Barclay Rives Retires from Keswick Hunt Club

Barclay Rives decided that at the end of this 2023-2024 season, he would retire from hunting with Keswick Hunt Club in Virginia. Rives has been whipping-in for 53 years with Keswick, and he is a prolific writer (his book called “See You at Second Horses” is a personal favorite). To meet Barclay is to experience the most gentle and charming smile. I was privileged to interview him at Keswick’s Closing Meet party this past March.

When did you start hunting? My first hunt was when I was 11, and my childhood friend, John Kohls, was whipping-in for Keswick for the first time. My first job was to unbox the hounds from the truck.

I have always hunted with Keswick. But when Grosvenor Merle-Smith was Master and Huntsman for Bull Run Hunt, I had many good runs with them. There were some seasons that I hunted with both hunt clubs. Once when catching up with Deep Run Hunt MFH Jim Covington, better known as Red Dog, I said, “Red Dog, I’ve hunted 115 times this season.” I had bested him. And he said in that deep southern accent, “Barclay, you are my idol.”

How many years have you hunted? I’ve hunted for 58 years. But the proper answer is that I’ve been hunting since I was in utero because my mother (Mary Jo Rives, MFH for Keswick) hunted with me while pregnant and Master. Then she went hunting ten days after I was born, which isn’t such a great thing to do. Certain things gotta heal!

Why are you retiring? I’m retiring this year because of my two horses – one can’t jump and one can’t breathe. And while it’s better to be on one that can’t breathe, I decided that both horses needed to retire. So, I’ll retire with them as I’m not ready to get a new horse.

I also had a hard fall recently. The sound of the helmet hitting the ground was not fun. I watched my father go downhill as he aged, and he was a much better rider than I am. He had several ghastly falls. I thought to myself that I wanted to leave the party early to avoid what he went through.

I also have some new books that I want to write. And I have two granddaughters ages 5 and 8 living next door to me.

Both of your parents were MFH of Keswick. Have you ever been a Master? No, and I haven’t wanted to be either.

My father, Alexander Rives, was MFH for Keswick for eight years. Momma and Daddy were not joint masters at the same time, but when Daddy was Master two disgruntled members came by one evening to complain about hunting. Daddy was a gentle soul and practiced some passive resistance. Mamma was upstairs listening to this going on. While out to here pregnant with my brother, Mamma threw on a robe and went downstairs to give the two of them hell for foolishly complaining.

What is your career? Instead of saying, “Do what you love and the money will follow”, change that to, “Do what you love and just do without everything else”. I was a blacksmith for a while and was also a tin roofer and a writer. So my resume is blacksmith, tinsmith, and wordsmith.

Does your wife hunt as well? Before my wife, my utility bill was $4 a month. I had power in my house but did not have running water. Someone once sketched what would be my life when I was in my twenties, it was a picture of a scarlet coat hung on an outhouse door. It was so perfect for me. But then my wife came along, and she demanded plumbing.

My wife Aggie of 38 years, who does not hunt, has supported my hunting all along. Unlike some people who say, “Oh, we’ve been married nearly 38 years and never had an argument”, but that’s not true with us! Aggie has been wonderfully accepting of me and my riding.

I introduced Aggie to one of this country’s great equestrians, the late Elli Wood Baxter (1921-2023), who set the standard in the show ring for brilliance. It wasn’t how many strides between fences that mattered to Elli, it was how many strides did she leave out! Elli (MFH Farmington Hunt) would go around the ring or hunter trial course as if hounds were running, and she had to keep up. (In 2022, Ellie Wood was awarded the National Show Hunter Hall of Fame Founder’s Cup for Excellence, joining Olympian William Steinkraus as one of the only two recipients thus far.)  Elli’s mother taught me how to ride. I introduced my wife to her, and Elli said upon learning that my wife didn’t ride, “Isn’t that great that you don’t have to find a horse for her!”

Where have you hunted? I’ve hunted here, Ireland, and England (before the ban), and have outridden at several steeplechases.

What has been your favorite thing to do on horseback? That’s easy, it’s to be hunting hounds in full cry here with Keswick. Radios are necessary, but I never carried a radio. For one thing, if it’s necessary to have a radio then I could always find someone with one for me to borrow. But to me the whole thing of hunting is to use my instincts, use my horse, and get myself in the right place to help the huntsman, all so I could enjoy the hunt.

Have you ever wanted to be a huntsman? A couple of times I carried the horn when the huntsman was unable, and it’s a whole different experience. I was able to get all the hounds back. Once hounds got on a fox when I had the horn, but I didn’t swing wide enough. The hounds got on the heel line. I am an introvert and a solitary person, so whipping-in is much more me than being the huntsman.

When did you start Whipping-In? I started whipping-in in 1971-1972 in high school (I graduated college in 1976). I had moved into an abandoned house on my parent’s property. I figured that I would stay there and fix up the house while I hunted and figured out what to do with my life. Well, the house still needs fixing up, and I still haven’t figured out what to do with my life. For the first years as staff I was walking hounds, and I still didn’t know what I was doing. About 5 or 6 years into whipping-in, I started to get some inkling of what to do.

Who helped you learn how to whip-in? Joe Collins was kennel huntsman. He was a very country guy from around here, and he had encouraged me and other juniors. He said, “Let me give you a little tip on this whipping-in. Get out in front. That way you can see what the hounds are running. Then you can do some good. Otherwise, you are just trailing along and following. And don’t go following me.”

Also, professional whipper-in Charlie Brown with Rappahannock Hunt was one of the best professionals that I’ve ever known. After Charlie’s tutelage was Grosvenor Merle-Smith, first the kennel huntsman for Keswick and later a top-notch huntsman for Bull Run. I had the benefit of being around people with superior skills.

What secrets would you reveal to a new whipper-in? In my case, I learned so much by watching some of the good ones. Watch your hunt, but then go hunt with other hunts to see how other people do it. And then just dedicate yourself to the job. Learn the names of hounds. Learn country.

What’s one thing that you wish you had done? I’ve hunted all over with a lot of different people, so I have no regrets. I can’t think of anything I wish I had done.

Published June 24, 2024.