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Finally finished a trial!

27/10/2014

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Yesterday (27/10/14) I took part in my 10th trial with Fern, the Gwynedd Spaniel Club Novice Cocker stake on the Maer Shoot in Staffordshire. It was another early morning wakeup call at 4:30am, and a long trip down the M6 sat in rush hour traffic.

I arrived at Maer around 8:45am and collected my arm band from Jane the secretary, before getting my boots and jacket on before the brief. Simon Tyers and Kelly Ward were the judges for the day and we were swiftly on our way. I was drawn at number 12 so had quite a long wait. The early dogs started in a valley bottom with nettles, thistles and sieves scattered amongst the trees and it wasn’t long before they were into game.

From this valley bottom, next up were two 8m wide field margins either side of a hedgerow which produced quite a bit of game for the dogs, with a couple of dogs going out for failing on a retrieve. The hedgerow carried on up a hill towards a narrow strip of woodland.

It was here that I was called up to back up number 10. It was a nice bit of woodland with bramble and fallen trees, ideal spaniel ground and from the sounds of things there was plenty of game to be found judging by the number of shots going off. Number 10 was having a nice run and flushed a pheasant which was shot inside the wood but unfortunately the dog failed to pick it and I was in.

Kelly Ward called me up and told me to wait as they were also changing dogs on the other side. As soon as we were ready to go I cast Fern off into some thick bramble and away we went. She was going really well, smashing into the bramble and taking a nice pattern either side towards the two guns. After approximately 50 yards I saw her up a gear again and went into some thick bramble, popped back out and sat. I knew she was indicating something and in she went again, this time producing a hen bird which went forward. I couldn’t believe it when the gun missed it and he apologised. In fairness he did drop a rather large branch which thankfully I wasn’t asked to pick!!

We carried on and the cover in the bottom of the wood started to thing out under the pine trees and Fern started to take in a little more ground due to the lack of cover. As we came to the end of the wood Fern went out of the hedgerow into a field of mustard. I called her back but she couldn’t find a way back through the hedgerow due to the way it had been cut and laid. So it took a few whistles to get her back to me.

Kelly told me to hold her there until the right hand side had caught up before we clambered through the hedge into the mustard field. At this point two shots rang out on the right hand side of the line and the dog and handler had gone back to try and pick a runner which had landed in the field and run back into the wood. 

A few minutes later and we were called over to try for the same bird. We got to the area where Simon was and he gave us a very vague mark of where the bird had come into the wood and were told to systematically hunt the area out to try for the bird. I cast Fern out and let her get on with it. She was hunting well and I cast her again in a different area, and again once more to cover a 180 degree circle. It was to no avail and Simon and Kelly walked out to try and find the bird. After a nervous few minutes they returned and I breathed a sigh of relief.

We then went back out into the field of mustard and started to work down another field margin. Fern was smashing through the cover and it wasn’t long before she flushed two birds out of the end of the hedgerow, a cock bird being shot maybe 15 yards further on. She had sat steady and Kelly told me to send her. I thought this would be a straight out and back as the bird looked dead in the air. She immediately went to the area of the fall, however she was out of my sight in a bit of a dip, hidden by the edge of the hedge. 

The next minute 12 or more birds got up in all directions. I put the stop whistle in and she sat up, before I called her back into the area. Again she pulled forward and because I thought the bird was dead I called her back. Nothing. Kelly said call her up and the dog on the other side was tried. Also to no avail. We were then told that the bird had got up and ran into the field margin on the other side of a gateway, and if our dogs found it in that area (approx 5 yards from two fence posts) then we’d be out. “Great” I thought!

We hunted the area through and Kelly said that’ll do, call her up and put your lead on. I thanked her and returned to the gallery to give Fern some water as she was shattered. Despite being the end of October it was still very warm. The two dogs carried on hunting down the hedgerow and after about 30 yards the dog on the right came back with a dead cock bird. Simon joked “Did I say 5 or 50 yards” which brought great amusement to the stewards and handlers! I looked across to Kelly and jokingly wiped my brow as a hint to how lucky I’d been!!

The dogs carried on hunting the hedgerow and it was literally 5 minutes before I was called over to back up to Joe Shotton. This guy’s still going at the grand old age of 91 and it was a pleasure to watch him working his little golden dog. At the end of the hedgerow he was called across to the other side to try for a bird the other dog had failed on. He eventually reappeared around the end of the hedge with the bird after completing a successful eye wipe.

That was Joes run done and I was back in. I had a small length of field margin and hedgerow to hunt before we moved ground into some thick, tall thistle like cover. Simon showed me where my beat was to be as we were going to come back down the other side of the cover. Fern again was going really nicely, crashing through the sieves and thistles and it wasn’t long before she flushed a cock bird which unfortunately didn’t present a shot.

We carried on and it was obvious she was starting to tire a little, yet she still tried her best to push through the cover which was getting thicker still. All I needed was a retrieve. The next minute I heard a shot and looked up, Fern had sat two yards from me. A pigeon was spiralling down towards me and landed between me and the dog, that close that my coat was splattered with blood!

Simon said it was too easy for my dog, and at two feet away from her I would agree haha, so the other dog was given the retrieve. I was impressed she’d remained steady to the fall of something so close. We hunted on, desperate for a retrieve, however game was not there and Simon called me up, saying we couldn’t run her into the ground. 

Relief, I’d finally finished my first field trial!! I was elated and went to the back of the gallery to make a fuss of Fern. I was a little disappointed that we didn’t have a retrieve as I was sure that I couldn’t receive any awards without testing the dog’s mouth. To be honest the rest of the trial was a bit of a blur as I was so happy to have finished.

Once the trial was over and we’d made our way back to the cars we were called over to the lodge for the presentations. The awards are detailed below, however I was awarded Guns choice. I was chuffed, it was a little consolation for not being able to gain an award.

All four guns came and spoke to me and commented on how well Fern had gone, and that she was unlucky not to have had a retrieve. The keeper then came over and said that if he’d have been shooting, she’d have been his pick too. Hearing that 5 guys liked the way she had gone was reassuring and made me even happier at finishing the trial.

Kelly Ward also came over and said that I was only a retrieve away from gaining an award and to not give up on the dog as she’s going to win a trial soon. It was nice to hear this positive feedback and Kelly was open with her book, telling me I had an A? because of the lack of retrieve and also when Fern couldn’t get back through the hedge at the end of the wood. Simon had given me an A- so I wasn’t too far away, if only she’d picked the cock bird up, but with all the live birds getting up, I’m guessing there was a lot of scent about making it difficult for her to take a line.

The journey home seemed a lot quicker this time around, and the feeling is definitely better than wondering what if, why etc like I had on my last 9 trials!! I’ve finally got a dog I which I can say is trained to Field Trial standard, which was the goal I set myself almost 3 years ago. Now it might well be time to end on a high!

1st: Not awarded
2nd: Whitebeam Frost Pocket – Wayne Parrington
3rd: Chyknell Pippet - Joe Shotton

COM – Selwick Cove Sally – M Buckley

Guns Choice – Creechdale Phoebe of Amberquest – Scott Mossop
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Noooooooooo!

23/10/2014

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Yesterday (23/10/14) I took part in the Lothian and Borders Gundog Association Novice Cocker Field Trial. It was exactly one year to the day since I ran in my first ever field trial on the same ground 12 months ago. The weather was a little better this year, however it was still quite windy, but I’ll take that over the rain we had last year.

My alarm went off at 3:45am and I reluctantly got up and sorted the other dogs out before loading the car up and setting off at 4:30am to begin the near 4 hour drive to Cranshaws Estate, near Duns in the Scottish borders. The M6 was quiet at that time of the morning so I made good time (including a stop at Greggs for a bacon sarnie!) and arrived at the meeting place at 8:30.

After a chat with some familiar and new faces, Frances Brooks called us over to go through the introductions etc. Judges were Alec Coutts and Ian English. Once the introductions were done we were straight into the trial in a sieve field, exactly the same ground as last yer. I was running at number 12, last year I was 13 and the field hadn’t yielded a large head of game the previous year, so I was expecting to run in the same sort of area as last time.

However the early dogs were soon into game and with the strong wind, the dogs on the right hand side were having a lot of retrieves over a fence into woodland with standing bracken, proving to be testing conditions. A couple of dogs went out early for running in, and one for taking a little too long to pick up a hare, needing the handler to give it more encouragement than permissible. I was a bit worried about the hares as Fern was still yet to have seen/retrieved one.

I was soon backing up Darren Skidmore who was running in a dense patch of tall bracken. His little dog flushed a single bird which was shot in the wood over the fence to his right. After lifting the dog over, it soon had the bird back to hand. Darren carried on hunting and a flush of about 10 birds emerged from the bracken, the gun swiftly taking down a cock bird, again in the wood. Alec Coutts shouted over to Ian English as to whether he wanted the retrieve, which he did, and Ray Whittam was called over. He again disappeared into the wood with his dog and emerged with the bird.

That was Darrens run over and I was in. Alec said he was happy to let me work the ground between my two guns and take my time. We started in the tall bracken Darren had just finished in and worked up to a fencline where we were to pivot to our lefts as the line was doubling back on itself to work down the other side of the sieve field.

Fern was going really nicely. She was taking in a lot of ground, maybe 15 yards both sides to each of my guns and was holding a nice flat pattern. She upped another gear when we entered some bracken and out popped a rabbit. She took a couple of paces to watch the rabbit around the side of the bracken and I instinctively shouted “Ey!” (training mode!) but she’d already sat up. I thought that was me out, and went to grab my lead out of my pocket, but either Alec hadn’t heard me or the luck of the gods was shining on me! The rabbit was missed and we were told to hunt on.

Fern was pulling on the line of the rabbit and it took me a couple of recall whistles to get her back and hunting again. She soon put up a hare and sat as it was shot 20 yards out in a bit of a hollow. “Great” I thought, just what I wanted. She’d never seen a hare so I didn’t know what she’d do when I sent her for it. I cast her back and she went straight to the hare, at least she’d marked it. I winced as she got closer, I needn’t have worried, it was scooped up one the fly and she was on her way back. I was stood at the top of the hollow in sieves and bracken, and guess what? All the way back and she stopped two yards short and put it down.

“pip pip” nothing “pip pip” nothing. “Sorry Scott, I’m going to have to put you out” said Alec. I said no problem, could I just try and get her to bring it into me so she doesn’t get away with it? Alec said that was fine. “Pip pip” and straight into hand with it!! I won’t type what I said!!!!

Alec really liked how she was going and commented on how well she took in her ground and that it was good to see a dog hunting a wide flat pattern, she won’t find anything at your feet he said. I trudged back to the gallery where Davey Easman offered me a fiver for her. I very nearly took him up on the offer!!!

I’d been lucky in my eyes not to go out when she took a couple of steps on the rabbit, and again when she pulled on the line of the rabbit that’d been missed. I just can’t believe she put the retrieve down again. Whether it’s fitness or not I’m not sure. However I got a hare dummy out when I got home and gave her 4 long retrieves with it and each one was to hand. Cockers!!!

I didn’t hang around as I was in a sulk and had a 4 hour journey home to no doubt contemplate what to do next. I received the news that Ray Whittam had won, and then it was either Linda Hudson 2nd and Will Clulee 3rd (or the other way around) and Wayne Parrington 4th. Darren received a COM as did some others. 

I was back home around 3pm and started work in my new kennel, breaking dollops of concrete off the floor with a hammer before I start tiling. Perfect therapy for the way I was feeling! I have a trial on Monday at the Maer Shoot down in Staffordshire with her, and win, lose or draw that’s going to be my last trial.
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And again...

4/10/2014

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On Saturday I ran in the Gamekeepers National Association Novice Cocker trial on the Pentland Estate, Nr Penicuik, just south of Edinburgh. I was in at Number 2 so the usual nerves didn’t really have chance to kick in. A quick briefing from Greg Ford the steward and Martin Smee, one of the judges, and we were right into the trial adjacent to the farm yard where we had parked our cars.

My first run was under Kelly Ward and had the pleasant task of taking a strip of 4 foot high nettles through to a fence line, approx 30 metres or so. Kelly said just do your best to get through it and see what comes out. I cast Fern off into the nettles and it was obvious she didn’t want to get her nose down, despite that she was making an effort to hunt through it with a bit of pace, but nowhere near what I know she’s capable of. 

As we approached the end of the nettle bed, she flushed a number of pheasants, one of which was shot on the other side of the barbed wire fence in a patch of gorse about twenty yards away. Another was downed by the gun on the other side. Kelly told me to come forward a little and get Fern over the fence. I sent her out but she went a little out into the field, rather than going straight down the fence line. A redirect and she was into the gorse in the area where the gun had downed the bird. I left her to it and she soon appeared with the bird and delivered to hand. 

We all jumped over the fence and were into some thick standing bracken. Fern was making a nice job of hunting it thoroughly and was going nicely. She soon flushed a hen pheasant, which wasn’t shot at because it flew behind some tall gorse bushes. She sat steady to the flush, and after a short hunt Kelly told me “That’ll do” and my first run was done. On walking back to the gallery, I started to realise how painful my hands were after walking through the nettles - Ouch!

The trial continued and our next run was in game crop/stubble type stuff into a headwind. I was backing up and the dog in before me was put out for moving on the flush, so I was in. We were heading towards a partridge pen, so I was expecting to come into some birds at some point. Fern evidently could smell the partridge in the pen on the pretty strong wind and needed a few “pip” reminders to stay within normal hunting range, but was going nicely.

There was soon a flush of birds, loose from between me and the other handler. One bird was shot and Steve Winspear on my left was told to try his dog on it. It made the fall but after a number of attempts nothing came out. I was told to try Fern, who again went to the mark and I left her to it, redirecting her a couple of times when she pulled towards the partridge fluttering in the pen. She failed to find anything, so Martin and Kelly walked forward to check the area. I was a bit nervous at this point, but the gun next to me said it’d hit the deck and run straight away so not to worry. No bird was found, phew!!! Unfortunately both me and Steve then had to hunt through the last bit of cover where the shot bird had landed, we were both at risk of eye wiping ourselves here! Luckily there was no bird and we were told to put our leads on as we were going back to another part of the crop to continue our runs.

We walked a long a stone wall adjacent to the field and lined out. There was a few metres of white grass before the cover started and as we set off I noticed a young poult bird clapped down in the grass. I put Fern onto it and as she went in to pick it up, I put the stop whistle in to prevent her from pegging it. I tried her again and the bird still didn’t move. This was happening literally two feet from both me and Martin, so he told me to get Fern to bring the bird in to hand. For whatever reason she wouldn’t pick it. I don’t know whether it was because I’d blown the stop whistle twice to prevent her from pegging or what. 

After a lot of thinking time spent bent over his stick, Martin said he was going to have to put me out. I said I can understand why, the dog hadn’t brought me the game back. He did say, and after speaking to him again after the trial, that it was a very difficult scenario to judge, one he’s never had before and probably won’t see again. The bird itself had a bare back and “bulgy eye” as Martin put it, and wasn’t right. Never mind, another weird scenario ends a trial for me and Fern.

Only three dogs finished the trial and were awarded the following places.

1st : Fran Ardley – Golden Nectar (CSB)
2nd : Anita Jones – Episcopa Wonga
3rd : Steve Winspear – Kiltonbeck Cooper
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