HWVA Spring Pointing Test, Scawby, North Lincs, 31/03/07

Judges: Peter Bakewell & Stevie Allerton

This was potentially a lovely ground to run a Spring Pointing Test on, with good size flat fields of mostly winter wheat and oil seed rape. The weather was warm and dry with a stiff-ish breeze. Whilst we tried as far as possible to run dogs into the wind, in effect it was most often a head/cheek wind. Some dogs & handlers coped well with this, but other handlers did not position themselves correctly, giving mixed messages to their dogs as they tried to get them to quarter them instead of allowing them to work the wind properly.

We ran eighteen dogs, eleven Juniors and seven Adults, and it was good to see so many HWVs entered (eight in total). Most of them acquitted themselves well, certainly trying to get out there and hunt, even if their handlers were not quite as tuned in and made “pilot errors”. We saw some good natural ability though, and lots of enthusiasm. It’s good that the HWVA membership are responding to these working events being put on, and supporting them so well. Plus, the more that owners get experience in this way, the better handlers they will become. We enjoyed judging your dogs.

Unfortunately, the partridge were conspicuous by their absence on the day, very disappointing for the organisers, who had done a count on the same piece of ground the week before and found plenty of birds then. As judges, it would have been great to have had birds on every dog’s run, to see how these young dogs could handle them. As those of us with experience know, it’s OK getting the dog to quarter in pretty patterns, but it’s when they come into contact with game that the wheel starts to come off!

It was a difficult day for scent, although it took us until early afternoon to decide this, due to the absence of birds during the morning. The dogs that did get in touch were either bumping into birds, or scenting them so close that it was very difficult to actually point and hold them. We also lost a few potentially good dogs on the hares.

We were able to grade 2 Juniors:

Michael Caine’s HWV b Moricroft Mimosa. This was an exciting young bitch, who really got out fast and wide. She came on point quite early in her run and produced a snipe. As it flushed and she watched it away, she then took scent again in the area and produced the pair of partridge sitting a yard further on. We asked the handler to work on and the dog resumed her hunting pattern with style. She then took herself a long way down the bottom of the wind on the left of the beat, turned and came to a dead stop, a flash point, then a pair of partridge lifted almost off her nose. She was steady to the flush. Quietly handled and one of the few dogs that was able to put it all together. Graded GOOD.

Sylvia Cox’s HV b Via Veritas Vita for Valotta. This was a fast, hard-running bitch that really looked as if she would try her best to find game. Quartered the beat without undue interference from her handler, covering the ground and naturally turning into wind. She indicated scent and slowed up, but a pair of partridge got up before she could point them. Asked to work on, she resumed her hunting pattern and quickly indicated scent on the left of the beat. She had no sooner come on point then another pair lifted right off her nose. We had a quick display of “youthful exuberance” as she set off after them, but fortunately her handler was able to bring her under control. Graded GOOD.

Our thanks to the organisers for the day, to the HWVA committee for the invitation to judge, and to the competitors for accepting our decisions in a sporting manner.

Stevie Allerton