Winners and Judges at Farleigh Hungerford

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The Working Test was held at Farleigh Hungerford Estate by kind invitation of host Bruce Craig and Gamekeeper Martin Mitchell. The Estate is a superb setting, with the spectacular backdrop of the castle and gardens on arrival and the wonderful lake and surrounding meadows and woodlands, with carpets of spring flowers adding vibrant colours to the landscape. A truly idyllic setting. Judges for the day were Helen Cripps and Mike Anderson.

Entries of 1 (originally 3) Veteran and 20 Intermediate started the tests in a rather overcast drizzly morning with little wind.

Test 1 judged by Mike was a long seen, with shot, across an open field on the edge of woodland. Some of the dogs were drawn into the wood and cover, requiring considerable handling.

Test 2 judged by Helen was a relatively simple seen across the lake onto the opposite bank with a shot. This appeared to favour the dogs that used their memories and scenting skills on reaching dry land; a few failed here.

Test 3 judged by Mike basically a blind with a seen with shot as a distraction, nearly all of the dogs completed this helped by a change in wind direction.

Test 4 judged by Helen left and right seen in woodland with one exception all dogs were successful

Test 5 judged by Mike (and Gamekeeper Martin) seen and blind both with shot across a beautiful slope covered in cowslips and bluebells. For some reason this test caused the most problems for some of the handlers with many unable to collect the blind first certainly without immense effort and “handling”. Martin was judging this test independently awarding a prize for the dog he thought he would like to take on a shoot with him!

Test 6 judged by Helen a seen dropping out of sight of dog and handler all dogs coped with this really well.

Veteran Results

Intermediate Results The Peter Flack Memorial Salver to the winner

Judges and award winners

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The Open Test was held at Tortworth by kind invitation of The Tortworth Estate and kind permission of keeper Mike Goode.  The weather was kind to us, not too hot and the forecast rain held off until after we had all set off for home.

The judges, Graham Cox and Norman Onens had nineteen dogs to assess and each started with a double retrieve in woodland.  Test one consisted of two blinds down an overgrown track, one beyond the other, while test two consisted of two marks saluted by gunfire, not easy for the dogs to mark through the trees.  Already dogs were sorting themselves out and although test three, a mark in the lake, was relatively straightforward, test four caused quite a few problems.  This was a tricky mark up a steep wooded hillside, followed by a blind in the same place.

After lunch, 14 dogs were taken through to a walk up in a meadow containing cattle, two of our helpers Sue Parker and Morris Saunders did sterling work keeping the cows at bay, while the dogs worked on a very long mark up the field. A run off was required to separate second and third.

Award winners at the Novice

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The Novice Test was held in the wonderful surroundings of Lydney Park by kind invitation of Lord Bledisloe and by kind permission of Head Keeper Josh Theobald. We are very grateful for their generous support. Our excellent judges for the day, Gill Wright, Annie Wales and Hilary Smith, put 30 dogs (18 Labradors, 9 Golden Retrievers and 3 Flat Coated Retrievers) through 5 tests.
The day was fine, not too hot, with a good breeze, ideal for dogs and handlers alike. There were 3 tests in the morning. Test 1 was a mark with shot over a track and ditch falling on the edge of bracken which all dogs did well. Test 2 was a double mark diagonally left and right over a stream, with the second retrieve causing some dogs a few problems. Test 3 was a blind uphill to a fallen tree which again most dogs managed well. Lunch was followed by two more challenging tests; a hunting exercise in long reedy grass and a walk-up with a mark in front and a blind behind. At the end of the day no run-off was required and the awards were presented by Chairman Iris Wright to our very worthy award winners. Many thanks to judges, dummy throwers, stewards and catering team for all their hard work in making the day such a success.

Award winners at the Puppy and Special Puppy

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Judges - Claire Raymond and John Slatter

The Puppy Test saw 17 dogs taken through 4 tests, which were designed to prove the dogs’ ability to mark, hunt, walk to heel, swim and be steady.  The first test was a marked retrieve from water which most did successfully, this was followed by a combined hunting and pickup exercise where they were expected to hunt a given area for 2 dummies, again most succeeded. The third test consisted of a marked retrieve into long grass giving the puppies the opportunity to mark clearly but also having to hunt.  The final test required dogs to walk to heel, recall then retrieve a marked dummy. Again most dogs succeeded, the better dogs showing style and handling ability.

There were 2 dogs competing in the Special Puppy, this was run at the same time as the Puppy Test. The tests were similar to the Puppy Tests but slightly more difficult, the dogs also having to work over longer distances.

Judges - Claire Raymond and John Slatter

Award winners at the Novice Dog/ Novice Handler

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Judges - Claire Raymond and John Slatter

The Novice Dog Novice Handler was run after lunch. A different piece of ground was used for this test, one area a small sapling orchard, the other a large piece of rough open ground. The first test was a double longish mark, which was followed by a mark in the orchard. The mark in the orchard had to be watched carefully as it was diagonal across the planted rows of trees and the handlers had to stop dogs overrunning the dummy. The next 2 tests consisted of a pick up, two blinds to be picked from an area of rough ground and a blind down a track, with the dummy placed in a hedge at the side of the track. We completed the afternoon, which by this time was very hot and muggy, with a water retrieve, allowing the dogs to cool down.

Our last test of the year was our annual Novice and Open Walked-Up Test, held at Priors Norton near Gloucester.  The tests were run on Field Trial lines, with Iris Wright doing an excellent job calling the shots to her efficient team of dummy throwers, which kept judges Judy Rainey and Alex Brain and the competitors on their toes.

The standard in both the Novice and Open improves each year, with six Novices going through to the final round when four dogs were lost right at the end on a marked retrieve on the far side of a ditch, which was picked by the judges.  For those who had  failed for one reason or another, the line carried on giving everyone at least three retrieves while the judges were making up their books at the end of the second round.

The standard of the Open dogs was so high that it took five rounds before the final three were chosen for a run off. In the early rounds, some dogs went out for poor marking in open fields or reluctance to face cover, then the line carried on with crossed retrieves over a long ditch. Finally the line moved into a field of set aside which gave the winning dogs a chance to really shine.

Walked up Novice award winners

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Judges Judy Rainey and Alex Brain

Novice Results

Walked up Open award winners and judges

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Judges - Judy Rainey and Alex Brain