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Submitted By
Blake Biggs
Field Trial Secretary
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Alvord, Texas and The LBJ Grasslands was again the soggy site of the Lone Star German Shorthaired Pointer Club's spring horseback field trial. 87 total dogs were run over the 3 day trial, on February 23-25, 2001. The camaraderie was great and the birdwork even better. Many thanks have to go to club members who helped everyday to make the event a great success. Thanks to Keith Witt, Ronnie Sale, Scott Bodenstab, Blake Biggs, Grant Stanfill, Kevin Temple, Andy Gerdes, Alan Newport, Frank Delmont, Jimmy Kline for his horses, David Vogelsang for his great cooking, line marshalling, and tremendous organizational skills. Thanks of course go to our judges who weathered the many storms and rode hard. Several of them for two or more stakes. Their decisions were well received on all accounts.
Friday, February 23 brought cool beautiful weather and the hope of victory to a field of 22 proven dogs. Frank Delmont and Matt Milligan rode hard all day chasing these hard running stylish GSPs. The birdwork and running styles left very little to be desired. When the dust cleared, four dogs were placed in the stake. Each had done a memorable job during his brace. FC Clown's Early News, handled and owned by Ronnie Sale won the stake. Scoop reached to the edges on each forward cast. She was found standing three times during the stake with tremendous style. Her manners were impeccable. No wonder this hard charging female has won many championships. Second place went to NASDC FC AFC Gertrude's Blue Brandi handled by Scott Bodenstab and owned by Scott and Alease Bodenstab. Brandi's race was to the front and hard charging. She may not have had quite the speed to put her at the top. Her birdwork was perfect as usual. Third went to AFC J and K's Baron York Von Greif, handled and owned by Blake Biggs. York had three nice finds with great style and perfect manners. York, a two year old male, showed his immaturity at times, but still showed the judges enough to place him near the top. Fourth went to George Newcomb and AFC FC Rincon's Diesel Rollin Mac. Diesel made nice moves to the front, always handling kindly. The limited ended mid afternoon on Friday, leaving everyone in attendance with the feeling that they had witnessed greatness in the race of FC Clown's Early News. Saturday morning dawned with an obvious promise of rain.
The Open Gun Dog kicked off at 8 AM with 27 dogs entered. Rain was the focus of the day. Dogs had to fight through the wet grounds, wet birds, and soaked conditions to try to find birds. At the end of the day, Blitzkrieg's Frontier Scout, Hank, had topped the field. Owned and handled by Ronnie Sale, Hank made aggressive forward casts to be found standing on each cast. Hank's style and forward race made the other competitors know they had to work very hard to beat this 5 year old shorthair. Gregg Lamar and Chad Baum, the judges of the stake, did not see another dog who could unseat this fine GSP. The win finished Blitzkrieg's Frontier Scout (Hank) with his Field Champion. Ronnie's hat was immediately doused in lighter fluid and torched. Congratulations on another FC for Free Flight Kennels!!!!! The other placements were...2nd-Bentley Von Peugh owned by Gregory Stanfill and handled by Grant Stanfill, 3rd-MPK's Special Edition owned by Ken Chenowith, handled by Jim West, 4th-Steel Creek's Real Windy, owned by Todd Tuls, handled by Jim West.
The Amateur Gun Dog had a field of 20 of the best Amateur handled dogs in this area. Beau James High Card (Ace) owned by Dorothy and Phil Rosenberg, and handled by Phil took the top honors. 2nd went to Mack's R and M's Little Schotze, owned by Connie and Doug Beck of Carthage, MO, handled by Doug. 3rd and 4th were withheld. Thanks to our judges Gerald Easum and Scott Bodenstab for their efforts.
The Open Derby and The Open Puppy had nearly 20 of the areas finest
young GSPs in their fields. These young dogs showed some great potential as future Gun Dogs and All Age competitors.
The Open Derby was won by Beau James Little Casino (Cassie), owned by Dorothy and Phil Rosenberg and handled by Phil. This nearly 2 year old female GSP showed her drive and bird finding ability to top this stellar field. 2nd went to Freeflight's Shasta McNasty (Shasta) owned and handled by Ronnie Sale. 3rd went to Slick's Cajun Desire (Callie), a 9 month old female, owned and handled by Blake Biggs. 4th was Vogelsang's Toby Von Blitz (Toby) handled and owned by David Vogelsang. This nearly two year old male showed some big moves but handled a little rough at times.Thanks to our judges Gregg LaMar and Gerald Easum.The Open Puppy had a small but stellar field of 8 under 15 month old dogs. These dogs each showed his determination and drive to be,in the next few years, considered a force to be reckoned with. 1st place went to Rexx's Freeflight Chief, owned and handled by Blake Biggs. 2nd went to Slick's Cajun Desire, owned and handled by Blake Biggs. 3rd was to Dee's Dixieland Rebel, owned by Fred Harshaw and Frank Delmont and handled by Frank. 4th went to Sparetime's Election Recount (Chad), handled by David Stanfill and owned by Grant Stanfill. Many thanks to our judges Gregg LaMar and Gerald Easum. The trial was a tremendous success. The rain couldn't dampen the spirits of the trialers or their dogs. Of note, is that of the 18 total dogs placed, 12 of them were owned and handled by Lone Star GSP Club members. The Lone Star German Shorthaired Pointer Club certainly wants to thank the judges, members and guests for attending the trial. We look forward to our Spring Walking Trial scheduled for March 24-25, 2001 at the Freeflight Kennels and Hunting Preserve in Jonesboro, TX. For more information, please call Blake Biggs at metro 940-440-9498.