field trialling

[pegleg31]

Yesterday i went along to the dukeries open field tial for springer spaniels at kneesal nottinghamshire to have a look at what was involved and to see how far my dog was off of running.I went along with Mark Whitehouse who was running 'helmsway harry' and as i know a few people involved with the running of the event i ended up carrying the shot game behind the judge's so got a better look at the dogs working .

 

The day opened with a few speachess from the secretaries,the shoot captain and the land owner as this was the 21st year the trials were held at this event,after which we headed to a smallish wood of about 10/12 acre's.On entereing the wood thing's looked promissing,the cover looked good(brambles that had beed managed all year round and quite low to the ground,fallen tree's,brashing's and small bushe's).The gun's lined up,2 either side of the handlers and one more each side of them out in the fields.Off they set hunting their dog's .the handlers dog on my side was quite slow and he was having to give it alot of whistle to get it working in a nice pattern and it was a bit hesitent to go into thick cover.We walked about 150yds(to the clubs surprise) before the first flush.Bang bang,Bang bang the guns missed .As soon they'd missed a bird got up on the other side,Bang bang Bang bang :o .Those guns missed also,so both dog's had a flush but no retrieve.So off they set agian,another 30 or so yards and both dogs had had both their retieves and the next handler's were called 40 or so yards later and they'd completed their first run.The guy on the right having had 3 retrieves.Next up was a bloke who'd travelled up from birmingham,he only had 20yds or so to go before we ran out of wood so off we set into some cover strip and rough grass.Two sets of maize strips with some rough grass in the middle,so the handlers were plced either side of the grass and told to work their dog's in the grass and maize.Off we set and the bloke on my side got his 2 fush and retrieves 20/30yds in.So he was swapped over,the new handler's dog worked nice in the grass but he was turning it quickly in the maize .I saw why as we came to the end of the maize,as soon as the dog was out of sight it did it's own thing .We ten moved onto a small strip of rough grass about 6ft wide, i thought but was amazed at how many birds were flushed.the other handler was on another side of a thick hawthorne/blackthorne bush.We did'nt have to go far before he'd completed his first run and another handler was in.Poor bloke did'nt go far before his run was ended,he flushed a dark cock bird and intead of sitting ran on .Well i was interested to see the next handlers dog work as it was Mark Whitehouse,not long after he set off he was called to the other side to pick a blind long retrieve that the other handlers dog had failed to retrieve so was put out.Mark handled his dog well and picked the bird.Back on our side of the fence he worked the remainder of the gras up and then moved into another maize cover crop.Just as we set off a bird was flused and shot on the other side(Marks brother was the handler).Andrew had a hard time working his dog as it was impossible to see in the maize and after a while was told to call his dog up.Mark was called over but could'nt find the bird either so off set the judges who came back shortly after empty handed,but andrew was put out?(i found out later tey thought he used to much whistle ).Mark came back over and soon completed his first run.His brother was up next on our side with another dog and did'nt have to go far before he'd completed and there was only one more before all the first runs were complete and it was time for a cuppa and a sandwhich .

 

After we'd had a rest and i'd emptied a very heavy game bag , we moved back into te wood to bring the other side down.The handlers swapped sides so the other judge could watch them work their dogs and i'd get the chance to se Simon Tyers work his dog.Afew dog's were put out on this run ,woodcock being the main culprit and failingto retrieve them :o (i soon asked the shoot captain for some fresh ones ).After we brought the wood down Simon and Mark were called for a run off for first and second place after which we headed back to the cars for some more proceedings and the results.

 

Simon Tyers won it with Mark Whitehouse coming second,personally some of the results did'nt ring home but to be honest i'm no judge so i kept my thoughts to myself.

 

All in all i had a good day,all the competitors were very friendly and were very easy to talk too.I came away with the conclusion that there's alot of luck involved with trialling.Obviously your dog has to be good enough in the first place, but the cover you work,the guns(being able to hit things,and the guns today were terrible ) and the birds can all make your life alot easier or harder but i suppose thats the fun.

[darren m]

sounds interesting mate . i would love to go along to watch (is it invites only ) . is there going to be another.

 

whats your verdict then mate on the dogs and handlers overall

 

Darren

[pegleg31]

sounds interesting mate . i would love to go along to watch (is it invites only ) . is there going to be another.

 

whats your verdict then mate on the dogs and handlers overall

 

Darren

 

 

dogs and handlers are great to watch and are all very much top of their game,it's completely differnet to beating as the dogs are controlled for a start :yp:.and all comes down to how hard the dogs hit the cover,how they hunt it and how they're handled.plus the luck that they get on their run

 

as for going to watch?, i'm not sure.i think you may have to be a club member or go along with someone who's either running or a club memeber or invitied to help out.maybe someone will be able to advise better on this?

[PERCE]

You need to join the clubs, getting an invite to help isn't usually a problem as they tend to struggle. Getting in the line a game carrier is the best way to see the action. You don't need to go that often to realise that although luck on the day is a factor it's not difficult to see that the top dogs have had some serious time & effort put into them.