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CLA GAME
FAIR • CLA
GAME FAIR •
CLA GAME FAIR •
'England tops the teams'
- report by Gaynor Bailey
IF YOU want to take a three-day break and have good weather,
take it whilst the CLA Game Fair is on – it’s nearly
always boiling hot, real summer weather, which we don’t
get very often!
This year was no different, the three days at Broadlands, Romsey,
Hampshire were blessed with glorious weather, too hot for the
dogs and unfortunately some stupid people left them in cars
which needed to be broken into to save their lives, why do they
never learn? Cars are greenhouses on a hot day, leaving the
window open doesn’t make any difference. Anyway, the Gundog
Tests went well, with lots of retrieves into a lake.
The first day saw the Aigle/Euro Team Challenge, with four teams
from Belgium, Holland, Germany and the UK, four handlers in
each team and I’m delighted to say there were Flatcoats,
Golden Retrievers and a Chesapeake Bay Amongst the many Labradors.
Judged by Jim Gale and Fille Exelmans, Arena Organiser Liz Barnes
had set tests based on a walked up shoot day with a small drive
in the afternoon. The ground cover made things very difficult
as it was interspersed with tall sunflowers, hiding some of
the thrown dummies from the dogs which were judged on their
game finding, marking and steadiness.
With the Belgium team entering the arena first, two dogs went
with the bottom judge and two with the top, all starting to
walk forward through the game crop, taking it in turns to retrieve
the marked dummies thrown in front and the blind hidden at the
back, each being marked by a double shot from the gun loaded
with blanks which made it a bit easier to get the dogs attention
quickly enough to see where the dummy landed although several
struggled on the blind. The next test was a mark over the fence
and one into the lake, (how the dogs enjoyed the cool of the
swim), followed by another blind behind, over the fence.
By lunch time, it was clear that the UK and Germany were neck
and neck for first place, in fact, Germany’s Helena Nieholf-Oellers
with her Labrador bitch Alpha vom Keien Fenn, had only dropped
two points and was working superbly although Germany’s
Chesapeake Bay Retriever, cheslabben Pow Wow, was being temperamental,
losing points when he could have done much better, as he did
at last year’s Fair when he worked really well – but
that’s dogs for you!
In the afternoon the set up was the same with two dogs from
a team at the top and two at the bottom of the arena, this time
walking forward with shots fired in the line to test the dog’s
steadiness before a retrieve over the fence. A short drive was
then simulated, dummies thrown into the lake, well apart, one
for each dog the judge to state which dummy to be retrieved
by which dog, followed by a retrieve across a corner of the
lake, on the far bank as a grand finale, seven retrieves in
all. Alpha vom Keien Fenn had a total of 138 out of 140 making
her the individual top, a tremendous achievement and a pleasure
to watch. Mark Lucas’ Labrador Abbotsleigh Pharaoh was
only eight points behind with 130, followed by Holland’s
Frans Oostveen’s Golden Retriever Cockpit Wager with 129
but it was the UK Team who was presented with first place by
Aigle’s European Marketing manager, Astrid Judmeiier, gaining
151 points in total were captain, Keith Broomfield, Mark Lucas,
Graham Robers and Derek Buckland, all Labradors; second were
Germany, Birgit Brode, Helena Nieholf-Oellers, Betty Schwieren
and Dr Gunda-Inken Muhl; third Holland, Louis Notebonn-Schmitt,
Karel Van Loo, Jan Bos and Frans Oestveen; they were all presented
with Aigle’s beautiful coats or boots – lucky people!
The Jeep International Team Competition run over the next two
days was a closely contested match between England, captained
by John Halstead, Ireland by Brendan Mack, Scotland by Hugh
Paterson and Wales by John Blackburn, with five Spaniels and
five Retrievers in each team, all scores to count which was
different to the last few years when the captain was able to
drop the worst score.
The Spaniels ran each morning, judged by Ralph Edwards and Tim
Crothers, with 60 of the 100 points allocated to hunting, so
important in a working spaniel, the other 40 for retrieving
the pigeon flush etc. It was superb to see the little dogs so
busily hunting up the game crop, turning naturally or on a pip
from the whistle, noses to the ground, short tails wagging,
stopping on a report from the gun and watching for the retrieve.
The standard was very high with hardly any failures and the
spaniels mostly made nothing of the wooden fence although one
hit the top and did a complete somersault, luckily not hurting
himself. The mark into water was a doddle for nearly all of
them but some struggled to pick the blind behind as the scent
was poor in the hot conditions. Bell of Lindley Towers of Whitehope,
a consistent winner for Paul Dyson form england, was a pleasure
to watch as she worked her heart out in the cover for each retrieve
as was Ireland’s Iced Prince for Willie Edgar, a great
hunting dog. Jack Iliffe, England, with Laganmill comet who
won the recent Save the Children Final Test, was another good
’un, as was Eric Elwick’s Breckswood Lark, also for
England.
Unfortunately, the Welsh Spaniels were not on form, as Wales
usually produces a top team for the Game Fair; Scotland, also,
were struggling, so very disappointing for their handlers, although
it was the retrieving that was letting both teams down, not
the hunting which was consistently good.
In the afternoon, it was the turn of the Retrievers, all Labradors,
judged by Robin Wise and John Douglas, who wee sympathetic to
any dogs that struggled, giving them enough time to hunt out
the dummies in the poor scenting conditions. Mostly, the standard
was excellent and it was a great pleasure to watch so many brilliant
retrievers, carried out at such speed although the tests were
anything but easy.
In contrast to the spaniel, who each completed their work in
one run, each Retriever did half his work on the Saturday, the
other half on Sunday, which meant that the handlers couldn’t
go back to their hotel and relax but had to face the obstacles
a second time. With one handler and the Labrador under each
judge they commenced with a long mark over the fence and a mark
on the water to the right, the lake retrieve first. Heather
Bradley’s Kenwu Wilson of Heathergaye (who was second in
the Retrieve Championship last year0, and Andy Lathom’s
Endacott Shelf, both for England, Jack Toals’ Tannaghmore
Teal for Ireland, Dave Robertson’s Bengrave Badger for
Scotland and Peter Jones’ Drakeshead Umbopo for Wales all
achieving perfect scores.
The next test was a long mark forward over the fence with a
blind over the lake onto the far bank to be retrieved first
and this caused a number of problems, only Eddie Finn’s
Int F T Ch Raughlin Bailey of tirgarve getting full marks.
The Sunday tests seemed even more difficult with an extremely
long blind the length of the arena, the dogs partly unsighted
by the handlers also a blind into the lake which caused even
more problems, but Drakeshead Umbopo was so much on form that
he seemed to make everything look easy. Peter had already said
that this was the dogs very last appearance in public as he
was being retired, having won a number of events and reached
the age of eight and a half.
At the end of the day, Lord and Lady Romsey very kindly presented
the extensive prizes. 1st Team England with 781 points. 2nd
Ireland 712. 3rd Wales 686. 4the Scotland 646. Best team of
Spaniels, England. Best team of Retrievers, England. Best Spaniel,
Paul Dyson’s Bell of Lindley towers of Whitehope, England.
Best Retriever, Peter Jones’ Drakeshead Umbopo, Wales.
Best Hunting Spaniel, Willie edgar’s Iced Prince, Ireland.
Best Marking Retriever, Eddie Finn’s Int F T Ch Raughlin
Bailey of Tigarve, Irleand. Best Dog of either breed, Peter
Jones’Drakeshead Umbopo, Wales.
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