Foxhunting Life with Horse and Hound

Huntsman Richard Roberts and trainer Colleen Hayduk were married on April 14 in Hawaii. The pair will honeymoon there before Richard takes up his position as the new huntsman at the Deep Run Hunt near Richmond, Virginia. Richard is former huntsman of the Piedmont Fox Hounds where he showed brilliant sport during his six-year tenure there. Colleen operates Landmark Ponies, a training facility in Middleburg, Virginia.

“Why Hawaii?” I wanted to know.

“A friend, Ray Stone, who hunts with Orange County, is co-owner of Dolphin Quest,” Richard explained. “They have an educational and breeding operation here in Hawaii. I have an avid interest in marine life and marine biology and a fascination with dolphins, so here we are!”

In addition to running her pony farm, Colleen raises puppies for Canine Companions for Independence (CCI), a service dog organization. She raises and trains the puppies from the age of eight weeks to a year-and-a-half, during which time she reports regularly on their progress and takes training classes herself. She’s working on her sixth puppy now. Colleen characterizes this passion as "the best thing" she ever did in her life.

“When you return home will you whip-in to Richard,” I asked.

“Definitely not!” she replied instantly. “I’ll help him all I can with the hounds, but whip-in to him? No. We’re very happy, and we’re going to stay that way!”

Gathering of First Flight juniors before their mock hunt moved off.
Lauren Giannini photo

For their first seven years, the Junior North American Field Hunter Championships took place in Virginia, mostly at Old Whitewood, part of Orange County's country in The Plains. However, after Alex Matz won the First Flight (12-and-Under) championship in 2009, the notion of staging the next finals in Mr. Stewart's Cheshire country came to fruition. Blue Ridge Hunt's David Pawlak partnered with the indubitable Paris to ace the individual test in the First Flight and claim their second consecutive 13-18 championship. Makayla Benjamin (Loudoun West) and Butterfly Painting went home with the reserve tri-color.

Gathering of First Flight juniors before their mock hunt moved off.
Lauren Giannini photo

For their first seven years, the Junior North American Field Hunter Championships took place in Virginia, mostly at Old Whitewood, part of Orange County's country in The Plains. However, after Alex Matz won the First Flight (12-and-Under) championship in 2009, the notion of staging the next finals in Mr. Stewart's Cheshire country came to fruition. Blue Ridge Hunt's David Pawlak partnered with the indubitable Paris to ace the individual test in the First Flight and claim their second consecutive 13-18 championship. Makayla Benjamin (Loudoun West) and Butterfly Painting went home with the reserve tri-color.

Want your cell phone to ring like this (click the horn)?

Foxhunting Life invites you to ring in the new hunting season with free hunting horn ring-tones!

Select and download the calls of your choice for your cell phone, courtesy of two-time National Horn Blowing Champion John Tabachka, huntsman for the Deep Run Hunt (VA). (Just remember to turn your ringer off in the hunting field, or we’ll all be in trouble!)

You may choose doubling, gone away, gone to ground, or whip-to-me—all calls from John’s popular FHL video—and download them directly to your computer. If your phone does not have computer connectivity, we can send a text message containing the audio files directly to your cell phone, which you can save to your list of ring-tones.

If we do not already have your e-mail address, you will be asked to enter it before downloading files. We will use your e-mail address to send you our periodic e-letters with the latest postings and news on Foxhunting Life. Remember, you can unsubscribe at any time, and keep your free foxhunting ring-tone. Get your ring-tones now!

FHL wishes you a safe and enjoyable hunting season.

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FHL is proud to announce our first video production, Calls on the Horn with John Tabachka. In the seven-minute video, John blows eight calls and explains when and why the calls are used by your huntsman.

John Tabachka is huntsman at the Deep Run Hunt near Richmond, Virginia. He is a two-time winner of the National Horn Blowing Championship at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show in Harrisburg. Since John filmed the video, he’s been on a roll, winning the horn blowing contests at both the Virginia and the Bryn Mawr Hound Shows in May!

Test your knowledge of the calls on the hunting horn by taking our Quizzes.

John's video, live on our site, is also available on DVD in the FHL Bookstore.