Novice Test - 25th July 2010 held at Fingringhoe   

We held our Novice Test on new ground this year.  It was mainly white grass with plenty of game scent.

Our judges for the day were Stewart Seward and Frank Geraghty.

The weather was overcast, which was greatly received following the heatwave we've been experiencing.  Even a heavy downpour at the start of the second run didn't dampen everyone's spirits.

The dogs were tested with a seen and blind retrieve on their first runs and a seen retrieve on their second.  We had a large number of novice handlers and under 18 month old dogs this year.  All dogs and handlers competed well with a large number of the field completing all aspects of the test.

We broke for lunch before heading to the water for the final test.  Again all dogs did well.

At the end of the day the results were announced:

1st      Moatend Vanilla Spice handled by David Standing (also Best Hunting Dog)

2nd     Jem's Shooting Star handled by Steve Newman

3rd      Rawreth Mustang handled by Terry Pinner

4th      Hamford Salt handled by John Ford

COM's   Equinecho Indian Spice handled by Julie Cracknell,  Ash of Stowmaries handled by Bob Goodspeed,  Flowerday Carina handled by Ray Clark

Best Novice Handler   Malcolm Weaver

Best Under 18 Months  Equinecho Indian Spice handled by Julie Cracknell

Congratulations to all the winners and everyone else who took part.

The judges were impressed with the overall standard of the field and also commented on the friendliness of the club.  Afterwards they commented that most of the field had seen them for feedback on individual performances.

We owe a big thank you to the following people, without their help the day wouldn't run smoothly:

The helpers on the day:  George, Rod, Gary, Dave, Clare, Kath, Val, Chris, Jane & Michelle

and, Andy from Roman Rivers Gundogs who very kindly helped us secure the ground for the test.

Anyone wanting to see scores from the day Click here

A CD containing photographs will be available to be viewed at the Open Test and will be on sale at a cost of £5.  All proceeds returning to the Club.  Thank you to David Standing and Lesley Young for once again doing this.  The CD contains over 200 photos from the day and a sample can now be viewed in the Gallery.