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The Hannum Bunch:Happily Settled in Virginia
The Hannum Bunch: Happily Settled in Virginia
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By Vicky Moon
John B. “Jeb” Hannum III grew up around horses in Chester County, Pennsylvania. He speaks horse.
He’s executive director of the Virginia Equine Alliance (VEA). Based in Warrenton, it’s a non-profit representing the entire racing and breeding industry in the state—flat, harness, steeplechase and the breeders.
“The VEA was established in 2014 to revitalize the industry and has been instrumental in supporting all aspects of racing and breeding, especially through the challenges from the pandemic,” Jeb said.
Closer to home in Fauquier County, he also serves as a Jt. Master of Foxhounds with Orange County Hounds (OCH), following a family tradition. His great- grandmother and great-grandfather were both Masters at OCH in the 1920s.
He graduated from the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey and went on to Hobart College in upstate New York, with a B.A. in European history. He earned a Masters in Public Administration at the University of Pennsylvania.
Jeb and his wife Emily, who grew up fox hunting in England, met at the 1991 Pennsylvania Hunt Cup races. They were married in Yorkshire, England in 1995, then lived in London for seven years before returning to the U.S. in 2005.
“It was a quality of life decision and we were at the point where our youngest, Chloe, was about to start school,” Emily said of their return to the U.S.
The Hannums moved to the Middleburg area in 2014 and within a year Jeb was named as the first executive director of the VEA. He also serves on the Board of Trustees at Highland School in Warrenton, where their three children, Chloe, 18, Jack, 16, and Flora, 14, are students.
Their daughters are following in the family’s equine tradition. Chloe has been riding on the point-to-point circuit and through Memorial Day, she totaled four wins riding over timber, hurdles and on the flat. In the fall, she’ll be a freshman at George Washington University and wants to become a veterinarian.
Flora also is an enthusiastic rider and said, “I love jumping, I love going fast with the wind in my face. Because they both love horses, it also helps me connect with my parents.”
Jack rode for a while and occasionally fox-hunted, but in recent years he’s become an avid skateboarder and has attended the prestigious Woodward Skate Camp.
“We encouraged the kids in whatever they wanted to do and supported them with their riding, which is a lot of work,” Jeb said. “The girls really took to it. The fact that Emily and I love it, we naturally wanted them to try it.”
Emily remains an enthusiastic fox hunter and also is a highly-successful businesswoman. She earned an MBA from Henley in England and is now Vice President and Strategic Relationship Manager for Loomis, Sayles & Company, a Boston-based firm with $345 billion in assets under management.
Emily has an office in Middleburg but frequently travels to the Boston headquarters. Still, she’s managed career, family and her own lifelong equine passion quite brilliantly, just like her horse-talking husband, Jeb.
