Harry Running at Scone

Big Kev — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 21:54:02 GMT

Your Photos

Big Kev — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 13:35:13 GMT

Ruby - my little tiger !

Big Kev — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 15:51:00 GMT

Good Times at Lowther

Big Kev — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 15:45:14 GMT

On The Shoot

Big Kev — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 15:43:22 GMT

Storm, Magic and Fern

Big Kev — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 15:40:38 GMT

Storm, Fern and Magic

Big Kev — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 15:36:46 GMT

Retriever Championships Review

Big Kev — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:50:45 GMT

            The IGL Retriever Championship
        2009
                          AT
                   The Blankney Estates
                    Metheringham Heath
                    Lincolnshire
                 by the kind invitation of
                    The Parker Family
                        on
                     Monday 30th Nov
                     Tuesday 1st Dec
                     Wednesday 2nd Dec
Judges ; Mrs Heather Bradley, Mr Hugh Patterson, Mr John Stubbs and Mrs Janet Webb.

Steward of the beat; Mr Terry Stoddard

Chief Steward; Mr Philip Wainwright

This is my account of the Championships only as seen through my eyes over the three days therefore will not be an in depth report but a short review of what I saw and some of my thoughts.
Petwood Hotel, Woodhouse Spa
Sunday ; We arrived at the hotel headquarters on Sunday afternoon and while checking in I bumped into Noel Bailey, last years winner,and I asked what he thought his chances were of winning this year, after telling me how well his dog was running and what a fantastic year he has had, he very sportingly said it was someone elses turn to win ( typical Noel ). As the evening drew on I met many of the competitors and spoke of the three days to come but much of the topic of conversation was about the weather as it had been forcast very bad for day one but should be better for days two and three. So after a few drinks it was early to bed.
Monday ; Up at 6am to take my own dogs out and the first surprise - it wasnt raining ! Then a quick breakfast about 6.30am with Jeannine and Paul from Paul Fench Video who were there for the filming of the championships. Then load up for a short journey to the ground were I pulled up to find a large stubble field were we had to park and then another surprise - it was dry underfoot !
After getting my gear on it was time to have a walk round before the start and wish good luck to all competitors. This year I had quite a few personal friends who had qualified and so I needed to make sure I wished them the best, one in particular Gordon Hodgson, who after trying for many years had qualfied for the first time - his attitude was that he had already fullfilled his dream by getting there .
At the pre-trial briefing we were all introduced to the judges and guns and given some alterations to the running card - 56 dogs had qualified but unfortunately one was not able to run. A quick look through the programme showed that 32 of the dogs running were Field Trial Champions.
Introductions and instructions now given it was time to get down to business. A short walk through a wood brought us to a field of mustard which had been topped ( cut shorter ). The line was made accross half the field with Heather Bradley & Hugh Patterson on the left ( the two H's ) and John Stubbs & Janet Webb ( the two J's ) on the right. Dogs in line were 1 - Mr I Glaister,2 - Mr R T Yeoman,3 - Mr S J Hore & 4 - Mr J W Halstead. I was lucky enough to be in the line at the end on the left - the shout was given to walk on, only a few strides later and the first bird was up "bang" "bang" - missed !! This just reminded everybody that it wasnt just the dogs & handlers that were under pressure but also the guns.
Another few strides and another bird up and this time it was a possitive result - first dog sent. The Championship was up and running. I will not bore you with every retrieve but it was clear that dogs needed a good mark and early scent was not good so dogs struggled to get to the fall were at risk , even last years Champion paid the price in the first round with a bird down on the right ( not this year Noel ! ) Then everything started to flow with plenty of birds and the guns in confident mood we were getting through the card at great pace.
At the end of the first field we crossed onto another field of mustard sown over fodderbeet which again showed plenty of birds.
It was now around mid day and as I looked up to the sky and it didnt look good, there were large rainclouds coming in but after a chat with a gamekeeper in line he ashured me it wouldnt bother us, thankfully he was right !
It was now getting late almost 2pm and we hadnt stopped for dinner, the guns were getting ready for a break and runners started to play a part in procedings both with competitors and the flow of the trial. Time for a break but not until first round dogs were done. At last we returned to base for dinner - not long for a break then back into the field for the second round. We started to cross retrieve now and again good marking was very important if you wanted to progress any further. We finished the day just before 4pm with quite a few of the second round dogs through - back to the hotel.
Tuesday ; Early start again with another surprise from the weather, there had been a heavy frost overnight so it was a mass vehicle defrost before we could set off.
There was approx 30 dogs starting today and we were starting in sugarbeet where apparently there would be quite a few Hares shot and they were not wrong. Moving into the third round we were on two retrieves again - up to now there had been some really good dog work but nothing that really set he Champonship alight , then it happened competitor no 9 Phil Parkin with his yellow dog Twixwood Shooting Star of Fernshot was in line on the left when a cock bird was shot just right of the centre, as it hit the ground it was up and running and Phil was told to send is dog. The dog didnt make the fall straight away and all the time the bird was getting further away infront - but that didnt matter to Shooting Star because as he made the fall he locked onto the line and worked his way 30 plus yards onto the bird which must have thought it was safe and tucked in. The way this dog worked in line was seen by everyone in the line and in the gallery - it was a pleasure to watch , but the drama was not over yet as he returned at pace with a lively cockbird it looked like he stood on the birds tail which flipped him over in a 360 degree somersault and he lost his grip on the bird , in a flash he recaptured the bird and returned to Phil at which point the gallery erupted wth applause. For many , including myself this was the retrieve of the Champonships - pure brilliance by the dog and total confidence in the dog by Phil.
Tuesday ended early at about 1pm and there were only 12 dogs called back for the last day.
Back to the hotel and I spoke to Phil to congratulate him on the retrieve and asked him what went through his mind as he saw the dog working on the line and he answered very phylosophically " I knew I was out if he didnt pick the bird so I let him get on with it ".
Wednesday ; I woke up on Wednesday morning to the sound of rain falling ( great ) we had already had two good weather days so I suppose another was too much to ask for, but as it happens after a wet start the rain stopped and the sky started to clear for another dry day.
There were only 12 dog left for the start of the final day and one of the dogs first in line was Phil Parkin with his yellow dog who was on the left with no 8 Mr T Brain and his lab bitch Rockside May. A woodcock was shot over over on the right and number 8 was sent. Mr Brain worked hard but couldnt get his dog right on the fall , he was called up and Phil was sent - again Shooting Star showed his metal and picked the bird after Phil worked to get him in the area, at this point you had to think that two or more retrieves like that and maybe he could win , but even before the thought had time to sink in a cockbird was lightly hit right over the right hand side of the line - Phil was sent straight away but even as the dog was on his way it was plain to see the cockbird making his escape into the wild blue yonder, Phil tried his hardest to put his dog onto the line and at the point it looked like Shooting Star has started to follow the bird it wasnt to be as Phil was called up and that was the cruel end of his Champonship.While this ws going on there were other dogs going pretty much unoticed Including No 4 John Halstead, no 5 Jamie Bettinson, No 14 Sandra Halstead, No 17 Lynn Mitchell, No 24 John Halstead, No 32 Mr Carville, No 34 Mr S Richardson,
No 36 Mr Wayne Mitchell, No 4 Mrs Hankey, and No 34 Miss A Clarke.
It was soon clear that John Halstead was giving a masterclass in dog handling and where his dogs had not marked a fall he took over and refused to let the dog get out of the area until finding the game.
Dogs were now being eliminated on almost every retrieve and again the cruel world of trailling reared its head when two hen pheasants were shot by the end gun on the left right in front of me. The first dog was sent which picked the furthest bird just out of sight of the handler then no 43 Miss A Clarke with her lab bitch Garron Point Liffy was sent for the second , This little dog just ran over the first bird on the wrong side of the wind and got into the area of the second birds fall where it worked every square inch of the area time and again , with Annette not able to see her dog she just kept telling it to hunt and it did everything asked of it until it was called up ( what a shame )
The day finished with a drive and again John Halstead showed how to handle a dog in cover making it look easy with both dogs and his mother Sandra got in on the act with some very nice dogwork and also keeping his chances alive No 5 Jamie Bettinson was putting in a good performance with consistantly good retrieves.
But unfortunately the day finished with another kind of drama as a gentleman in the gallery collapsed and had to be taken to hospital my best wishes go out to him and I hope he recovers well.
So thats it another Championship comes to an end - but who had won ???
After talking to lots of people whilst walking back to base most people called it right with John Halstead taking first and second with a display of dogwork well worthy of a winner.
At the awards as they read the results in reverse order it was all too much for Nina Johns wife as she broke down in tears and after receiving his awards John was found to be speechless - probably for the first time !!!
Well done John and all the other award winners - and not forgetting all the other competitors , you are all winners !!!!!!!
A full list of Results has already been posted.
Just to finish I would like to say that the hospitality shown by the Parker Family who were our hosts was second to none and the work the keeper and estate staff put in can not go unmentioned.
And finally Thank you to Philip and Chris Wainwright along with other organising comittee for putting on a fantastic Centenary Champonships

Thank you all !!!!!!

Welcome to your blog

Big Kev — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:32:16 GMT

Beechbough Black Magic
Our 7 year old black lab whom over the last 6 years has become the face of Quest.

Retriever Championships review

Big Kev — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:28:34 GMT

        Congratulations

Congratulations to John Halstead for winning the 2009 IGL Retriever Championship at Blankney, Lincolnshire with The Duchess of Devonshires Lab Dog f.t.ch. - Roberto Rannaldini of Bolton Abbey.

FULL RESULTS

1st - (24) f.t.ch. Roberto Rannaldini of Bolton Abbey, lab dog
          Breeder, Mr A.C Stewart / Handler, Mr J. W Halstead
Owner, The Duchess of Devonshire.
2nd - (4) f.t.ch. Cherwood Ace of Spades , lab dog
   Breeder, Ms. C D Finlan / Handler, Mr J. W Halstead
   Owner, Ms. C D Finlan.
3rd - (5) f.t.ch. Levenghyl Peacock, lab dog
   Breeder, Mr P. N Bates / Handler - Owner, Mr J Bettinson.
4th - (14) f.t.ch. Levenghyl Silver Cloud of Drakeshead, lab bitch
           Breeder, Mr P N Bates / Handler - Owner, Mrs S. Halstead.
Diploma of Merit
           (32) Marranscar Black Cap, lab dog
           Breeder, Mr N Harvey / Handler - Owner, Mr N Carville
           (34) f.t.ch. Levenghyl Sun Dancer, lab dog
           Breeder, MR. P.N Bates / Handler -Owner, Mr S Richards

Order your copy of the DVD from Paul French Video at http://www.paulfrenchvideo.com

Quest Gundogs - Kev's blog

Harry Running at Scone

Your Photos

Ruby - my little tiger !

Good Times at Lowther

On The Shoot

Storm, Magic and Fern

Storm, Fern and Magic

Retriever Championships Review

Welcome to your blog

Retriever Championships review