Garnons Farm
RESULTS OF OPEN SUGAR BEET WORKING TEST
Held at Garnons Farm Wormingford on Sunday 23rd August 2015
1st Jacqui Crew Echobrook Dexster GRD
2nd Bren Van Laun Twitchet Nymph LRB
3rd Chris Airey Bellspaddle Scout LRD
4th Sharon Dingle Aquacadians Moses of Bellspaddle LRD
CoM Dominic Butcher Testtrio Herman LRD
CoM Glynis Reynolds Strammers Galaxy LRD
Best Essex Entry winning the Royanne Cup was Bren Van Laun
Judges Choice was Jacqui Crew with Echobrook Dexster
Our final working test for this year was our Open Sugar Beet and again by very kind permission of Mr & Mrs Dobell we returned to Garnons Farm at Wormingford on Sunday 23rd August.
We had a larger entry than usual with over 30 dogs, so it was going to be a long day for our two judges, Jim Gale and Len Herbert. On the plus side the day was slightly overcast, which was a relief, as the day before had been blisteringly hot and sunny, and walking in a sugar beet field in the middle of summer does not provide much shade for competitors or dogs, however it soon warmed up so we were pleased the first two exercises ran smoothly enabling lunch at a reasonable time.
The day started with a walk-up with four dogs in line, the first retrieve a mark in front and then when the four dogs had completed this, there was a mark across the line. All the dogs succeeded, and apart from one or two that struggled a bit, the standard of dogs was very good. The next round in the walk up was a single mark behind the line competitors being seen by the other judge, once again all the dogs succeeded.
After lunch, the rain started, nothing too heavy but enough to need jackets, although some of us totally miscued and thought it was only going to be a few spots! The exercise for the afternoon had been set up by the stewards before the day begun. This exercise was a single blind retrieve, and the dogs went back under the judge who had only scored them with one retrieve. We walked to the far end of the sugar beet field, and continued with four dogs in line walking up, with the guns at either end of the line. The guns this time were using black powder blanks in shot guns, after the shot and about 20 yards in front of the gun was a blind just in the beet which was to be retrieved by the dog sent across the line. A few hares popped up, and a couple of deer bounded across, but all the dogs remained steady and although some dogs kept being drawn to the shot everyone succeeded.
Time for tea and cakes while the scores were added up. The scores reflected the high standard of dogs, but there was a clear winner, and Jacqui Crew with Echobrook Dexster did not drop a point all day. Two points behind was Bren van Laun, and in third place was Chris Airey. A three dog run off for fourth place was really close, but saw Sharon Dingle take fourth place with Glynis Reynolds and Dominic Butcher both receiving a CoM Judges Choice, not surprisingly went to Jacqui Crew and Echobrook Dexster.
We were very lucky to have our two great dummy throwers in Gordon and David, who did a sterling job all day, throwing almost 100 dummies between them! Thank you both, also thank you to Sue who did a good job stewarding and keeping the dogs going in to line and keeping the gallery moving.
A big thank you to Masters Dog Foods for again sponsoring the Area, and supplying a bag of dog food for the first three places, and also to Sporting Saint for also donating prizes for those in the awards.
And last but not by no means least, thank you to both our judges, who had a busy day with lots of dogs and lots of walking, thank you for giving up your Sunday.