brian kiely
Brian Kiely Wins Fourth National Horn Blowing Championship
Brian Kiely bested a strong lineup of fourteen participants to win his fourth National Horn Blowing Championship. / Liz Callar photo
Brian Kiely broke his own record by winning his fourth National Horn Blowing Championship. Since the start of the competition in 1995, five men have won the title twice—Andrew Barclay, Steve Farrin, Ian Milne, Adrian Smith, and John Tabachka—but with his fourth championship Kiely continues to move the goal posts for the rest of the field. Kiely is the new huntsman at the Potomac Hunt (MD), and his victory was accompanied by the cheers of his supporters led by retiring Potomac huntsman Larry Pitts.
The 2015 National Horn Blowing Championship was held at Morven Park on May 23, 2015 over the Virginia Foxhound Show weekend. The large crowd on hand under the Saturday night dinner tent listened enthusiastically to the fifteen entries in a strong lineup of contestants.
After the first round in which all participants blew three calls on their horns, three individuals were asked to return for a blow-off: Brian Kiely, Adrian Smith, and John Tabachka. This was an all-star lineup with all three finalists holding multiple titles. Adrian Smith is huntsman for the Metamora Hunt (MI), and John Tabachka is huntsman for the Sewickley Hunt (PA).
Mark McManus: Huntsman and Mentor
Mark McManus is the new huntsman at the Chagrin Valley Hunt (OH).
When a huntsman retires after a long and successful career hunting hounds for a respected hunting establishment, that vacuum creates a ripple effect throughout the hunting community. So it was when Larry Pitts retired after thirty-five seasons hunting hounds at the Potomac Hunt (MD). Pitts’s vacancy was filled by huntsman Brian Kiely from the Myopia Hunt (MA); the void at Myopia was filled by huntsman Philip Headdon from the Chagrin Valley Hunt (OH); and the Chagrin Valley opening will be filled this season by huntsman Mark McManus from the Ottawa Valley Hunt (ON).
During his time at Ottawa Valley, McManus definitely left his mark (pun intended). OVH Master Anne McKibbin lets sixteen-year-old whipper-in Carmen Powell-Sadik tell us how.
Mark is an enjoyable person to be around, with many a good story to tell depicting various scenes of humor and horror taken from an exciting and sometimes perilous life of foxhunting in his native Ireland. He remembers times of his childhood riding with his baby brother “sat in me lap” as he (much to his father’s chagrin) jumped the hedges!
Brian Kiely Is New Huntsman at Potomac
Brian Kiely and the Myopia foxhounds / Ashley Hill photo
Brian Kiely knows he will have big boots to fill when Larry Pitts, huntsman for the Potomac Hunt (MD), retires after thirty-five seasons there. Brian spent a weekend recently with the Potomac Masters, had a chance to hunt with Larry, and accepted the position of huntsman starting next season.
“The way Larry conducted himself, the way the hounds related to him, was poetry,” said Brian. “It was a fabulous experience just to watch him.”
“I remember seeing Larry some years ago at the Virginia Foxhound Show,” Brian continued. “Hounds from hunts all over were arriving at the kennels...nervous...running off...and there was Larry, calmly walking his pack through all the confusion, without a care.”
