Thread: Trial Reports.

The Donegal Field Trial Association held an Open Stake for Any Variety Setter and Pointers on the moors near Scotstown on Friday 16th August 2013. The trial was run under Irish Kennel Club Field Trial Rules and Regulations and the judges were Paddy Peoples and Andy Law.
Technically it rained most of the morning. Anybody with a coat on would hardly have noticed it but those like me, folically challenged, would have been aware of the almost constant spots of rain. By the afternoon it was a beautiful bright day. The breeze was constant in both direction and strength.
Results :-
1st F.T.Ch. Creg Rena Joan McGillycuddy’s Red Setter bitch. Graded Excellent.
2nd Ballyellan Cara Bill Connolly’s English Setter bitch. Graded Excellent.(Handler Gerald Devine)
3rd Mountbay Dan Fr. Seamus O’Neill’s Red Setter dog. Graded Very Good.

Basso was first up. He was running against Mark Adams Irish setter and the setter just about shaded it as he didn’t stop for water whereas Basso did. That said both dogs gave it a real good go. Basso lines were marginally the neater but both dogs quartered with pace and style.
His next round was even better against Joe Dobbins English setter. Both dogs ran at great pace but this time Basso’s lines were demonstrably better than the other dog’s. The setter did have a point on a lark and Basso backed, an Irish back in that he came alongside but didn’t pass, just, the other dog. I got the impression that one judge was reasonably happy with this while the other wasn’t but I wasn’t called to run with the bye dog.
Alex started off well in good ground but seemed to lose interest. In Basso’s run he had come off a low ridge at pace to land about ten feet away. Alex, faced with a slightly lower ridge had to more or less stop and walk down it. Later on I see he is lame. I didn’t expect and didn’t get another run. Even if he appears sound tomorrow I will rest him up as he is in the reserves on Sunday. I’ll run Van in his place tomorrow.
I took Buck with me in the afternoon and he got a fair bit of off lead running, teckel style. He was very tired when I got home having been on the hill two days in a row. Just what he needed.

This was an Irish trial run under the Irish Ethos as much as Field Trial Regulations. Toe polishers need not apply. If I remember correctly, Alex excepted, all the dogs ran and even he was ok for a while. It’s one thing to have dogs that can run but as is almost always the case some ran to greater effect than others. I really enjoyed Basso’s first run with Mark Adam’s setter. As is also almost always the case a greater supply of birds would have been nice as there were dogs deserving of a find but those that featured in the awards did work in proportion to their grading.

To give you an idea of the ground covered the pedometer of one of the judge read either 10.1 or 10.6 miles at the end of the day. A half a mile only means where you would expect to collapse changes. If you were out running in the first eight brace and made the second round you would have walked almost the same distance, as I did.
I really enjoyed the day and would have loved a crack at a bird but that’s Irish field trialling.

The Northern Ireland Pointer Club held an Open Stake for Any variety Setter & Pointers under Kennel Club Rules and Field Trial Regulations. The venue was The Brunt Beat at Glenwherry with the kind permission of The Irish Conservation Project and the local landowners. The Judges were Carol Calvert and John Murray.
The breeze peaked at 12.7 mph, it was raining at the start but by the end it was a perfect sunny afternoon and a representative temperature would be 13º.
Results:-
1st Gortinreagh Dixie Gerald Devine’s English Setter dog.
2nd Koram Kaiser James Coyle’s Pointer dog.
3rd Glendrisock Brita Dr. Stephen Clarke’s Red Setter bitch.
4th Oksby Basso Des O’Neile’s Pointer dog.

Van.
His run was in two parts. He was with me the first time I let him off and he made several relatively, for him, flat cuts before our brace mate chased a hare. Did I actually see Van ignore a hare or did he just not see it. He certainly could have smelt it. Anyway he was relatively easily picked up.
His second run was where it all went wrong and not helped by circumstances. ( Yes these are excuses!) The cover was in sort of parallel blocks that were just too deep. Van ran the gaps and this all contributed to the bite being too big. I didn’t expect another run but he pleased me none the less.
Basso.
His first round was as good as it gets. At least one person said that it was maybe the best they had ever seen any of my dogs run. (They maybe never saw Jump or Judy on The Liffey Head or Bold on Trantlemore.) It wasn’t The Best Ever but it was up there. It is one thing to get an almost ideal set up but it is another to make use of it. This was a rectangular bit of ground with a fence to the right and a road on the left. I’m not good at distances. Maybe two hundred and fifty yards wide and with the wind blowing right down the middle. ALL Basso had to do was bounce off the fence and the road like a pinball. ALL! I thought he did it really well. He was running against Craigrua Kansas, what had been my Red and white setter. They both were up for it and I thought that Basso was just that bit neater and shaded it.
His second round was just coming off the top of The Brunt. He was running nicely again and heading right he pointed. I worked him forward but could produce nothing. We were cast on again and on more or less the same line, but a bit further forward, he pointed again. That’s the way I remember it. ( Somebody said today they thought he had two non productives! If he did I can’t remember the second one but then I am 62 y/o) A single cock was produced and he was steady to the shot.

There were four dogs still standing with game at the end of the trial. It is fair to say that one, two or three would have been a meaningful result as it would have left Basso qualified for Open Stakes next year in England and I suppose I would have broken your arm for any sort of place before the event but fourth is the one place I didn’t see myself in.

This is without a doubt the premier grouse trial ground in Ireland. We had everything just right once the weather relented. It was also very good the way we came upon grouse in better numbers towards the end as it meant the dogs that had run the best got the opportunities. Good quality dogs in a well organised and well judged event. What more could you want?