Hiiiiiii! I bet you thought i’d forgotten you, didn’t you? Go on admit it? I feel horribly guilty because the Blog has suffered for the ability, with this new whizz bang website, to keep it up to date all the time. So each time I set aside to come on and talk about recent ‘happenings’, I need to add a litter to the litters page, or some pictures to a puppy page or some such thing, and my wafflings here go to the wall. ;-( But NO MORE!!!! Let me bring you soundly up to date…. (not before time…)
You know sometimes you are driving, or sitting about, or laying in bed, and you have a little daydream about something that seems completely ridiculous, but you dream about it anyway…. well a few weeks ago, if you told me between Bondy and Fish, we would finish the trial season, with three field trial awards and two Guns Choice awards, I’d punch you on the arm and tell you to get over yourself 😉 But, do you know what, thats the reality of it all, folks. And I’m not sure i’m quite back down to earth yet!
(Little overcompetitive footnote here at this point and not to be mentioned again….. All three awards, and both Guns Choices, I reckon we had it in us to do slightly better. Either I messed up. Or Allan was less than pretty. Or the boys could have listened a bit better, a bit QUICKER etc etc…. but I’m overjoyed at the results, but hell….. thats not to pretend we are resting on ANY laurels here…. someone wrote in all innocence recently on a message board: “Its funny, trialing seems to be all, or nothing, and pretty much nearly EVERYTHING…” and quite frankly, that total trialing innocent, was COMPLETELY right!)
OK! So back to euphoria and me feeling that at last, after umpteen years we have finally earned our stripes to not be patted on the head and told ‘that was nice, dear…. for a showdog!’ 😉
So we get a unspectacular Christmas out the way (except for my Works Christmas party at Jamie Olivers restuarant in Brighton which was fantastic! The Kareoke bar afterwards shall stay in my memory for many a year…. by god we thought we sounded great, but by GOD when we heard it back on a piece of mobile phone footage we wanted shooting….and quickly…. to put us out of our misery….)
So trial number 1, on the 7th January, is the Arun & Downland Novice at Bereleigh Estate in Hants. What can I say about this trial? Much of it has been said at: http://www.labradorforums.co.uk/ftopict-83547.html However personally, for me, winning a COM with Bondy AND Guns Choice was just a fantastic result. How fantastic? Well, the fact that in the Run off/5th round I made some silly schoolgirl handling error which send Bondy exactly where I didn’t want him, means that my first field trial award was greeted with huge happiness, and a desire to beat myself half to death. Thats not normal is it? 😉 😉
So then onto trialing ‘abroad’ and a fantastic day for Fish and Allan on the Isle of Wight on Monday 24th Jan. Were Bondy and I running too? We were, but pick out the quick mention that we went out on the first round…. 😉 Happy to stand back and give Al his day…. grin! Seriously, Fish and him deserve a bit of an up, they work really hard and his working hours means he can’t swan about (as he calls it!) like me training and so on at this time of year….. so: http://www.labradorforums.co.uk/ftopict-84077.html 4th! It was also one of my proudest ever moments as its our first Field Trial award on a homebred dog…. hoping it will be the first of a few through the years! Clever Fish… hes such a sweetheart (and Al did alright too….)!
So that was Monday just gone, and we come to Thursday 27th Jan and the Guildford Novice at Cocking near Midhurst, which, again, we have both been lucky enough to draw a run in. We drive there in silence. Full of our own thoughts. Him with much to maintain, Me with much to prove! The day panned out in favour of Bondy…. to be honest I was very nervous, and a heavy first drive settled them quite nicely (Ok, so whats the worst that can happen after that!) but he went on to be mature beyond his tender years and give me the confidence to not ‘fiddle with him’ on retrieves and get there through ability not obedience…: The report: http://www.labradorforums.co.uk/ftopict-84195.html 2nd was a result better than I could have ever hoped for! Meercat did good!!
This report, however, whilst more than I could of hoped for from our first season of trialing these two lovely dogs, does NOT take into account the three trials NOT mentioned where we went, both of us, SOUNDLY out in the FIRST round. How honest is THAT!? 😉 I feel further explanation is due, and you will get it, dear reader, but I just need to now, at 8.30pm go turn the roast potatoes and carve the lamb or Mr Wylanbriar might start to show that he is now THIRTY days without a cigarette… and that would be messy…. I promise…. 😉
