribution to the sport of foxhunting. To receive this award, therefore, is truly recognition by one’s peers. The names are then presented to a panel of Masters who hunt their own hounds for making a final selection. The recipient receives a trophy and a check for $1,000.
The trophy is named for the late Ian Milne, an English-born professional huntsman who was a kind and generous mentor to so many homesick huntsmen who came here from abroad. He and his wife Brenda threw a party at their home during every Virginia Foxhound Show for all the huntsmen and helped bond those men and women into the fraternity of professional huntsmen in North America as we know it today.
Brian Kiely, 2016 National Horn Blowing Champion / Nancy Kleck photoNational Horn Blowing Championship
Huntsman Brian Kiely from the Potomac Hunt (MD) won the National Horn Blowing Championship for the fifth time since the competition was inaugurated in 1995. Horn calls are sometimes as uniquely personal as the huntsman blowing them, but Kiely’s are classic and unmistakable. And the man has a pair of lungs! He draws out that long, plaintive, controlled note in “Going Home” and stakes his claim to the title with that final impressive effort.
Kiely did feel competition breathing down his neck, however. This year’s runner-up was Codie Hayes, huntsman for the Golden’s Bridge Hounds (NY), who blew crisply and clearly and earned the respect of the large crowd on the mansion lawn. Codie is the granddaughter of longtime ex-Master and former huntsman Jody Murtagh of the Rose Tree Foxhunting Club and has been working with hounds since she could walk.
Henry Vaughan’s horn, courtesy of the Norfolk Hunt / Donna Guadagno photo
Ted Eayrs, president of the Norfolk Hunt with Henry Vaughan’s horn / Donna Guadagno photo
A new face in the horn blowing contest was Ted Eayrs, president of the Norfolk Hunt (MA). Ted blew a horn of hallowed provenance in the history of organized foxhunting in North America. A Norfolk Hunt treasure, the horn bears the inscription:
Carried By
Henry G. Vaughan
as
Master of the Norfolk Hounds
for 30 years
1903 through 1932
Henry Vaughan was, early in the twentieth century, one of the foxhunting statesmen who, through his widespread popularity, helped organize the sport of mounted foxhunting in North America as we know it today. He established and staffed the first MFHA office in Boston, Massachusetts, where MFHA headquarters remained until 1991. He ran the office from 1905 until his death in 1938, and served as president of the MFHA from 1931 to 1938.
Junior Handler Winner
The Junior Handler winner (ten and under) was Evan Dombrowski showing Loudoun Fairfax Admiral. This is the second consecutive winning year for Evan, and the stunning news clearly registers on his face as he prepares to remove his bowler to accept the blue ribbon.
Evan Dombroski / Nancy Kleck photo
Posted June 7, 2016