ringtone

Huntsman John TabachkaWe finally worked it out: how to download our horn call ringtones to an iPhone! So many people have asked, and here’s how. But first, a story.

I tried to phone Steve Price, a member of Foxhunting Life’s Panel of Experts, but he was out. I left a message asking him to return the call on my cell phone. When his call came, I happened to be in the stall with my retired hunter, Guitar. Upon hearing the ringtone, "Gone Away," old Guitar pricked his ears and took a couple of lively turns around the stall! I laughed and explained the scene to Steve.

“You should have given the phone to Guitar and told him, ‘It’s for you,’” said Steve.

FHL's ringtones are the brilliant horn work of John Tabachka, huntsman, Sewickley Hunt (PA), a two-time winner of the National Horn Blowing Contest at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show in Harrisburg. (Click to view FHL's popular video, Calls on the Horn, in which John explains the meaning and usage of the principal horn calls heard in the course of a day's hunting.)

What follows is the ringtone download procedure for iPhone users only, and uses M4R files required by the iPhone; most other cell phone users should use the mp3 files that we have made available for some time now. (Note: This "read more" link is open to all viewers.)

What a response we had from our recent free hunting horn ring-tone offer! We thought it would be a fun way of celebrating the start of the new foxhunting season, and we were right. Here’s what some of you had to say: Send me ‘doubling.’ I am enjoying your website immensely! Ilove the ring-tones! I want them all. I am going to forward your email to all 600 of my ** fox hunting folks. What a clever idea! Thank you. I really have to say, hearing John Tabachka blow ‘Going Home’ is very moving. Really amazing, indeed. I really enjoy your newsletter and website! I’m a huge fan of John and his calls. I am looking forward to driving my teenage children (and everyone else around me) crazy. We’re happy everyone is having fun with it. Remember, however, if any of you forget to turn off your ringer while in the hunting field, and the huntsman’s wrath descends upon you, we don’t know you!August 24, 2010