Walking vs Horseback Trails?

[Dakota Swede]

New to this forum. Long in the tooth for Pheasant Hunting.

Have some good bloodline Vizslas. Have guided Pheasant hunters from across the nation at our South Dakota working family farm for decades.

Started thinking it would be fun to breed some of our own Vizslas. Know it would be important to have good looking dogs (conformation) with some titles - and some titles for hunting (field trials).

In South Dakota, I (my personal feelings) own, need, & enjoy dogs that hunt with me & my clients : and don't range too far.

How does this fit into the Walking vrs. Horseback Field Trail Game?

[Dave Quindt]

Your post brings up a number of different issues, but the most common barrier to participating in dog events for someone like you is logistics.

Running Vizslas, you're primarily going to be focused on AKC sanctioned field trials. There was only 1 AKC field trial held in SD last year, and that one was open to Brits only. So, if you want to trial, you're going to have to travel to trials usually located 250+ miles away.

My standard suggestion for someone like yourself is to get involved in hunt tests, which are non-competitive events where the handlers always walk. Go to a few tests and see what's involved and how the standards the dogs are judged against mesh with what you want in a bird dog. The beauty of hunt tests is that they all you to learn how to handle your dog under judgment without the pressures of competition.

Having said that, your access to hunt tests is somewhat limited as well. The South Dakota Hunting Dog Club that holds both a spring and fall hunt test at Chancellor, SD, which appears to be fairly close to you. There are other clubs that have held events in the area, but few seem to be active.

I'd suggest starting with the Midwest Tri-State NAVHDA chapter, which runs the South Dakota Hunting Dog Club AKC hunt tests here:
http://www.midwesttristatenavhda.org/in ... ctionsid=2

You might also want to check in with the closest Vizsla Club, which appears to be the Nebraska club: http://www.nebraskavizslaclub.com/

I'd try to find out when the South Dakota club spring hunt test is (looks to be usually in May) and go down and see an event. From there, you can decide if you are interested in participating.

Hope this helps,
Dave

[Brittguy]

Most experienced dogs adjust their range to whatever type of transportation the handler is doing.I have several all age dogs that have extreme range, but if I were handling them on foot they would satisfy any hunter.

[Dakota Swede]

OK - so say I have a great dog ----

How much might I invest in this "Field Trail" experience? And to have a chance to get a Field Champion???

[Buckeye_V]

Depends on your dog....

If you have just one dog, you can invest an awful lot of $ and never get a title. You can spend relatively very little and get a title.

Walking trials, on average, are cheaper to attend and compete in than horseback. But, there are some drawbacks as well.

I know, that is vague but there are a ton of issues to go over.

Justin

[RayGubernat]

OK - so say I have a great dog ----

How much might I invest in this "Field Trail" experience? And to have a chance to get a Field Champion???

Probably a whole lot more than you ever thought!!

Seriously, field trialing can be an expensive sport and if you have to travel any distances to compete, the expenses can get up there quickly.

To get an AKC Field Champion or Amateur Field Champion on a dog the dog must win ten championship points. The number of points that are awarded depends on the number of entries competing. One of the trials must be a three point trial. The maximum amount of points that a dog can win at any one trial is five. With the breed and type of dog you prefer, I would not consider American Field trials, as you would most probably not be competitive.

Field trial dogs are typically expected to cover a fair bit of ground at some distance from their handler...greater distance if being handled off horseback as opposed to foot handled. There are regional differences in this regard and I would expect a prarie trial(where you are) to be looking for a bigger running dog than in some other areas of the country. This is true even in Gun Dog stakes.

From you description of the type of dog you prefer, it appears that you might wish to refocus your goal toward the Hunt Test arena. Hunt tests are always conducted on foot, so the expense of horse, trailer, tow vehicle and fuel is not required. They are all half hour events, so not an unreasonable amount of walking is required.

In any case, the best thing you can do is to go and see a few trials and tests and decide for yourself. no matter what you decide, you will probably see some performances that you will remember.

To see whether or not you are on the same wavelength as the competitors and judges, when you do attend a trial, make notes to yourslef, just as if you were evaluating the dogs and pick the dogs that you think did the best jobs. Then wait to see how they were placed by the judges. I case you go to a hunt test, do the same thing but try to figure which dogs passed the test. At the end, you can go to the test coordinator and explain that you want to see how your evaluations stacked up against the judges' evaluations of three or four dogs.

If your picks are similar to those of the judges...you will probably have a good idea of what it will take to be competitive.

RayG