Our trialling season was mainly with our 3 novice dogs . Mike trialled Taggart early season but felt he didn’t look as good as the previous season , when he went well gaining two seconds and a third in two day open trials .So he decided to concentrate on his two young dogs. With trial runs at a premium ....over subscription....travel costs .....time away from home ...we both feel that unless you are 100% happy with the way your dog is performing you should not be running ! So in early September we were both fortunate to get a run in the Suffolk Novice Trial in sugar beet . Someone then pulled out last minute and Mike ran both Bo and Brig ...myself Towie . Brig was eye wiped early on Bo ran well but went out near the end of the trial and Towie picked 6 birds marking very well and eventually coming 3rd behind the Rollinson team . Mike then ran Brig in the Suffolk Novice which was a driven duck trial ...Brig ran very well and they arrived home with the winners trophy . The following weekend we went to the East Midland Novice with Towie and Bo , Bo went very nicely but Towie decided to deliver a partridge badly so we were rightfully out . After that trial I decided to concentrate on getting the delivery right with Towie . So I took him picking up and with a lot of hard work and dedication and picking the right work for him .....after 10 weeks I felt we had sorted out our problems and ran him at the Norwich Novice Trial .....he went exceptionally well and gained 3rd place . The following week we ran at the Leicestershire Novice Trial part driven part walked up Towie went well and won 😀😀 Bo has been slower to come on no major faults just needs more time ...he achieved a third at a Utility Novice in November. Thankyou to all secretaries and committee members who work so hard to organise all the trials ...sometimes a difficult and thankless task .Also an enormous thankyou to all trialling venues wether they be big or small we could not do it without you !

Just after Christmas we set off again this time to Ireland where Mike was judging the Irish Championship ( me as carer!!)His co judges were Kevin Doughty , Ashley Donnan and Patrick Hearne . We stayed at the lovely Wooden Bridge Hotel , Wicklow ....the Irish people are so friendly and made us feel very welcome. The trial was at Shelton Abbey fabulous ground producing very high driven birds which were dealt with in style by a very efficient team of guns .Harry Nash our host gave us two wonderful days and nothing was too much trouble to ensure the championship was a great success. We saw some excellent dog work in the thickest of brambles ....they told me Irish dogs are used to it ! Declan’s Boyles dog won ,a faultless trial with two awesome bramble retrieves . We spent New Year’s Eve in Dublin ...lovely ...and returned home for 3 days before we set off again to Judge the West Dartmoor 12 dog Open . Our co judges were Mel Brooks and Tom Lowe who kindly drove us down to Lyneham . A beautiful setting with a very accommodating host Damion Harvey ,we joined the guns for two drives and a popular winner in Wendy Glue where she made her dog upto a Field Trial Champion . 12 days at home and off we go again flying to Italy to judge their championship.....the night before we left we had the big storm where we lost a lot of trees and our electricity for 16 hours ! Our co judges were Sergio Franchi and Beppe Masia and the trial held at L’Isola del Cacciatore. We had two days of beautiful sunshine ,cold and sharp in the morning so the scent changed through the day. Salvatore Zappavigna and his team of guns and spaniels worked very hard to produce partridges in lovely cover . After two days of excellent work Laura Lazzaretto was awarded the championship with some excellent marking . So a busy judging season came to an end ....thankyou very much to everyone who made us so welcome and looked after us so well .

Mike and I had a busy season judging between us judging four championships! We began in October judging the Guildford 2day Open-at Windsor our co judges were Roger Ketley and Nick Clitheroe.A well managed trial as always by Peter Clayton with some challenging ground particularly on the 2nd day .....an excellent winner in Leigh Jackson . The following week I set off for Windsor again this time judging the Arun and Downland 2 day Open ...my co judges John Stubbs ( who kindly stepped in at the last moment) Jenny Hankey and Lisa Harris ...we did a similar manoeuvre to the previous week starting day two with a duck drive .We saw some very good dog work and our eventual winner was Andrew Wright . It is always a great pleasure to Judge or compete at Windsor Peter Clayton and his team are so helpful and make every trial a great success . We are so privileged to have these beautiful Royal estates that will host our trials . In November Mike and I headed to Denmark ....we flew from Norwich to Schiphol and then onto Copenhagen so much easier than battling with the M25!!! We were judging the Danish Retriever Championship our co judges were Henrik Moller and Kenneth Rajcsyk ,we met on the first day at the beautiful Gavno Gods Estate where Nicolai Harder is the keeper , the day started and finished with the traditional horn blowing ....beautiful.The ground was sugar beet with a lovely view over the sea / estuary....excellent shooting and a very pleasing standard of dog work ...20 dogs competing . The second day we were at another lovely estate Giesegaard Gods where Kim Sorensen is the keeper . We walked some open ground into woods .....perfect cover for some tricky retrieves . Finishing with a drive where we saw some lovely shooting and each dog completed the trial with a long retrieve . The award ceremony was in front of the castle with the birds laid out in the traditional way ...our winner was an English bred dog owned and handled by Lars Vennevold . A first class trial ...a pleasure to judge . Early December saw us heading to Hyfly mike coming with me as support team ! I guess this was the pinnacle of my judging career,It was such an honour to be asked by the IGL committee to judge the Championship and I have to say I enjoyed every moment my co judges and I got on very well, we all worked hard to give every competitor a fair chance . The keeper Kevin had worked tirelessly ( I believe for weeks!) to prepare the ground for the IGL .... with difficult weather conditions. He certainly did a grand job with the three days going very well ...the Holden family and friends shot for the three days ...no request from the judges was too much for them . I think everyone know who the winner was ....David Lissett and FTCh Buccleuch Xena a perfect team . Got to stretch my knee now ....will finish later

I have some time on my hands after a knee op so I thought I would put a post on our pages ! I had a good summer test season in 2017 with Slipper and Towie also having a successful outing . In Early March Slipper was in the awards at the UGS E.C branch qualifying for the finals . In April Mike and I ran Brig Bo and Towie in the special puppy test ,it was actually the day before the boys 2nd birthday just qualifying them to be able to run , Towie cut his pad so was out of sorts Brig had a brainstorm but Bo ran very well to win ! I then went to the Windsor Charity team event , my team was myself Phil Highfield Steve and Sal Richardson and Jenny Hankey . A great event and I think over 30 teams ....some challenging long blinds and marks set by Phil Allen and John Stubbs ....our dogs went well and was great to hear at the awards that we won . The following day we ran at the East Anglian Open Test ...Slipper was on fire and achieved first place . In May we went to the URC Open qualifier Slipper went well coming fourth and after someone pulled out we were asked to attend the finals but were busy that weekend . In June Jenny Hankey and I drove together to the UGS finals at Watson at Stone ...our team Alan Ward Jenny ,Keith Bedford and myself .It was a blistering hot day with only a small amount of water available to dip the dogs in ....challenging tests set for a team event and dogs went well so very pleasing to hear that we won representing the Eastern Counties branch with Slipper just 1 point behind the overall winning dog . In July Mike and I again ran the three boys Bo Brig and Towie in URC novice test ,all going quite well Brig and Towie just out of the awards and Bo winning . In August I ran Towie and Slipper in the URC open sugar beet test both went well but Towie was awarded 3rd place ahead of Slipper in fourth place with some excellent marking . We also ran our two pups Astraglen Violet and Astraglen Vine in a puppy test ......I was very pleased with Violet (velvet) completing everything but dropping the dummy coming out of the water and Mike was very happy getting 2nd place with Vine . The last test of the season was a charity event held at Highseas Gundogs training ground ....my team was Jenny Hankey Di Stevens and myself...a great day I think about 60 dogs and we were very happy to come 2nd and Slipper 1 point behind the winning dog . So a very eventful summer test season I hope to do another post about our trialling soon

Some pictures of the IGL Retriever Championship 2017

Film 7 now available message e mail or telephone your order to 07764615437 Brilliant Christmas Present Happy Christmas Sara

Judging the Danish Retriever Championship

The boys ... Brindlebay Towie and Brindlebay Brigands with their trialling awards

☘️🏆IRISH FIELD TRIAL CHAMPION🏆☘️ Astraglen Hardy STANDING AT STUD SUFFOLK/NORFOLK BORDER Hips 4/5 Elbows O DNA Tested Optigen (PRA) SD2 EIC CNM Hardy has a very kind temperament❤️. He is a strong dog with plenty or drive and an eye catching hunting style🐇🕊🦌. His build is strong and compact with a lovely thick tail. He goes back to Mikes first Field Trial Champion Hamford Dixie of Brindlebay.

Mike wins the URC novice test today with Brindlebay Boconnoc. Mike and ran three of that are the film stars of a "Life of a gundog " training DVDs . Bo winning, Towie just out of the awards and Brig who tried too hard and needs more polish !! Well done to the URC who produced a good day in all ways .