86 SIDELINES MARCH 2012
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
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By Lauren R. Giannini
Larry Byers has done everything from showing and
eventing to his great passion - hunting. He spent 32
years in California where he was a career Marine, then
worked as fnance director of a water district. His sporting
life as a whipper-in with Santa Fe Hunt in Temecula (CA)
included three seasons as huntsman and four years
as master. About six years ago Larry and his wife Pat
moved to Aiken, SC. At the start of the 2011-12 season,
he became joint-master of the Aiken Hounds. He still
serves as honorary whipper-in for Aiken and Why Worry
Hounds. From September through March, he spends
four days a week in the hunt feld: a feat that would
exhaust many riders half his age. If doing what you love
keeps you young, then Larry has found his own personal
fountain of youth.
Sidelines:
How did you get hooked on hunting?
LB:
I grew up on a dairy farm and started riding gaited
horses. At that time in Pennsylvania gaited horses were
big. I was 22 or 23 when I got to go out of the ring.
I learned why you go over fences in the open: that’s
to stay up with hounds. That’s what got me hooked. I
started whipping-in. I had a break in my life when I was
a Marine Corps pilot. We crossed the country a couple
times with family and horses. I was sort of whipping-in
at Santa Fe. It was a wonderful time with Alex Pisciotta,
a good master who carried the horn. I’m very much at
heart a whipper-in. I love hounds, love to watch hounds
hunt. My wife Pat does not hunt; but she’s a marvelous
instructor, especially of kids and still rides in the Woods a
couple times a week. She thinks we’re all a little strange
and sometimes out of control; but she’s a big supporter
of me and of hunting.
Sidelines:
What triggered your involvement in
conservation?
LB:
I was involved with Pony Club (in California my wife
formed the Fallbrook Pony Club) and I realized that if we
didn’t have land, we couldn’t have a Pony Club. I was
on the board for about 30 years. I’m big on getting out of
the ring and riding in the open. As we were going along,
we realized that we needed not only a place to ride, but
also a place to graze our horses and to grow hay. Out of
the [USPC Task Force] committee came the idea for the
Equestrian Land Conservation Resource (www.elcr.org)
that was founded in 1997. I’ve been involved with ELCR
all along and this is my last year as president of the
Board of Directors. Here in Aiken I’m involved with the
Hitchcock Woods as well as hunting country throughout
the county to protect open land [Conservation, Open
Space and Equine Trails Committee]. Aiken’s Chamber
of Commerce has an Equine Steering Committee and
we’re very involved in informing the community about the
economic impact that horses provide to everyone in the
Aiken area.
Sidelines:
What do you do to introduce Pony Club kids
to the joys of hunting?
LB:
We just had 18 kids out with the Aiken Hounds
[Saturday before Christmas) for one of our three
A Few Minutes with Larry Byers
children’s hunts. That was quite good to have 18 juniors out.
They ranged from seven up to 20. A seven year old rode with
me to whip-in. She said, “This is fun!”
Sidelines:
What advice do you have for new enthusiasts?
LB:
To hunt as a member of the feld, you have to appreciate
the wonderful panorama of life and that hounds were bred to
hunt quarry. You need the right horse. It doesn’t matter what
they look like. It’s how they do. If you’re going to whip-in, you
have to know what hunting is all about, you have to know the
hounds and you have to know the country. If you want to be
huntsman, the hardest part is having enough time to help make
the hounds. They have to trust you and it takes time to build
that trust.
Sidelines:
Why did you decide to “retire” to Aiken?
LB:
Aiken has the world’s best footing and the best hunting,
because I hack to a meet in the Woods and I drive 20 minutes
to get to other meets. It’s the greatest place in the world for
someone who likes to hunt. It can pour down rain for three days
and the next day I’m out in the Woods, galloping.
Sidelines:
Do you make your own horses?
LB:
I get horses that have been started well and I make them
into horses that I like to hunt. I have an all time favorite staff
horse. She’s 20, about 16 hands, a grey Thoroughbred who
always knows where hounds are and always knows how to get
you there. If she could blow the horn, she would hunt hounds.
I’ve had her about 15 years and from the beginning she just
sort of said, ‘this is what I do.’ In fact, if I go by a ring, she pins
her ears. I have a seven year old Thoroughbred who started
life as a polo pony. She’s already great: she’s just going to get
better. The Thoroughbred is about the best athlete we have
and they have the heart for this sport.
Larry Byers is one of Aiken Hounds’ new masters, although he’s
held that position before at Santa Fe Hunt
Photo by Cat Davey