After 25 Years, Larry Pitts Isn't Going Anywhere But Potomac

It was April 30, 1980, when Pitts moved from Ontario and May 1 when he showed up at the Potomac Hunt Club. "That's when you're supposed to start the job in the hunt service. That's the rule I grew up with. You leave April 30, and the next morning you show up at your new job for work," he explained.

Other than the late Tom Dowd, who was master when Pitts arrived in Potomac, he has served under the same masters ever since-Jt.-MFHs Irwin "Skip" Crawford, wife Vicki Crawford, Peter Hitchen and Bosselmann.

Pitts may not have taken a break between jobs, but he did take time off a month later (June 14, to be exact) to return to Canada and marry his bride of nearly 25 years, the former Peggy Bayliss. The couple has two children. Son Justin shares his father's enthusiasm for fishing, but not for riding,
and Laura is a student at Hood College in nearby Frederick, Md., and an event rider.

Getting Larry Pitts started talking about his hounds is equivalent to opening a dam.

He ticks off hound names, and when asked for specifics he repeatedly mentions Rapidan, the sire of seven dog hounds and six bitches, all of whom he planned to show this year at the Bryn Mawr (Pa.) and Virginia hound shows.

"We're going to have another champion this year. His name is Jefferson, a Rapidan hound. He has it all," Pitts predicted.

There are 361³2 couple in the Potomac kennel today. "The most important thing about a hound is his brain. Once hounds understand what you want, they will do it. I think it's a big deal to make the hound understand the program," he explained.

Does he plan a retirement anytime soon? "Not as long as I can keep on hunting and doing a good job," he answered. At age 55, it doesn't seem likely that it will be any time in the near future, especially because he still thinks that "a good day of fishing is not quite as good as a good day of foxhunting."