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6 SIDELINES JUNE 2011 FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE F O X H U N T I N G

By Lauren R. Giannini

In 1973 John A. Xanthopoulos began his lifelong involvement with the Intercollegiate Horse ShowAssociation. In 1974 he got hooked on foxhunting. When he joined the Department of Education at University of Montana Western in 2001, he launched his seventh IHSA team and continues to serve as its head coach. John and his wife Susan, who rides and trains dressage horses, operate J & S Sporthorses, headquarters of the UMW Intercollegiate team and Treasure State Hunt, founded by John in 2009. Their facility sets the stage annually for the UMW USEF horse show and three PHA USEF/USHJA-rated hunter/jumper shows. It’s a good thing that John’s work is also his play.

Sidelines: How did you start Montana’s frst foxhunt?

JX: My love affair with hunting started on the East Coast. Once you do it, it’s like a terminal disease: you can never get away from it. I worked as a professor of Education at the University of Montana Western and there was no hunt, so I decided to start Treasure State Hunt. Joe Emily at Knoxville Hunt (WY) drafted

our frst six couple of foxhounds. Three extraordinary women have helped me: Lia Nagle, Caroline Bielser, and Catherine Mee.

Paul Delaney, master of Grand Canyon Hounds, is the MFHA’s Rocky Mountain regional director. He and his crew came up from Flagstaff for a week and hunted with us. They saw our operation, inspected our facilities and I think they couldn’t have been happier. We became a registered hunt at the Masters of Foxhounds Association’s annual meeting in January.

Sidelines: Did you grow up with horses?

JX: I was born in Greece and grew up with donkeys. I love donkeys. As a young Greek kid, especially back in the ‘50s and ‘60s, donkeys were all over the place. They were prime movers and shakers – those animals did everything in those days. I have no desire to hunt a donkey, but we carriage-drive them.

Sidelines: Who was most instrumental in teaching you about hounds and hunting, about building and breeding a pack?

JX: Beth Dixon, who was huntsman for Tennessee Valley, and Lia Nagle. With Beth and Lia, I learned how to read the hounds, how to be patient with the hounds, that they are individuals but when they go hunting they become one. From Lia I also learned how to hunt and what to do. Lia and I exchange positions: I make her the huntsman and I become the whip, and vice versa, because I see different things from different perspectives. For me, being a horseman and/or a huntsman is a lifelong learning experience. You never ever stop learning. Until you die,

you learn something new every day.

Sidelines: Who are two of your most favorite feld hunters?

JX: I’m a Thoroughbred man. Most of our school and hunt horses are ex-racehorses. I say most, because one of my favorites is a Quarter Horse, 15 hands. Pete is a wonderful animal and he very much is in tune to the hounds and my horn. He instinctively comprehends and understands as well as sees the action, and he will take me places safely the way no other horse will. I think he’s half-goat. The other good thing about Pete, at 15 hands, I can get on and off to get gates, etc, with ease.

My other favorite is a paint Thoroughbred mare, about 16.3 hands, off the Idaho racetrack. Dancer has a heart that will never quit. That horse amazes me when we go for long runs that she will keep up and maintain and sustain the pace with the hounds. That’s what I love about her. Out in the fat open range and in the hills, she will give me 1,000 per cent of herself.

Sidelines: What do you tell your Intercollegiate riders about hunting?

JX: They’re beginner to advanced riders, and I don’t allow everyone to just come and hunt, especially my equestrian team riders, unless they’re very ready, because it takes a pretty darn good rider to go from zero to 60 in uneven terrain, jumping ditches and all that. You can and will get hurt if you don’t know what you’re doing. I’m very careful whom I allow to come with me. One of the reasons why I think the team is doing very well regionally and in zones – I’m taking four individual riders to the IHSA National Finals – is because those four riders have hunted with me. I do believe and I recommend to anyone that if you want to improve your riding, ride in uneven terrain at your particular level. That will fx your position, your legs, your eye, your contact with your horse. Your riding will improve dramatically.

Five Questions for

John Xanthopoulos, MFH/Huntsman