Newsletter 2013 smaller pics

www.wyevalleyretrieverclub.co.uk
Kennel Club No. 2045
Members Newsletter
2013
Your Committee
Mr Brian Lambert, President
Mr Terry Dukes, Vice President
Mr Morton Redpath, Chairman
Secretary (Vacant, position to be filled after AGM)
Miss Anna Yates, Treasurer & Membership Secretary
Mrs Jean Tidmarsh, Training Secretary
Mr Roger Wiggins, Field Trial & Working Test Secretary
Miss Kelly Stringfellow, Assistant Field Trial Secretary
Mr Bernard Pound, Assistant Working Test Secretary
Mrs Julia Redpath
Mr John Jones
Mr David Coode
Mrs Claire Raymond
Mrs Ruth Thomas
Tel: 01432 278331
Tel: 01568 797367
Tel: 01885 482211
Tel: 07976
Tel: 01432
Tel: 01886
Tel: 01886
Tel: 01886
Tel: 01885
Tel: 01386
Tel: 01989
Tel: 01885
Tel: 01886
842245
274527
812653
812322
812329
482211
700443
740296
400765
880868
Dates for Your Diary 2013
Tuesday 2nd April
Annual General Meeting, 7.30pm Plough Inn, Stoke
Lacy
Tuesday 16th April
WVRC training starts
Sunday 12th May
WVRC Novice and Open Working Test,
Ravenhill Court, Lulsley
Sunday 16th June
WVRC Puppy, Veteran and ND/NH Working Test,
Orleton Court, Stanford Bridge
Sunday 14th July
WVRC Intermediate and Novice Working Test,
Ravenhill Court, Lulsley
Sunday 4th August
Herefordshire Country Fair
Tuesday 6th August
WVRC training ends
Sunday 11th August
WVRC Interclub Invitation Working Test, Westhide
Saturday 17th August
WVRC End of Term Test and Fun Day (Date TBC)
Sunday 25th August
WVRC Puppy, Junior Handler & Novice Working Test,
Ravenhill Court, Lulsley, or Westhide (TBC)
st
Friday 31 August
WVRC End of Term Annual Dinner
Sunday 22nd September WVRC Field Trial Training Day, Lulsley.
TBC November
Novice Field Trial, Dunclent (subject to KC approval)
TBC, venue/date
Novice Field Trial (subject to KC approval)
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Training and Membership Fees 2013
Annual Membership
Joining Fee
Training Fee per Dog:
Foundation, Grades 1 & 2
Grades 3 & 4
Adult
Couple
£8.00
£10.00
£12.00
£10.00
£45.00
£30.00
Junior
£5.00
£10.00
£16.00
£11.00
Foundation and Grades 1 and 2 classes will be 1 hour in length, Grades 3 & 4
1½ hours approx.
Members may only handle one dog in a class. Please make sure that you
attend your class with a lead, whistle (attached to a lanyard), dummy bag and
poo bags.
Angela Judge has offered to give picking-up classes at her home in Storridge.
(independently of the Club). They will be on Monday mornings (or evenings if
people are working). 5-ish to a class for a course of 6 weeks at a cost of £40
for expenses. They will not be suitable for young puppies as there will be
plenty of gunfire. The dogs must have basic obedience and 90% steadiness.
First come first served, starting in June and please only apply if you will be
committed and prepared to do some homework! After June, as she will have 2
litters of pups to look after and protect from infection. Email Angela at
judge.shutti@btinternet.com or telephone 01886884243 if interested.
WVRC Items for Sale
Please contact Mrs Jean Tidmarsh at jeantidmarsh@btopenworld.com
Polo Shirt
Baseball Cap
Ladies Scarves
£10.00
£7.50
£13.00
Sweat Shirt
Ties
£12.00
£13.00
Thank You!
The Wye Valley Retriever Club are most grateful to Luke Thompson-Coon
(Westhide), Jane Oliver and her son Mathew (Ocle Court), Clive and Sylvia
Richards (Lower Hope Estate) and Cyril and Shirley Simcocks (Lower Court,
Ullingswick) for allowing us to use their land for training purposes. Without
this generosity and kindness we would not be able to continue, so thank you
very much for this wonderful opportunity and privilege.
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Future Events
Dates and venues of the Wye Valley Retriever Club Working Tests are in this
newsletter. The Field Trial Training Day and Field Trial(s) schedules and entry
forms will be sent to members and posted on our website. Please do check
the website regularly for details of our events.
Please photocopy the entry form printed in the centre pages of this newsletter
if you require more than one copy and cannot download further copies from
the web site.
Club Finances & Membership
We have had a profitable year again, which is all down to the tremendous
support of members, whether taking part at events or helping, and the
generosity of our hosts in allowing us to use their land, and our sponsors in
providing prizes.
As a result, the committee feels able to continue with membership fees at the
same level as last year, despite rising costs.
The proceeds from the raffles at our events this year have been donated to
local charities, namely the County Air Ambulance Trust and Acorns Children’s
Hospice, Worcester.
More than 80 dogs took part in our training series this year and over half of
these came to the end of term test/fun day with hog roast lunch. As last year
it was really good to be able to give something back to club members and
provide this as a free event. I was pleased to see that the dogs appeared to
have been practicing their teddy retrieves beforehand!
We now have around 270 members/joint-members, which is a fantastic
achievement. Nearly half of you, however, still want club communications in
the post but the cost of this is becoming a real problem, quite apart from the
time it takes stuffing all those envelopes… Please, if you can, give us an email
address to use instead – and remember to let us know if you change it too.
Around a third of members are still paying their annual sub by cheque. Please
do consider moving to standing order as it makes the administration of subs so
much easier. There is a standing order mandate on the website for you to
download or please contact me for one.
I hope you all have a successful 2013, whatever you are doing with your dogs.
Anna Yates, Treasurer and Membership Secretary
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Chairman’s Report
It is an honour and a pleasure to be the Chairman of The Wye Valley Retriever
Club as it is such a wonderful club to be a part of. We have had many letters,
emails and telephone calls this year to congratulate us on our events, these
kind words and messages have been most welcome and I would like to thank
you all very much for them.
I would also like to thank the Committee for their nonstop hard work and
commitment to the club. As soon as one event passes us by your committee
are meeting to plan the next and as I’m sure you will appreciate, much time
and thought goes in to our working tests, trials, inter club tests,
demonstrations, training days and evenings. Your committee freely and
willingly invite you to all these events and work hard to ensure that you enjoy
them.
Thanks must also go to those members not on the committee who have helped
at our events throughout the year, we welcome club members to join in and
offer their support in any way feasible as there is always such a lot to do.
Your help along with your successes and enjoyment is what gives us the
incentive to carry on and sustain the values of the Wye Valley Retriever Club.
Finally I would like to say how nice it has been to see some new faces in the
club this past year and I would like to welcome you all and wish every member
a successful and pleasurable training year ahead.
Morton Redpath, WVRC Chairman
Secretary’s Report
Well it has been a busy year for the Wye Valley Retriever Club! I have taken
on some of the duties of club secretary for just over a year now and have been
welcomed by all. I would particularly like to thank Anna Yates for all the
support she has given me over the past months. This year the club has 263
members and all training classes were fully booked. We have had a number of
working tests and trials and an Interclub Invitation Working Test hosted by the
Wye Valley Retriever Club which was this year held at Westhide. Our
dedicated committee have all put in a lot of time arranging various events;
the club's popular fun scurry went ahead at Herefordshire Country Fair despite
the inclement weather. The End of Term Test and Fun Day was once again
held on Claire and Roger Raymond’s ground and was a fantastic day enjoyed
by all with the formal tests in the morning and the fun stuff in the afternoon!
There was one particular fun test which all dogs enjoyed thoroughly, maybe
that's because it involved sausages! But as usual all of these events take a lot
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of organising and would not be possible without those members who rally
round and give up their time to help.
I would finally like to say I hope everyone has enjoyed another successful year
and I look forward to see you all in 2013.
Jo Stannard, Secretary
Field Trial and Working Test Secretary’s Report
Once again the time has come to put pen to paper, to prepare a report for
2012 season of working tests, the interclub test, field trial training day and
two novice field trials.
Firstly the working tests, these again proved very popular, with the venue at
Lulsley on three occasions by kind permission of Mr Ron Treverton Jones, and
a day of tests at Orleton by kind permission of Tom and Amber Spilsbury. All
the days were well attended and very successful, mainly due to the amount of
help given by club members and in particular assistant working test secretary
Bernard Pound. Thanks to all the judges, dummy throwers, stewards, and all
those who helped with the raffle, drinks, lunches, and last but not least our
sponsors Skinners.
Interclub Team Invitation
This year we held the tests at Westhide by kind permission of Luke, who made
us most welcome and kindly presented the awards. The day went very well
although we only had four teams competing instead of the usual six teams.
Field Trial Training Day
The field trial training day was held at Lulsley in a field of fodder beat by kind
permission of Mr and Mrs Martyn Cook. The ground proved very testing for the
dogs; hopefully both dogs and handlers gained something from the day. Thanks
to all those who helped, guns, judges, stewards, all who placed game, Kelly
for the lunch, and all those who helped clear away, and especially to Mathew
for the game.
Novice Field Trial, Dunclent, 8th November 2012
A full report by Kelly Stringfellow appears later. I would like to take this
opportunity to thank our host Mr Michael Gough for his very generous support
in giving us a field trial, which went very well. We received a lot of very
positive feedback from the competitors who said how much they had enjoyed
the trial. Michael has asked me if we would like to return next year, there
could only be one answer! [yes please]
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I would like to thank the judges, guns dog stewards and all who helped to
make a very enjoyable day, and in particular Kelly Stringfellow, our assistant
field trial secretary.
Novice Field Trial, Batsford Park, 13th December 2012
Our second novice field trial was held at Batsford Park by kind permission of
Lord and Lady Dulverton, and their gamekeeper Mr Mathew Farmer. The trial
was very successful and again a full report appears later.
Mathew and his team produced some very testing birds for the guns who were
invited to shoot and who shot very well. They received high praise from the
judges, handlers, and the gallery, and even John Jones which is high praise
indeed!
I must again thank Kelly Stringfellow for all her help in sorting out the entries,
chasing competitors, typing programmes and running orders etc.
Thanks also to Ruth Thomas for the wonderful food, to Helen Goodwin, chief
dog steward, to Claire and Judy the judges’ dog stewards, to Nick and John
the game carriers, to our judges, to chief picker up Doug Pitcher, to our
markers, and finally to John Jones for placing the guns.
Roger Wiggins, Field Trial & Working Test Secretary
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Bumper Boy Training Day
Wye Valley Retriever Club’s first event of the year was a “Bumper Boy”
training day on the 10th March.
This was held by kind permission of Roger and Claire Raymond at their ground
near Bromyard, Herefordshire.
The day consisted of groups of 4 handlers and their dogs, each with varying
levels of experience.
Four layouts were set up, with 3/4 of an hour allocated at each so that the
trainers had plenty of time to help any handler and dog if there were any
problems.
The first exercise was run by Roger Wiggins, John Jones and Terry Dukes. It
consisted of a Bumper Boy “seen” over a hedge. The idea here was to make
sure the dogs crossed the barrier of the hedge via a gap to retrieve. Then
there were blinds put out to the right, left and behind the handlers.
The second exercise was run by Claire Raymond, Mick Downes and aided by
Claire’s husband Roger. To teach the dogs to retrieve over a double fence and
steep ditch, a dummy was thrown and the dogs were sent from the first fence,
then, as they got familiar with the ditch, the dogs were started from further
back. After the initial retrieve, a blind was put across the ditch and a seen
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Bumper Boy to the right. The dogs had to fetch the blind first and then the
seen. The seen was a long way from the handlers, down a steep slope and up
the other side which can be disorientating for the dogs but with a little help
all of them achieved this goal.
The third exercise was run by Julia and Morton Redpath and consisted of a
seen Bumper Boy into some trees and a blind to the right of the handlers, and
a seen thrown into a fenced circle to the left of the handlers through a gate
and down the field about 50 yards away. The dogs seemed to want to jump
into the circle and out the other side instead of back the way they entered,
but with careful handling all dogs achieved their goal.
The fourth exercise was run by Killy Pennell and Steve Prosser and was a seen
Bumper Boy, with blinds to the left and behind, and a seen and blind through
a gate to the right. Each dog did the 5 retrieves consecutively and then had
to sit and watch until their turn came around again. Some dogs were not
willing to go through the gate at first, especially for a blind, but this was all
good practise for the shooting field as that scenario can very often happen on
a shoot.
After a very successful morning we all congregated for a lovely lunch prepared
by Ruth Thomas assisted by Kelly Stringfellow. After lunch all the handlers
were given goody bags provided by the club with additions from Sporting Saint
and Chandelle Kennels (Kelly Stringfellow).
Thanks to all the committee members for organising the event and to Claire
Raymond, John Jones, Killy Pennell and Roger Wiggins for the loan of their
Bumper Boys.
Anna Jones
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Wye Valley Retriever Club Spring Test
Wye Valley Retriever Club’s first working test of the year for AV retrievers was
held at Ravenhill Court, Lulsley, by kind permission of Ron Treverton Jones.
Our tent came out of its covers for the first time in many months, the tea urn
was dusted off, and with an entry of 40 novice dogs for the morning and 39
open in the afternoon, a busy day was in store.
The judges were headed by John Jones, assisted by Alex Badger, Tony Stanley
and Mathew Farmer. Field Trial and Working Test Secretary Roger Wiggins
was in charge of the day, with his trusty team of helpers covering everything
from catering, stewarding, dummy throwing and scoring. Without this team,
as both Roger and the judges reminded competitors in the briefings, no test
day can take place so very grateful thanks go to them all (including Roger!).
Dogs and handlers were presented with four tests. For the novice dogs, test
1, judged by Matt, consisted of a mark in an open field, with the dummy
falling just into ‘cover’ provided by a fallen tree. A blind was then signalled
by shot through a gateway into a wood at 90’ to the mark. The blind needed
to be retrieved first. A track ran from where the competitors stood to the
gateway, which assisted the dogs but a number then baulked at going through
the gateway into the dark of the wood. I am sure Terry Dukes, putting out the
blinds, will not take it personally!
Test 2, judged by John, was set at the lake. A shot was fired then a dummy
was thrown a little way into the water in front of the competitors, and then,
turning 90’ again, a blind hidden just off the path around the lake was
required first. Apart from the usual difficulty of dogs wanting to collect from
the water first, the wind was blowing away from the lake meaning dogs that
just followed the track round tended to miss the blind, they needed to get
slightly below the track further away from the water to wind it.
Test 3 was judged by Alex and held in the area below the lake. Handler and
dog stood at one post, a mark was thrown, and then handler and dog walked
away from that post to one further back so that their heel work could be
assessed. The dog was then sent for the mark but a sheep-netting fence
needed to be jumped to achieve the retrieve. A number of dogs did not have
the confidence to do this jump. For those that did, a blind was then put into
a similar place to the mark and retrieved second.
Test 4, judged by Tony, was a picking up exercise, with 2 dummies required
from 3 out. The dummies were hidden in scrubby grass in front (with quite a
few thistles!). A shot was fired from the side of the wood that was to the left.
This wood was a potential draw for dogs. The best dogs took a line straight
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out and back the twice needed and did not deviate by taking the easier path
alongside the wood and then cutting back into the field!
1st was Killy Pennell with Kilpen Pinoccio, 2nd Gill Wright with Movenne Arrow
of Greyhill, 3rd Mrs. A Baker with Pinedale Oliver, 4th Simon Hagain with
Skeviot Topaz. C of Ms went to Laraine Goodwin with Movenne Hermes, Sue
Parkes with Tanjin Sharapova and Gavin Traynor with Coatesholme Bay of Ager
Venator.
Novice, l to r: 3rd Mrs. A Baker , Judge Tony Stanley, 4th Simon Hagain, Host Ron Treverton-Jones, Judges Alex
Badger and Mathew Farmer, Working test sec. Roger Wiggins, Judge John Jones, C of M Gavin Traynor, 2nd
Gill Wright, Cs of M Sue Parkes and Laraine Goodwin, 1st Killy Pennell.
For the open dogs in the afternoon, test 1 was the picking up exercise, this
time in a wood. Alex was judging and he set the scenario of a gun having
been where the handler and dog were now stood and the gun had indicated he
had had three birds down further into the wood (across a bit of a ditch),
conveniently all around a certain tree with a white plaque on it! Why does
that never happen when one is really picking up! Again competitors were
required to get 2 of the ‘birds’ only.
Test 2, judged by Matt, was a blind in the wood, indicated by shot, but dogs
needed to cross an upward sloping field first and then jump a fence (again on
the uphill) into the wood to achieve the retrieve. Reluctance to make the
jump proved the downfall of a number of the dogs.
Test 3 was set on the lake and judged by John again (he was allowed to leave
the lake for lunch!). A dummy was thrown into the lake a fair distance from
the dogs but not far into the water (to tempt a run-around!) but after it had
been thrown a blind was required to be retrieved first from behind a sheepwire fence. There was no shot to indicate the blind. Again the naughty dogs
could not resist the water first…
Test 4 was with Tony. Competitors were stood on a grassy path dividing two
areas of field with a small wood 150 yards in front. To their left, a dummy
launcher was used to send a mark 150 yards towards the left hand side of the
wood, into sparse set-aside type cover. A blind was required to be retrieved
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first, from a grassy headland that came out from the wood to the right, into a
cultivated field. This test caused quite a lot of difficulty. Dogs ran out into
the field rather than sticking to the grassy headland, disappeared into the
wood, or got drawn irretrievably by the wind to dummy launched mark.
1st was Nigel Probert with Penderyn Welsh, 2nd Claire Raymond with
Levenghyl Beetle, 3rd Mary Jarrod with Lilleburne Torrs Gold, 4th Julia
Redpath with Shuttifield Gracon. C of Ms went to Robert Fisher with Paid In
Full, Claire Raymond with Levenghyl Torino, Doug Pitcher with Kilpen Domino
and Mary Jarrod with Lilleburne Ripple Reed.
Open, l to r: 3rd and C of M Mary Jarrod, C of M Robert Fisher, Host Ron Treverton-Jones, judge Mathew
Farmer, Working test sec. Roger Wiggins, Judge Tony Stanley, 4th Julia Redpath, 1st Nigel Probert, Judges
John Jones and Alex Badger, 2nd and C of M Claire Raymond, C of M Doug Pitcher.
The worthy winners only dropped 6 marks in the novice and 8 in the open,
with the placed dogs not far behind. Congratulations to them all.
Thank you to all competitors taking part for supporting the tests, for being
such a cheerful bunch and for so efficiently moving from test to test to keep
the day running. The judges sat down promptly at 1pm for lunch, the Open
started promptly at 2pm, so well done!
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Wye Valley Retriever Club Summer Test
The Wye Valley Retriever Club held its second series of working tests of the
season on 24th June 2012 at Orleton Court, Stanford Bridge, near Worcester,
home of the Noverton Shoot, by kind permission of the Spilsbury Family.
Classes were for Puppy, Novice Dog, Novice Handler and Veterans. An extra
award was included for puppies under 12 months on the day of the test.
Four tests were planned for all three classes, and these ran concurrently.
Tests were similar for each, but including extra difficulty as appropriate. A
big thank you goes to our sponsor; Skinners Pet Foods.
Judges for the day were Terry Dukes, Dennis Heath and Roger Wiggins. The
first three tests involved a blind retrieve across the pond, a blind retrieve
down a track and through a gate way making sure you didn’t lose your dog in
the window of opportunity and a marked retrieve in the orchard but you had
to pick the blind first. With just three judges the fourth test was overseen by
all three judges after they had completed their first test individually. This
fourth test was on the lake, a steadiness test. The judges were looking for a
clean entry in to the water and a good delivery from the dogs. The main
business including results and presentations was thus finished by lunch time,
allowing judges and helpers to have a leisurely lunch for once!
Results
Puppy
1st Sandra Onens with Kestrelway Freddie, 2nd Mark Pittaway with Kestrelway
Ziggy, 3rd, and winner of the under 12 months award, Deana Cornforth with
Mucklehart Gracie, 4th Debbie Polly with Gillhays Sage. C of Ms went to Mike
Cox with Cuttlestone Othello, Dave Clayton with Little Ava of Klato, Morton
Redpath with Hassycott Whistlefish Fin and Debbie Polly with Gillhays Sage.
Novice Dog, Novice Handler
1st Keith Fowler with Fernshot Zodiac, 2nd Fran Spencer with Crystalstream
Black Velvet, 3rd Carolyn Jenkins with Skeviot Starlite, 4th Peter Boxhall with
Brindlebay Flo. C of Ms went to Catherine Gilder with Donnanview Vesta,
Karen Vere-Hodge with Willconnor Velvet, Sandra Mead with Tanjoy Grevillia
and Paul Hutton with Greenhill Willow.
Veteran
1st Norman Onens with Ravensthorpe Izzy, 2nd Doug Pitcher with Kilpen
Domino, 3rd Julia Redpath with May Ebony, 4th Laurie Pittaway with Pieris
Debutante. C of M, Christine Robertson with Silver Thuja.
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Puppy, L to R - Judges Dennis Heath and Terry Dukes, C of M Morton Redpath, 3rd and U 12 months winner
Deanna Cornforth, C of Ms Mike Cox and Dave Clayton Host Amber Spilsbury, 2nd Mark Pittaway, 4th and C
of M Debbie Polly, 1st Sandra Onens, Working Test Secretary/Judge Roger Wiggins.
Novice Dog/Novice Handler, L to R - Judges Dennis Heath and Terry Dukes, C of Ms Karen Vere-Hodge,
Sandra Mead, 3rd Carolyn Jenkins, 1st Keith Fowler, C of M Catherine Gilder, Host Amber Spilsbury, 2nd Fran
Spencer, 4th Peter Boxhall, Working Test Secretary/Judge Roger Wiggins.
Veteran, L to R - Judges Dennis Heath and Terry Dukes, C of M Christine Robertson, 3rd Julia Redpath, 2nd Doug
Pitcher, 1st Norman Onens, Host Amber Spilsbury, 4th Laurie Pittaway, Working Test Secretary/Judge Roger
Wiggins.
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Inter-Club Competition
The competition was held on 5th August 2012 at the Westhide Estate, in
Herefordshire by kind permission of the trustees. As last year the venue was
different from the Hereford Country Fair as they were again unable to give us
sufficient ground to hold the competition. The judges for the day were Mr
John Jones and Mr Terry Dukes.
There were four teams taking part by the invitation of WVRC, each team being
made up of two novice dogs and two open dogs. These comprised of the
Labrador Club of Wales – Julian Price, Don James, Vickie Prichard, and Nigel
Probert; The Usk Valley Working Gundog Club – Roger Tozer, Jonny Morris,
Craig Perry, and Paul Hobbs; The Worcestershire Gundog Club – Peter Ward,
Pat Dixon (2 dogs) and Ann Colley; The Wye Valley Retriever Club – Angela
Judge, Steve Prosser, Claire Raymond and Julia Redpath.
The dogs were judged over four tests that had been set to a high standard by
Roger Wiggins. Unusually, although the weather was overcast for most of the
day, we experienced a very heavy downpour during the water test and had to
stop and wait for it to ease off as the dogs were unable to see the dummy on
the water. Following completion of the tests the prizes were presented by
the Estate’s owner Luke Thompson-Coon who had been present during part of
the day to watch the competition. The winning team were the Wye Valley
Retriever Club, second were Labrador Club of Wales, third were
Worcestershire Gundog Club and fourth were Usk Valley Working Gundog Club.
The top scoring dog of the day was Steve Prosser with his dog Pip (Croftferry
Acorn) for the Wye Valley Retriever Club.
Left, The WVRC team and host. L to r Steve Prosser, Luke Thompson-Coon, Angela Judge, Julia Redpath, Claire
Raymond. Right Steve Prosser with his top dog trophy.
Thanks must go to the judges, John and Terry, Roger for setting the tests, the
Estate for allowing us to use the land, and the team of stewards, dummy
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throwers, and the ladies who supplied the catering. We now look forward to
defending our title next year against the other teams.
Hereford Country Fair 2012
The Fair was held for the second year running at Whitfield Estate. Heavy rain
through June and July put the actual running of the fair in serious doubt.
However a site meeting was held two weeks before the event and the
landowner, the site manager, chairman and secretary decided to go ahead.
The weather was fine when all the infrastructure was put in but the morning
of the fair proved to be a different story. Torrential downpours during the
morning made the conditions under foot extremely wet and slippery. Cars
were getting stuck in the car park. The afternoon was better and the team
that ran the scurries from the club were busy. A big thank you to all the
members that helped on a difficult day.
Jean Tidmarsh
Summer Novice and Intermediate Working Test
Sunday 22nd July saw a day of sunshine (after all the rain) to hold the Novice
and Intermediate tests at Ravenhill Court, Lulsley, Worcestershire by kind
permission of Mr R T Jones.
Judges for the day were Terry Dukes, Mike Larkin, Ian Glover and Dave Brown.
There were 4 tests. Test one for the Novice was 2 straight marks, one to the
right up a hill over a ditch and the other up a track and in a gateway straight
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ahead, sending the dogs for the one on the right first. For the Intermediate it
was a blind on the hill with the mark as for the novice, again the blind to be
fetched first. Given the lack of scent at that time most dogs managed the
test well.
Test 2 was a double mark for the Novice, the first into a plantation of trees
ahead and the second in the water to the left of the dog. The first dummy
thrown had to be retrieved first but several dogs couldn’t resist the lure of a
nice swim on the first proper summer’s day of the year!!! Those that
succeeded on the plantation retrieve were rewarded with a swim for the
second retrieve. For the Intermediate, it was a blind into the plantation at
longer distances than the Novice and then the retrieve from the water. In this
test some dogs found it hard to go beyond the scent of the old falls from the
novice test. Some 20 geese had ringside seats from the lake to witness some
Olympic size leaps into the water!!!
Test 3 for the Novice was a mark and a blind in the same place into long
scrubby grass bordered by a copse on one side and a muddy track alongside a
field of maize on the other. Although really hot by now there was a slight
breeze to help the dogs. For the intermediate test, there was a blind out in
the long grass and a distraction mark was thrown into the maize field. The
dog was instructed to pick the blind in the grass and then a second blind from
the same area (placed whilst the dog was retrieving the first blind). Some
dogs detoured into the maize field, especially on the second blind, and
required some directions but most managed the test well. It was awesome for
the steward watching the dummy thrower Mick who had to retrieve the
distraction himself each time, being able to chuck dummy into the crop and
then retrieve it without any hesitation was a skill in itself!!
Test 4 comprised of a short walk-up before a straight mark into weeds and
long grass. This provided a good hunting exercise for the dogs, with the
length of the retrieve extended for the Intermediates, such that dogs had to
go past the earlier falls. It was surprising how many dogs got the wrong side
of the wind and could not see their handlers over the long grass so it was
indeed a true simulated picking up exercise.
Again a special thanks to all the dummy throwers and stewards who kept the
dogs out of the hot sun whilst awaiting their turns and to the committee for
putting on a lovely lunch for the judges and helpers, and a special thanks to
Roger Wiggins who devised the tests.
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Results
Novice
1st John Cornforth with Otis Sunset Shadow, 2nd Angela Judge with Shuttifield
Kinnairdy Joy, 3rd Simon Hagain with Skeviot Topaz, 4th Tom Powell with
Quadrey Kestrel. Cs of M went to Gill Awty with Maddistream Purple Lake, E
Davis with Damson of Ivy Rock, N Dutton with Creccamarsh Hill Billy of
Artistryn and Christine Robertson with Cleodale Alyssa
Novice l to r: 3rd Simon Hagain, Host Ron Treverton Jones, Working Test Secretary Roger Wiggins, Judges Dave
Brown and Ian Glover, C of M N Dutton , 1st John Cornforth, 4th Tom Powell, Judges Mike Larkin and Terry
Dukes, 2nd Angela Judge, Cs of M Christine Robertson and E Davis.
Intermediate
1st John Jones with Consgrove Blitz, 2nd Simon Hagain with Skeviot Emerald, 3rd
Claire Raymond with Levenghyl Torino, 4th Denise Smith with Castlemans Kiwi
Timara. Cs of M went to Anna Jones with Bengalbrook Starbuck of Chemsell,
Sally Morewood with Hackie Sack Hattie, Laurie Pittaway with Chrystalstream
Black Beauty and Peter Ward with Holy Ludo.
Intermediate l to r: 4th Denise Smith, 3rd Claire Raymond, 2nd Simon Hagain, Host Ron Treverton Jones,
Working Test Secretary Roger Wiggins, Judges Dave Brown and Ian Glover, C of M Sally Morewood, Judge
Mike Larkin, 1st John Jones, Judge Terry Dukes, Cs of M Anna Jones, Peter Ward and Laurie Pittaway.
19
End of Term Test and Fun Day 2012
Wye Valley Retriever Club’s End of Term Working Test and Fun Day for 2012
was held at New House Farm, Winslow, Bromyard by kind permission of Claire
and Roger Raymond.
43 dogs that had taken part in our Tuesday evening training programme
through the spring/summer came forward to tackle six formal style tests in
the morning and four of a rather less formal nature (but still loosely with a
gundog training theme)in the afternoon.
Everyone had been divided into teams. Since this was our very own
“Olympics”, the teams were named after some of the many GB gold winners –
Ainslie, Brownlee, Ennis, Hoy, Murray and Trott. Each team comprised roughly
the same mix of Foundation, Grade 1, Grade 2 and Grade 3 dogs. Exact mix
and where some teams had one fewer member did not matter to the scores
since an average % of a possible maximum were used to decide the team
result.
The judges were Roger Colver, Mick Downes, Terry Dukes, Veronica Harris,
Angela Judge and Felicity Stevens. Claire Raymond judged the Sausage Bob in
the afternoon.
Teams moved round from test to test as a group, cheering each other on and
helping with the dummy throwing. Running as teams meant people got to
know members of the club other than their own training class and enabled
those with less experience to see what they might be aiming for with their
own dogs by watching the dogs of higher grades.
Test 1, judged by Angela, was a hunting exercise in a plantation, where dogs
were rewarded for showing natural hunting ability, rather than the handler’s
ability to whistle the dog onto the dummy.
Test 2, judged by Terry, was a double mark. Each mark was up a track, and
the tracks were separated by trees/cover, which assisted the less experienced
dogs. The distance was increased with each grade. The second mark for
Grade 3 dogs was particularly difficult as it was thrown through tree.
Test 3, judged by Mick, was a mark followed by a blind in the same place.
This was down a track for the Foundations and Grade 1s, but over a ditch and
then over a double jump for the Grade 2s and Grade 3s.
Test 4, judged by Roger, was a blind. Grade 3 dogs had to go down a track
and then jump a fence to the left to collect the blind, ignoring a second blind
to the right. Wind direction helped to make sure the right dummy was picked.
Grade 2 dogs were allowed to collect either, Grades 1 and Foundation a
simpler exercise still.
20
Test 5, judged by Veronica, was mark into a plantation over a fence, with a
distraction. Distance increased with grade of dog.
Test 6, judged by Felicity, required good heelwork along a track up to a gate,
the dog to sit while the gate was opened, and then heel through the opened
gateway. A mark was then thrown down the field – the fall could not be seen
for grades 2 and 3 due to the contour of the land.
After six tests, a well deserved lunch was served, a delicious hog roast
provided by a local butcher. Competition then resumed, with tests of a rather
different nature…
Test 7, with Angela on the stop-watch, was a heelwork exercise, otherwise
known as an egg and spoon race! Competitors were required to negotiate a
line of small jumps, bend around cones, sit the dog, get through a hoop
themselves, cross the finish line then call up the dog, as fast as possible.
Test 8, with Terry on the clock, was a hunting exercise – 4 points per teddy
retrieved from a grassy bank, as many as possible in one minute!
Test 9, with Mick in charge, was our closet selection process to find more
dummy throwers for club events! Points were awarded for those who could
get their two dummies thrown over target lines.
Anna & Rica on the “egg” and spoon
race.
Bernard’s Eve ran “not for competition” (only 7
months!), but she certainly did enjoy herself.
Test 10, with Claire on the stop
watch, was the most popular with the
dogs – a sausage bob (obedience
test??!!). Dog and handler heeled up
to a bucket, a sausage was dropped
in, the dog retrieved the sausage,
handler returned to the start and
called the dog back. Naughty dogs
finished eating the sausage before
returning, earning slow times. Good
Sausage bobbing. Rica was not one of the fastest
21back,
Flatcoats do not eat and run at the same time!
dogs ate on the move. Three exceptional dogs returned to their handlers with
the sausage still intact!
Whilst the competitors then enjoyed tea and cake, furious calculations were
done. Sorry it does take a while, but things that make the team event less
worrying for the less confident like dropping a team’s lowest score on each
test mean it is more complicated.
Final thanks were given to Claire and Roger Raymond for hosting the event, to
the judges, to those who had come to help or had helped with preparation.
The team results were as follows:
1st Team Trott
92.1%
Jon Stannard (Ace), Kath Lifely (Bess), Ken
Harris (Ashe), Jane Pilling (Islay), Bella
Brown (Poppy), Carol Raven (Amber)
2nd Team Brownlee
90.9%
Anna Yates (Rica & Ragley), Steve Prosser
(Pip & Indie), Haydn Ebrey (Chula), Anthony
Winnington (Tarka)
3rd Team Hoy
85.8%
Stan Tippins (Amber), Sonia Skinner (Drift),
Annabel Elliott (Linnet & Alfie), Portia Trow
(Charlie), Michael Warden (Swift), Jo Milner
(Michael)
4th Team Ennis
85.3%
Jean Tidmarsh (Quince), Anna Jones (Jim &
Arrow), Penny Witcombe (Wigeon), Mike
Dunnett (Daisy), Pat Horlock (Juno),
Llywelyn Price (Fern), Dan Masters (Ziggy)
COM Team Ainslie
84.6%
Glennis Ebrey (Drummer), Alison Kieran
(Bertie), Sara Bowie (Bailey), Nick Swan
(Jess), Claire Sutherland (Ginny), Stephen
Braithwaite (Inca), Alexandra Winnington
(Otto)
COM Team Murray
83.9%
Ruth Thomas (Maisie), Barrie Redding
(Rosie), Sheena Price (Billy), Margaret Owers
(Tia), Chris Peers (Broden)
The individual results were as follows:
Foundation
1st Bella Brown (Poppy), 2nd Chris Peers
(Broden), 3rd Llywelyn Price (Fern), 4th Dan
Masters (Ziggy), COMs Carol Raven (Amber),
Jo Milner (Michael)
22
Grade 1
1st Steve Prosser (Indie), 2nd Jane Pilling
(Islay), 3rd Pat Horlock (Juno), 4th Claire
Sutherland (Ginny), COMs Michael Warden
(Swift), Stephen Braithwaite (Inca), Portia
Trow (Charlie)
Grade 2
1st Anna Yates (Ragley), 2nd Ken Harris
(Ashe), 3rd Penny Witcombe (Wigeon), 4th
Margaret Owers (Tia), Sheena Price (Billy),
COMs Anna Jones (Arrow), Haydn Ebrey
(Chula)
Grade 3
1st Steve Prosser (Pip), 2nd Jon Stannard
(Ace), 3rd Anna Jones (Jim), 4th Sonia
Skinner (Drift), COMs Alison Kieran (Bertie),
Anna Yates (Rica)
Comments from members on the fun day…
Well, just like the real Olympics, the day was very well organised, perfect
venue, competitive but fun, and the volunteers who helped it all to happen
were also worthy of the title “Games Makers”.
It was my first experience as a novice handler in a test situation and although
Amber and I were “The Weakest Link” in our Gold winning team we learnt a
lot and would like to congratulate everyone who took part. Well done to all.
I hadn’t realised how much human participation was a factor in the afternoon
“fun” part of the day – bit like the triathlon with many different skills being
tested! Speed, stamina and strength were required from us humans but the
dogs got the sausages and toys! All good fun though.
Good luck to all members taking part in forthcoming events.
Carol Raven
Yesterday was great fun and a good opportunity to meet other members of
the club. Thank you for all the effort you put in.
Alison Kiernan
Late Summer Working Test
The Wye Valley Retriever Club held its last working test of the season, for
Novice dogs, Puppies and Junior Handlers, on Sunday 19th August at Ravenhill
Court, Lulsley, Worcestershire by kind permission of Ron Treverton-Jones.
The event was sponsored by Skinners Dog Foods.
23
Judges for the day were Claire Raymond, Julia Redpath, Roger Wiggins and
Roger Colver. The weather for the day was relatively fine, although as has
been so common this year, the black clouds threatened rain in the morning.
Forty dogs were entered for the Novice tests held in the morning, although
five had to be withdrawn after coming into season. Test 1 was a mark through
a gate with a blind further back than the mark. This caused a few problems
for the dogs as they had to be pushed back past the fall of the mark which
they had retrieved first. Test 2 comprised a heelwork exercise followed by a
mark and a blind, with the mark being to the right of blind. Again with the
breeze as it was, some dogs were scenting the mark when they were near to
the blind and veering off towards it - which took some handling to get the
dogs to return to the correct area of the blind. Test 3 was a mark into the
lake to the handlers’ left and a blind in front, fetching the blind first. Test 4
was a double hunting exercise with firstly a blind in some long cover in front.
When that one was retrieved, a second blind was sent for to the right within
some trees.
Nineteen puppies entered for the afternoon tests had somewhat different
tests. Test 1 was a two dog walk-up with a marked retrieve, Test 2 a
heelwork exercise followed by a fairly long marked retrieve, Test 3 a marked
retrieve from water and Test 4 a mark/hunting exercise in long grass.
Just four Junior Handlers contested their tests, which were in the same
locations as the puppy tests, but rather more complex, adding blind retrieves
to the format.
Results
Novice
1st Dave Gallimore with Gallifield Riverbank Flush, 2nd Denise O'Reilly with
Locharn Las, 3rd Laraine Goodwin with Movenne Hermes, 4th E Davis with
Damson of Ivy Rock. COMs went to Karen Vere Hodge with Willconnor Velvet,
Lesley Jones with Harsett Foil and Sue Parkes with Nordenlights Yucatan.
Puppy
1st Lisa Harris with Gortons Blackthorn Lad, 2nd Morton Redpath with
Hasseycott Whistlefish Fin, 3rd Steve Prosser with Croftferry May, 4th Alison
Portlock with Gillhays Thyme. COMs went to Debbie Polley with Gillhays Sage,
Caroline Jones with Elamendral's Mannow, Paul Green with Slipside Ebony and
Charlotte Drake with Kerrimitch Islay.
Junior Handler
nd
1st Saskia Barnes with Castlemans Kiwi Timara, 2 Natasha Currill with
th
Swinbrook Harvey, 3rd Chloe James with Stillastar Storm, 4 Olivia Plant with
Premierleek Tempting King of Oncote
24
Novice, l to r. Judge Claire Raymond, C of M Karen Vere-Hodge, 2nd Denise O’Reilly, Judge Julia Redpath, 3rd
Laraine Goodwin, 1st Dave Gallimore, 4th E Davis, Host Ron Treverton-Jones, Judges Roger Wiggins and Roger
Colver, Cs of M Lesley Jones and Sue Parkes.
Puppy, l to r. 2nd Morton Redpath, judges Roger Colver and Julia Redpath, C of M Paul Green, 1st Lisa Harris, C
of M Caroline Jones, 3rd Steve Prosser, Host Ron Treverton Jones, 4th Alison Portlock, Cs of M Debbie Polley
and Charlotte Drake, Judges Claire Raymond and Roger Wiggins.
Junior Handler, l to r. 3rd Chloe James, judges Roger Colver and Julia Redpath, 1st Saskia Barnes, 4th Olivia
Plant, 2nd Natasha Curril, Host Ron Treverton Jones, judges Claire Raymond and Roger Wiggins.
Just a note to say thank you for another friendly, fun and extremely well
organised day. We had a lovely time and appreciate all the time and effort
that had to be put in, to make it such a pleasure to attend.. Also thanks to
the judges, who put us at ease and gave superb feedback.
Grateful thanks to everyone, with kind regards, Sandra Mead.
25
End of Term Dinner
The End of Term Dinner was held at The Riverbed Restaurant, Fownhope at
the end of August. Seventy-four people including guests sat down to dinner.
The food was superb and the atmosphere was happy and relaxed.
The Chairman Morton Redpath made a short speech thanking the landowners
for allowing the club to either train or use their land for trials or tests.
Awards were given to the handler/dog in each class who had made the most
progress during the training classes.
The raffle together with an auction made nearly £200. The proceeds went to
Acorns Children’s Hospice in Worcester.
Finally Morton wished everyone an enjoyable shooting season.
Junior Handlers Demonstration, Chatsworth Estate,
Derbyshire
On behalf of the Kennel Club, Phil Smithers has been inviting the Wye Valley
Junior handlers to demonstrate at Chatsworth Estate for six years now. I’ve
really wanted to go to Chatsworth to help them but up until now have never
made it. This year it was held on a Saturday 1st September 2012 instead of
the usual Friday, which meant that not only could I go but the children
weren’t at school and they could get their parents and dogs to go too!
I was kindly given a lift by Roger Wiggins and we picked John Jones up on the
way. They made for interesting ear wigging!
When we arrived I gave the junior handlers a Wye Valley Retriever Club Tshirt, kindly sponsored by the club. John set the trend and wore his like a
26
badge of honour and pulled it on over his pale blue shirt. Needless to say the
children followed suit. John and Roger called them all up for a practice run in
the field where we had parked. Not everybody knew each other and it was at
this point I noticed a couple of little WOBBLES. PANIC was starting to set in
and there was FEAR in some eyes. To top it all Roger and John were looking
very scary!!!! We gathered round in a little huddle and I explained that Roger
and John were pussy cats really and we were all there to have some fun.
Roger was able to put them ease, John smiled and then everything was alright
again.
We all set off towards the river and arena ready for our 12.30pm
demonstration, half the group went over the bridge towards the crowd and
the other half stayed on the river bank ready to face the crowd. Stuart Currill
threw dummies with outstanding precision as usual; Stuart also helped the
juniors who were working their dogs on the opposite side of river bank to us.
Roger did a fantastic commentary but sadly the commentary box was miles
away from the handlers and their dogs. John set up the exercises for the dogs
which included very impressive retrieves across the river. I threw dummies
and put out some blinds
and helped the junior
handlers. We were very
impressed by the tenacity
exhibited by the handlers
and so were all the onlookers. They really did
pull in a crowd.
After the demonstration
children
who
were
spectating were invited in
to meet the dogs and
handlers and ‘have a go’
From left to right: Cyrus Carefoot, Sascia Barnes, Rosie Chattaway,
themselves. This proved
Natasha Currill, Chloe James, Olivia Legard, Mr. John Jones, Mia
Treadwell, Olivia Plant, Jessica Trotter and Charlotte Tilson.
to be most popular, it
was a fun ending to the
demonstration. Rosie Chattaway said “It was a lovely day and such a great
atmosphere. It was an amazing experience for us to perform in front of an
audience as lots of people came and watched us”.
Alpha dog food kindly sponsored a goody bag for everyone which went down
really well.
Julia Redpath
27
28
Annual Field Trial Training Day
Wye Valley Retriever Club once again held a Field Trial Training Day on
Saturday 22nd September 2012, at Alfrick, Worcestershire, by kind permission
of Mr Martyn Cook. Judges/trainers for the day were Mr John Jones, Mr Terry
Dukes (both A Panel judges), assisted by Mr Matthew Farmer. Steward of the
Beat was Mr Roger Wiggins. Chief Steward was Mrs Ruth Thomas, with Judges’
Stewards Mrs Julia Redpath and Mrs. Sonia Skinner.
Trainees, helpers and officials pose before the start of the day.
The day was run as a walked up trial, using cold game (partridge and rabbit).
Throwers for the day were Mr Stan Tippins, Mr Peter Boxhall and Mr Alex
Badger.
The Guns, Mr Morton Redpath and Mr Bernard Pound, were
particularly impressive, they didn’t miss a thing! (I know, it’s an old joke!!)
It was a beautiful sunny day with a slight breeze. All 25 places had been
taken with only 1 having to pull out at the last minute, so 24 dogs and
handlers got ready to be put through their paces under the beady eyes of the
judges. Everyone was reminded that it was a training day and that no-one
would be eliminated, advice would be given, and handlers would be able to go
forward and help their dogs if necessary.
The 1st round began and we all moved forward into the sun and breeze, with
two retrieves for each dog, a straight mark in front at approximately 35 yards.
The cover was very thick tall fodder beet which proved challenging to both
dogs and handlers. One particularly petite handler was heard to declare that
she wished she was 6 feet tall! Despite the warm sunny day, the beet was
cold and damp with no scent, so dogs and handlers had to mark everything
exactly. Two dogs on the right failed to pick, and so the dogs on the left were
brought across enabling Judy Lunt’s Jopestel Kite of Muirdrum to eyewipe
them both. The youngest dog on the card, just 15 months old, John
Parkinson’s Chandkelan Victoria, made a beautiful job of her first retrieve,
marking it exactly, but then stumbled on her second.
29
The 2nd round consisted of either a mark in front or a blind behind, with the
swirling breeze now coming from behind. Again, many of the dogs found the
cover tough, and the most common problem seemed to be keeping them in
the area.
Once the 2nd round was completed, a buffet lunch was provided back at the
tent, and 3 hours of walking through that thick cover had built up a few
appetites! It was a lovely chance to sit and rest weary legs and chat in the
beautiful September sunshine.
After lunch, it was back to work and the 3 rd round. Because no-one was being
eliminated, it was again 1 retrieve per dog because of time constraints, either
a mark in front or behind. 4 dogs failed to pick the first retrieve, giving
Georgina Herrmann’s Dealminster Hornet the chance to eyewipe them all.
After the 3rd round, the judges got together to compare notes, after which
they decided to take the top 6 dogs through to the 4 th round. It was decided
that this would be a drive, with all 6 dogs in line and off the lead while the
guns and throwers simulated a drive approximately 80 yards from the dogs.
All the shot game fell on open ground, which meant the dogs had to leave the
cover of the fodder beet and hunt the open ground. Each dog was sent in turn
for a retrieve and some dogs were reluctant to leave the cover and hunt the
bare ground. Once all the dogs had been sent for a retrieve (some failed to
pick and were called up) the judges declared the ‘trial’ over.
Back at the tent, Mr John Jones spoke on behalf of the judges. He reminded
everyone that the cover and lack of scent had made conditions extremely
challenging and remarked that some of the top dogs in the country would have
struggled. They were also particularly impressed that out of the 24 dogs, only
3 had run in. Our Field Trial Secretary, Mr Roger Wiggins gave the final sumup, thanking the host, judges and all the helpers, and hoping that everyone
had enjoyed the day and found it useful.
John Jones gives his thoughts on the day.
Assistant Field Trial Secretary Kelly Stringfellow
making the tea.
30
The general feedback was that they had, although one or two had found it
very slow going. But that’s trialling. Sometimes there is an awful lot of
waiting around, and then suddenly it’s your moment, and you and your dog
are either still in, or you are on the bus home!
Comments were also passed to me about the quality and freshness of the
game, so many thanks to Roger and Matthew for organising that.
No awards were given as this was a training day, but the judges declared that
if it had been a trial, the following placings would have been awarded:1st
Georgina
Herrmann’s
Lab
dog
Dealminster Hornet
2nd
Jane Beach’s Lab bitch Blackthorn
Button
3rd
Mike Jones’s Lab dog Cynhinfa Jarmen
of Wallniago
CoM
Steve Prossers’s Lab bitch Croftferry
Acorn
CoM
Margaret Owers’s Lab bitch Bobbielou
Swingtime Tia of Mektowers
Well done to you all, and finally, many thanks
to everyone who helped and participated to
make it such a very very enjoyable day.
Georgina with Dealminster
Hornet
Kelly Stringfellow, Assistant Field Trial Secretary
Dunclent 12 Dog Novice Field Trial
The Club held its first Novice Stake of the season at Dunclent Farm, Stone, Nr.
Kidderminster, Worcestershire on Thursday 8 th November 2012, by kind
permission of Mr and Mrs Michael Gough. We are extremely grateful to them
for their support and generosity.
Guns for the day were Mr Michael Gough, Mr Colin Stevens, Mr Roger Rowe, Mr
John Walters, Mr Roger Kendrick, Mr Richard Needham and Mr Mark Stinton.
Judges were Mr Brian Gregory (A) and Mr Matthew Farmer (NP) on the right
and Mr Mike Larkin (B) and Mrs Claire Raymond (NP) on the left.
Chief Steward was Mrs Sue Hutton, with Judges’ Stewards Miss Kelly
Stringfellow on the right and Mrs Margaret Owers on the left.
Game carriers were Mr John Parkinson and Mr Nick Swan and markers were Mr
Terry Dukes, Mr Morton Redpath, Mr Steve Prosser and Mr Mick Downs.
31
Our judges and host. L to r Mathew Farmer, Brian Gregory, Mike Larkin, Claire Raymond, Michael Gough.
Field Trial Secretary Mr Roger Wiggins introduced the judges and host, Mr
Michael Gough who welcomed everyone to the farm, and wished them an
enjoyable day.
The first drive was duck, with the guns split in front of the farmhouse and in a
field to the left. All 12 dogs were in line in the left hand field, while the
beaters pushed the birds through woods and a large lake. The birds were
falling in front of the dogs, and also in front of the farmhouse and in the
garden. One duck fell into the small paddock behind the house early on in the
drive. Towards the end of the drive, it got itself up and made its way down
the paddock into a thickly covered brook separating the paddock from the
field. The judges had spotted it and as the whistle went, Ken Whitehouse’s
Brockamin Tolly was sent. He had obviously been watching it too, and made
an excellent job going straight to it. Anthony Griffiths’ Callowhill Blackthorn
also made a nice job of picking a runner during the drive.
Several birds had fallen in front of the house, and the dogs were sent across
the field and through a gateway. All were pulling to the right and had to be
handled through the gateway to some extent. Once all was cleared, we
moved to the second drive.
Again the guns were split, with the right in a stubble field and the left in the
next field separated by hedgerows, small wooded areas and a lake. The birds
were driven through cover crops of maize and kale.
Unfortunately two dogs were eyewiped by the judges on the left for failing to
pick a bird from a deep ditch.
On the right, one of the guns informed us of a hen pheasant in the middle of a
narrow strip of kale. Dave Clayton’s Klato Duke was sent and found the fall
but did not pick, giving Clare Bakers’ Meadowstock Dove the opportunity of a
very smart eyewipe, getting to the fall quickly, into the nearby hedge and out
with the bird.
32
On the third drive the birds were pushed through a strip of woodland with a
small lake at the end. The guns were in a semi-circle around the end of the
wood and lake. Right hand judges were out in an open field, whilst the left
were in the orchard next to the lake. On the right, Richard Edwards’ Lordrye
of Knowle for Lovehayne made a tidy job of retrieving a duck mid drive which
came down in the open field approximately 100 yards to his left.
At the end of the fourth round, there were six dogs left in the running. Three
were taken forward for a fifth round for birds down
along the left of the wood.
The trial was then declared over and we made our
way back to the farmhouse for the awards.
Our host presented the awards, which were :1st and Guns Choice, Simon Hagain’s Skeviot Topaz
2nd,
Veronica Harris’s Shuttifield Judge at
Sollershope
rd
3 ,
Clare Baker’s Meadowstock Dove
CoMs, Julie Kelvie’s
Streamcombe Tavy and
Richard Edwards’s Lordrye of Knowle for
Lovehayne.
Congratulations to Simon Hagain and Skeviot Topaz.
They received the Flamank Field Trial Cup for 1st
place and the Warringah Trophy for Guns Choice.
Mr Gough thanked everyone for coming, and said
how much he and the other guns had enjoyed
having the club at Dunclent.
He then very
generously invited the judges and helpers into the farmhouse for lunch. Our
sincere thanks to Mrs Jane Gough and daughter Helen for organising the lunch.
Award winners, guns and officials, l to r - John Walters, Brian Gregory, Matthew Farmer, Claire Raymond,
Mike Larkin, Clare Baker, Veronica Harris, Simon Hagain, Michael Gough, Colin Stevens, Richard Edwards,
Roger Rowe, Richard Needham. C of M Julie Kelvie missed the photograph.
33
Our very grateful thanks to Mr Gough and his team of guns. The guns had
watched the proceedings all day, and comments were made that it was lovely
to see guns taking such a keen interest in the dog work. Thanks also to gun
Mark Stinton for organising the beaters who also enjoyed watching the event.
Many thanks also to gun Mr Roger Kendrick for supplying prizes for the
winners, courtesy of Sporting Saint. Thanks also to Roger Skinner Ltd who
once again sponsored the event with prizes and certificates. We are always
very grateful for their support.
Finally huge thanks to the Judges and everyone who came along and helped to
make it such an extremely successful day.
Kelly Stringfellow Assistant Field Trial Secretary
Batsford 16 Dog Novice Field Trial
Our second novice stake of the season was at The Batsford Estate, Moreton-inMarsh, Gloucestershire on Thursday 13th December 2012, by kind permission of
Lord and Lady Dulverton, who also donated the birds at their expense. Once
again, our very grateful thanks to them for their generosity.
We all assembled at the Estate Office, where everyone was welcomed by Field
Trial Secretary, Mr Roger Wiggins, who then introduced Steward of the Beat,
Mr Matthew Farmer. Everyone was introduced to the guns, Mr Peter Gardner,
Mr Alex Badger, Mr Frank Banham, Mr Paul Gillet, Mr Darren Tidball and Mr
Roger Wiggins.
Judges on the right were Mr Phil Garton (A Panel) assisted by Mr Jim
Chattaway (NP), and on the left Mr Mike Larkin (B Panel) assisted by Mr Dave
Brown (NP). The competitors were split into two groups, 1-8 on the right with
steward Clare Baker, and 9-16 on the left with steward June Ellam. The Chief
Dog Steward was Miss Helen Goodwin. Chief Picker Up was Mr Doug Pitcher.
Handlers and beaters travelled on the trailer, whilst the guns, judges and
stewards went in their own vehicles.
The first drive was Worcester Approach, and the guns took up their positions.
The judges had decided that all the dogs would be in line during this drive,
with the dogs on the right sat between guns 1-2 and on the left between guns
5-6. Roger Wiggins confirmed that the Judges were ready and then gave
Matthew Farmer the signal to start the drive. The birds were well presented,
most being very testing targets, and the Guns dealt with these quality birds as
you would expect from very good game shots.
Once we had about 16 birds on the ground, Matthew held the drive, to allow
the judges to make a start getting this game picked as quickly as possible due
to the very cold weather.
34
Once most of the shot game had been retrieved, Matthew suggested we
continue the drive as he was trying to hold birds together. The judges were
informed and once they had their dogs in position, Roger gave Matthew the
go-ahead to
continue.
Once
the
drive
was
complete,
the judges
moved the
dogs
and
handlers to
give
some
distance
between the
handlers and
the
shot
birds.
Guns, officials and award winners, l to r back row Roger Wiggins, Phil Garton, Peter
After
a
Gardner, Darren Tidball Paul Gillet, Dave Brown Jim Chattaway, Frank Banham, Alex
Badger, Mathew Farmer. Front Row Jean Fisher, Pat Dixon, Ann Colley, Mike Larkin,
short
Alastair Ross.
while, the
judges asked if they could leave the remainder of the birds as they thought
the game was getting cold and also there seemed to be very little scent. Dogs
that had already been put out of the trial then assisted Doug in collecting up
these birds.
We moved to Scoulles Lane to make a start on the second drive and the third
round, at which point the judges decided that only 8 dogs would go forward.
10 birds were shot during this drive, 2 were picked by the judges, the
remainder were picked by the dogs.
We then had a small drive off Rook Hill which produced enough game to
complete the trial.
The result was as follows:
1st & Guns Choice Mrs Pat Dixon’s Westhala Image Dallick
2nd
Mrs Ann Colley’s Nobsquinton Primrose
3rd
Mr Robert Fisher’s Rocky Lane (handled by Mrs Jean
Fisher)
CoMS
Mr Alastair Ross’s Delfryd Tywi, Mr Mike Jones’s Cynhinfa
Jarmen of Wauniago.
Roger Wiggins Field Trial Secretary
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Canine Massage and The Gundog
Careful breeding, knowledgeable training, regular exercise, optimum
nutrition, and prime living conditions….What more could your dog need??!!
Well, if you think of your dog as an athlete, and then consider the amount of
physical effort they have to put into the work they do, you’ll see where I’m
heading!
Gundogs have a job to do and quite often can be working whilst carrying an
injury, but are reluctant to show pain/discomfort because the desire to work
and please you is so strong. And it’s when the injury becomes impossible to
work with that the signs start to show – lameness/limping, unwilling to jump,
not coping with a full days work, subdued, lost that ‘spark’. Ok, back to being
an athlete – think of a fell runner as a comparison to your dog’s workload
(forget the retrieving for a minute!). Assuming that the runner is fit for
purpose in the first place, they would have extra clothing on before the race,
warm up by having a gentle
jog, swing their arms
around to get the blood
pumping, and rub their
muscles and shake their
legs before stripping down
and
racing.
And
afterwards, doing the same
in reverse to cool down. If
fell running’s not your
thing, watch the race
horses on telly warm up
and cool down.
Cold
muscles tear much more
easily.
Warm your dog
up, cool your dog down.
Now, your dog has over 700
muscles which attach to
the bones via tendons; the
ligaments hold bone to
bones, thus enabling joints
to have a range of
movement
without
dislocating. The gundog is
using all those muscles to
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the max - then add in the periods of waiting, sudden bursts of acceleration,
challenging terrain, thick cover and often in cold wet weather and you can see
how injury happens.
When a muscle tears, it is called a strain – depending on the severity of the
injury, many muscle fibres are torn and repair by laying down scar tissue.
This scar tissue reduces the elasticity of the muscle, and therefore that
muscle becomes shortened. This affects how the dog uses that particular
muscle and so has to use other muscles in a different way to overcompensate.
So whilst there may be an injury in the right hind leg, for example, there will
often be overcompensation in the back and shoulder muscles.
Canine Massage Therapy is a deep manipulative massage that works by
breaking down scar tissue, releasing hyper irritable trigger points and breaking
down adhesions – all of which improve the flexibility of those muscles. It
prolongs the working years of your dog and shortens recovery time after
injury, so great as a preventative measure as well as treating injuries.
A few things to look out for:
Lameness/limping, reluctance to do things they used to be happy to do, both
in the field and at home, ( e.g. jumping into the back of the car), twitching
when you stroke them in certain places, stiffness, loss of focus or ‘sparkle’.
And things you can do:
Warm up beforehand and cool down after working, get your dog checked out
by a qualified Canine Massage Therapist.
Helen Clarke runs 3 Counties Canine Massage Therapy and holds clinics near
Malvern, Worcestershire and near Leominster, Herefordshire. Home visits also
available.
A Tribute to Rick
Charging up the radios the other day in preparation for the final week of
picking up I started to think of the events of the past 12 months.
Again I wish to thank Wye Valley Retriever Club for the training classes held
over the summer of 2012 and for the tireless advice given by the trainers to
help individuals, especially if they had any problems with their dogs.
All our dogs have worked hard during the picking up season and mine I know
have earned a few weeks rest before training classes begin again.
I am hoping this year to pursue my love of Snowdonia and am planning on
taking some hikes and climbs with the dogs during the Spring and Summer.
This week has been hard for me having had to put to sleep our oldest Labrador
"Moosonee Moris of Adfa (Rick). He was 13 years old. He was the second Lab
we had owned ---fetching him from near York on New Year’s day 13 years ago.
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His breeders were Paul and Sonia Clayworth (Sonia won the Game Bird of the
year award in 2012).
Rick gave us a lot of pleasure over the years and was second in a novice class
at 10 months old and soon became an open dog and won us many awards over
the years.
He did a few picking up days last season but this year his arthritis was so bad
he spent his days by the Rayburn in the warm. He had deteriorated so much
in the last two weeks a decision had to be made.
It is hard for every one of us who own and love our dogs and we all know that
every so often we are going to lose one of them.
I shall be picking up this last week with "Rick" beside me in thought,
remembering the drives he did and birds he retrieved.
Anna Jones
Field Trial Trophies
The Club owes our grateful thanks to Hillary and Duncan Brymer of Agrigame
UK Ltd for their very generous sponsorship in 2012 of a new silver cup for our
field trials.
You may remember from the last
newsletter that in 2011 we were
very fortunate to have a silver cup
donated by Kerry and Martin
Flamank of Bromyard Veterinary
Surgery and also a bronze partridge
from Anthony Legge of Legges of
Bromyard.
In 2012 we were lucky enough to be
able to hold two novice stakes, and
because of the generosity of our
sponsors, we had a silver cup and a
bronze trophy for each trial.
In 2011 the Flamank Field Trial Cup
went to Mrs Pat Dixon with
Boddelwyddan Knight, and the
Legges of Bromyard Trophy for Guns
Choice to Mr Tony Stanley with
Tuscaloosa Indian Runner.
This
year it was the turn of Mr Simon
Hagain, after winning our Dunclent trial with Skeviot Topaz, to take home the
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Flamank Cup, along with the Warringah Trophy (kindly donated by David and
Carole Coode) for Guns’ Choice.
Pat obviously didn’t like the space left
on her sideboard, and so once again
won our Batsford trial with Westhala
Image Dallick! This time she went
home with the Agrigame Field Trial
Cup, and also the Legges of Bromyard
Trophy for Guns Choice. This means
hers is the first winner’s name on each
new silver cup, quite an achievement!
Well done Pat!
As the cups and trophies have to be
returned by the winners, it was decided
the winners should also receive
something to keep. Cut glass tumblers
engraved with the club’s logo were
duly organised and presented at the
awards, and the recipients were
delighted with them.
Finally, thanks once again to Agrigame
UK Ltd, and all our sponsors. Your
generosity is very much appreciated.
Kelly Stringfellow, Assistant Field Trial Secretary
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