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Greens Norton, 25th November 2007
This farm to the north of Greens Norton is a bleak and windy location with the great barn dominating the yard. The yard filled up with the people and hounds – 34 of each – as we milled around awaiting the arrival of the farm stockman with the quad bike. The first fields were all stubble and quite exposed. Very heavy clay clinging to paws and wellingtons. The Fieldmaster again let the working certificate holders run first, and solo, the n let the rest of the field off to follow. Thereafter we ran in two groups: Group A led by Forbes’ Buster (Kentoast Napoleon) and Group B led by Fernie’s Sukie (Kybo Touchy). At the risk of sounding like a fashion writer I have to say that Sukie was pretty in a bright new pink coat and everybody was easily able to identify her from the other hounds. Fortunately, both she and Buster (newly qualified workers) made a creditable job of leading their groups. The wind was so strong that the scent was being blown every which way and we found that all the beagles were somewhat erratic on these fields with the first group to try the scent consistently performing better than the second group to run. Matters improved once we got into the lee of the hill and some accurate lines were run. There was quite a bit of movement between the groups as several owners wished to try their beagles together – to improve the behaviour of the less energetic or skilled Last week’s novices – Ambridge’s Amber (Cliffmere Iris) and Leighton’s Dilys (Stormpasture Chocodot in Dolliesgang) – worked well with Amber trying to steal the lure out of the Fieldmaster’s rucksack every time he put it down! They were being challenged, however, by another novice – Bather’s Fern – who showed great promise. If these three young hounds continue at such a pace then it is going to be extremely competitive at the Trials to determine the Best Novice and the Best Newcomer! Some old faithfuls were back this week and added strength and substance to the pack: Kimber’s veteran Coachbarn Clover (who unfortunately retired early with a limp); Kingham’s Nelson (reliable and steady) and the Burwood’s Rowley and Radley. Flashy Radley in his orange coat was back to his old tricks of running each line twice and once managed to disappear into the only stand of woods on the whole site. Fortunately he kept off the manicured lawn the woods backed onto and the search party recovered him speedily Overall the beagles worked well in trying conditions. As one beagler summed it up at the end of the day: “I spent the evening picking enormous lumps of clay from between my beagle’s toes and burrs from my daughter’s hair”. I would like to thank Ian Bidey, Tracey Fernie and John Reymond whose excellent photos of the day – including a group shot of all those present – will grace the Beagle Club website at www.thebeagleclub.org under working section.
Theresa M Chapman Working Section Secretary 5th December 2007
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THE
BEAGLE CLUB