By Katherine O. Rizzo with excerpts from Alan Dynerman, Goshen Hounds Chairman (first published in the January 2025 Equiery) – photo by Karen Kandra
On November 3, 2024, over one hundred people on horseback and just as many on foot gathered at Tusculum Farm in Laytonsville to not only celebrate the start of another hunt season for Goshen Hounds, but to officially kick off Robert Taylor’s 30th year as huntsman. Taylor is now the longest serving huntsman Goshen Hounds has had in its 64 years as a Masters of Foxhounds Association (MFHA) recognized pack.
Taylor, who was born and raised in Ireland, is a fourth-generation huntsman. His great-grand uncle was huntsman Jack Painter and his great-grandfather was Tommy Taylor who is the father of another legendary Irish huntsman named Tommy, Robert Taylor’s grandfather. That Tommy Taylor had six sons, all of whom went on to become huntsmen, including Robert Taylor’s father Jack Taylor. Robert Taylor told Sidelines magazine in November 2011 that the most influential person in his life was his father who had him hunting independently at four years old. By age 10, Robert Taylor was already an accomplished show jumper who went on to represent Ireland as a junior and later as an open international rider.
After graduating high school, Taylor attended the University of Liverpool and was a school teacher for a few years before moving to Australia in 1974. There he became involved with Pony Club as well as judging local shows. It was not until 1992 that Taylor ended up in the U.S. when he brought a Mounted Games team to compete as part of the Pony Club International Exchange program.
While in Maryland, Taylor hunted with several packs before being offered the position of huntsman with Goshen when then-huntsman Bay Cockburn had decided to hunt exclusively with Loudoun West. “I remember that first hunt Robert did with us and how he still wanted the job even after we lost most of the hounds,” Goshen Joint-MFH Holly Hamilton aid. “Our hounds were wild banshees at the time! It’s been a slow process with all of us helping to bring the pack to what it is today. Robert has done a remarkable job.”
Becoming Goshen’s huntsman was not the only reason Taylor stayed in the U.S. as he was also in love with then Goshen MFH Rick Jones’s daughter Kathy, whom he married in 1996. “We actually first met in Scotland in 1990 when I was the U.S. Pony Club’s international games coach and Robert was there coaching the Australian team,” said Kathy Taylor, who has been a Goshen member for more than 50 years.
Together, the Taylors ran a lesson and training stable for many years and even bred a few horses along the way. They were first based in Clarksville before renting what was then called Hunters Creek in Damascus. The Taylors eventually purchased that property and established TaylorMade Stables. They sold the property in 2018 and now live in Warrington, Virginia, but come up to hunt with Goshen on a regular basis.
“One of Robert’s greatest assets is his wife Kathy,” Goshen Joint-MFH Dr. Charles Mess stated. “She plays a big role in keeping things going as our first field master and social chair.” Dr. Mess has been a Goshen member since 1988 and considers Taylor to be a very organized, astute, and engaging person. “He makes sure things get done and runs the kennels and the grounds around the kennels very well,” Dr. Mess added.
Taylor’s dedication to the hounds and the sport is echoed by Goshen Joint-MFH Mark Challberg who said, “Robert shows up every hunting day to hunt. It’s amazing. You can count the number of days over the past 30 years when Robert called in sick on the fingers of one hand!” To put this into perspective, during the 2023-2024 season, Goshen hunted over 60 days during its regular season. Add to that nearly two full months of cub hunting and a month of roading hounds and you have a well-oiled machine of a pack! “He really has the most incredible work ethic I’ve ever come across,” Kathy Taylor said. “It is one of the reasons he’s been a successful huntsman for so long.”
Taylor’s ability to organize and bring things together does not stop with just hounds. His charisma brings people together and his relationship with landowners is why Goshen has consistently maintained its territory while many other packs in Maryland have seen theirs shrink. Taylor also has helped the club grow its membership, often inviting riders he sees at local events and hunter paces to come out as his guest. “It really does not matter what type of riding you do,” Kathy Taylor said. “He makes everyone feel welcomed and involved.”
That is exactly how Goshen Chairman Alan Dynerman first started hunting – because of Taylor’s open invitations. Dynerman began riding as an adult after being introduced to horses by his wife, Nancy Seybold. “I was convinced to hunt because Robert chatted me up over a beer one day at Waredaca,” he said. “I hardly knew him. I didn’t own breeches, still he convinced me to come out. I was so green, my wife had to chaperone me.” Dynerman was quickly seduced by the sport and Taylor. “Robert’s zeal and enthusiasm is infectious,” he added.
Hamilton added, “we have a great group of people. Everyone is so welcoming. Robert has been a big part of bringing people to the club.”
In addition to being huntsman for Goshen, Taylor is the Maryland/Delaware District Director of MFHA. Dr. Mess stated, “Robert is very diligent in that job and really brings credit to Goshen in that role. MFHA Executive Director Andrew Barclay added, “out there today, there is no greater ambassador for our sport than Robert.”
