14th October 2007
Riseholme, Lincoln – Gillian Stewart & Cherry Wood
by Kind Permission of Lincoln University Farms
1st – Whittaker’s Torwood Just in Case for Falconcliffe
2nd – Bell’s Dark Samurai
3rd – Jonsen’s Vortex Tornado at Misticmaker
4th – Showell’s Vortex Zephyr by Cleovine
COM – Winder’s Wingthors Charming Miss at Windstock
COM – Colson’s Ch Windyhollows Tumbling Ted JW
The cold game test on October 14″ went off very well though F/C entrants were poor in number again, perhaps because the shooting season had started and quite a few people were picking up the day before and felt 2 days out together was a litle much.
The day was ideal for working dogs being fine and dry with a very light breeze and the sugar beet not being too high.
The judges, Gillian Stewart & Cherry Wood were very pleased with the dogs work and felt there was a great improvement in general field work from previous years. The winner was Elaine Whittaker with Torwood Just in Case for Falconcliffe (Indigo Jim at Lathkill X Mabrian Bellara at Torwood), back on form after the lay off due to Elaine’s serious accident. She was only beaten by a lab entered NFC as it was an open dog, which means the Fc/s are well up to AV standard. 2nd was Pat Bell’s Dark Samurai 3rd Casper Jonson with Vortex Tornado at Misticmaker and 4th his brother Vortex Zephyr by Cleovine handled by David Showel.
2 COM’s were given to Colson’s Ch Windyhollows Tumbling Ted JW handled by Nicky and Jacki Winder handling her own Wingthor’s Charming Miss at Windstock.
After a late lunch those who wanted, could stay for a training session on the snipe, partridge and pigeon that were left and then take any unused birds home for further practice. In the afternoon, because a slightly different part of the field was used the dogs came across live rabbits, which proved a very interesting training session.Gillian Stewart, one of the judges, writes:
Wagging Tails Winter 2007
Sunshine, a field of beet and good scenting conditions set the scene for the Novice Cold Game Test held at Riseholm Park Farms, Lincs on Sunday 14th Nov 07. Eight F/Cs and three Labradors, (non competitors) presented for the first round consisting of two marked retrieves on pigeons. Cherry Wood and myself had an easy time judging as dog, after dog went out with style and confidence and succeeded. Only one dog was lost through failure to pick game, however unsteady heel work gave a couple of competitors palpitations! For the second round, dogs were given one retrieve either a short blind, or a long remembered mark in front. Again the dogs made light of the task and the F/cs were a joy to watch when they struck scent and turned to find the retrieve. It was decided to divide the 3rd round into 2 parts with each dog competing individually. Heel work was assessed during a short walk in the sugar beet. This was followed by a shot acknowledging a pigeon that was thrown from behind a high hedge in an adjoining field. Dogs had to traverse the beet field, work through thick cover, cross a ditch and then work out of sight of the handler to find the bird. To the credit of both dogs and handlers everyone succeeded, but it was here that the eventual winner stamped her mark with a perfect retrieve.
