The above Club held its Autumn Open Stake , today Saturday 2nd October 2004 on Murley Mountain with the kind permission of the Hamilton-Stubber family who were represented on the day by their Keeper, Philip Moore. The judges were Carol Calvert and myself. Eight and a half brace took the field, three Pointers, five English Setters, four Irish Setters and five Red & Whites.
When I checked the forecast on Sky last night I thought Oh! S***e this will be one to be endured and not enjoyed. All this seemed to be confirmed as I pulled up at the meet with the rain bouncing a foot off the bonnet of the car. I leapt from the car to put my gear on during what I thought would be maybe the only dry spell of the day but within the next ten minutes the rain had stopped and the sun came out. That, surprisingly enough, was the way it stayed for the remainder of the trial. However, fifteen minutes after the close of play I experienced one of the worst thunder storms I have heard for years.
We ended up bringing back three brace for the second round. Most of the dogs excluded were out for poor ground treatment although one had pegged a pheasant. All the dogs had run hard and we had a couple of finds on snipe and one on a pheasant in the book but the dog with the pheasant had been a bit sticky in his production.
The second round proved nothing except that our pheasant find dog had a long non-productive and was effectively out of the major awards. The other five had run well but hadnt had any more finds. We were left with Desi Lintons dog with a find on a snipe, that had done enough to win a stake. Charlie Neesons dog had also had a find on a snipe but hadnt had enough time down before us and three other dogs with good running but no find. We decided to run an extension to the second round and braced up the last four mentioned. This is where it fell apart for some. In the first brace of the extension, almost off the lead Gerald Devines English Setter dog had a find, the bird ran before taking flight and took the Setter with it. His brace mate, Charlie Neesons Red and white was O.K. as he hadnt got in front on the bird. The next brace fell by the wayside pretty quickly as no more than twenty yards further on one of them flushed a pheasant that the other dog had passed and both were eliminated. This left us with two dogs with finds on snipe, one which could possibly win the trial, and one that needed a bit of running. We decided to run them against each other .
We ended up with a nice flat piece of open ground that held the promise of game, a warm sunny day, a good breeze, and two dogs that were up for it. Charlie Neesons and Desi Lintons Red & White Dogs. They didnt let us down but it was the first couple of casts that were to prove crucial as Desis dog went back to check where the previous birds had flushed from and by the time he had been straightened out Charlies dog had the forward cast. You have no idea how big a thrill I get from seeing two dogs giving it some welly. The handlers were able to let their dogs make full use of the ground because control was not an issue, they knew that when they wanted to they could turn their dogs. The beat from one side to the other was about four hundred yards and it was done to near perfection. However dont forget Charlies dog still had the forward cast and he dammed well wasnt going to give it up. We had set a limit of ten minutes for this run and the clock must have been at about nine and a half when the Sion Mills Express that was Charlies dog broke his cast, pulled forward a bit and pointed. Desis dog was going the same direction and backed from about forty yards. Charlie and I walked to the dog , he put him in and produced a very annoyed cock pheasant and dropped without instruction to the shot I fired.
Trial over effectively.
The results were:-
1st Charlie Neesons Red & White Setter Dog Craigrua Raphael By Rushfield Rascal X Craigrua Enya
2nd Desi Lintons Red & White Setter Dog Craigrua Osprey by Craigrua Aran X Craigrua Dansua.
Com Pat Callans Pointer Bitch Innistona Clover by Innistona Baya X Innistona Spice.
After his win last week and subject to Kennel Club Ratification this makes Charlies dog a F.T.Ch. Bad luck on Desi Linton this is the dog he was second to last week as well,
Bye the bye, we saw today, but not necessarily in the context of the stake, Snipe, Woodcock, Pheasant and Grouse.
What did you do today?
I had a ball.
When I checked the forecast on Sky last night I thought Oh! S***e this will be one to be endured and not enjoyed. All this seemed to be confirmed as I pulled up at the meet with the rain bouncing a foot off the bonnet of the car. I leapt from the car to put my gear on during what I thought would be maybe the only dry spell of the day but within the next ten minutes the rain had stopped and the sun came out. That, surprisingly enough, was the way it stayed for the remainder of the trial. However, fifteen minutes after the close of play I experienced one of the worst thunder storms I have heard for years.
We ended up bringing back three brace for the second round. Most of the dogs excluded were out for poor ground treatment although one had pegged a pheasant. All the dogs had run hard and we had a couple of finds on snipe and one on a pheasant in the book but the dog with the pheasant had been a bit sticky in his production.
The second round proved nothing except that our pheasant find dog had a long non-productive and was effectively out of the major awards. The other five had run well but hadnt had any more finds. We were left with Desi Lintons dog with a find on a snipe, that had done enough to win a stake. Charlie Neesons dog had also had a find on a snipe but hadnt had enough time down before us and three other dogs with good running but no find. We decided to run an extension to the second round and braced up the last four mentioned. This is where it fell apart for some. In the first brace of the extension, almost off the lead Gerald Devines English Setter dog had a find, the bird ran before taking flight and took the Setter with it. His brace mate, Charlie Neesons Red and white was O.K. as he hadnt got in front on the bird. The next brace fell by the wayside pretty quickly as no more than twenty yards further on one of them flushed a pheasant that the other dog had passed and both were eliminated. This left us with two dogs with finds on snipe, one which could possibly win the trial, and one that needed a bit of running. We decided to run them against each other .
We ended up with a nice flat piece of open ground that held the promise of game, a warm sunny day, a good breeze, and two dogs that were up for it. Charlie Neesons and Desi Lintons Red & White Dogs. They didnt let us down but it was the first couple of casts that were to prove crucial as Desis dog went back to check where the previous birds had flushed from and by the time he had been straightened out Charlies dog had the forward cast. You have no idea how big a thrill I get from seeing two dogs giving it some welly. The handlers were able to let their dogs make full use of the ground because control was not an issue, they knew that when they wanted to they could turn their dogs. The beat from one side to the other was about four hundred yards and it was done to near perfection. However dont forget Charlies dog still had the forward cast and he dammed well wasnt going to give it up. We had set a limit of ten minutes for this run and the clock must have been at about nine and a half when the Sion Mills Express that was Charlies dog broke his cast, pulled forward a bit and pointed. Desis dog was going the same direction and backed from about forty yards. Charlie and I walked to the dog , he put him in and produced a very annoyed cock pheasant and dropped without instruction to the shot I fired.
Trial over effectively.
The results were:-
1st Charlie Neesons Red & White Setter Dog Craigrua Raphael By Rushfield Rascal X Craigrua Enya
2nd Desi Lintons Red & White Setter Dog Craigrua Osprey by Craigrua Aran X Craigrua Dansua.
Com Pat Callans Pointer Bitch Innistona Clover by Innistona Baya X Innistona Spice.
After his win last week and subject to Kennel Club Ratification this makes Charlies dog a F.T.Ch. Bad luck on Desi Linton this is the dog he was second to last week as well,
Bye the bye, we saw today, but not necessarily in the context of the stake, Snipe, Woodcock, Pheasant and Grouse.
What did you do today?
I had a ball.
