My thanks go out to everyone involved in the planning, running and judging of the Ark Valley HT in Lamar, CO this weekend. It was a first class operation from start to finish, and has now set the bar for all future hunt tests to emulate.
Saturday morning started off a little rough - dark skies with the threat of rain/hail, but the clouds parted and the weekend took off like a rocket. Everything ran smoothly, finished on time, and had a Saturday evening social with PRIME RIB to die for! They held a shotgun raffle, along with some other nice outdoor themed or retriever-related items, and we were lucky enough to win a pop up canopy which was put to good use on Sunday.
Sunday's tests were meaty, with more dogs, but we still managed to finish at a reasonable hour and make it home to Denver by 7:00 P.M. Oh, and did I mention we had prime rib BBQ sandwiches for lunch on Sunday????
Thanks again to everyone with Ark Valley who made this a stellar event, and one which we will look forward to each HT season!
Almost forgot the best part -- our 13 month old golden ran his first seasoned tests this weekend, and PASSED BOTH DAYS!!! We're especially proud of this given a particularly challenging Seasoned water test on Sunday, where only 6 dogs passed out of 18...
Saturday morning started off a little rough - dark skies with the threat of rain/hail, but the clouds parted and the weekend took off like a rocket. Everything ran smoothly, finished on time, and had a Saturday evening social with PRIME RIB to die for! They held a shotgun raffle, along with some other nice outdoor themed or retriever-related items, and we were lucky enough to win a pop up canopy which was put to good use on Sunday.
Sunday's tests were meaty, with more dogs, but we still managed to finish at a reasonable hour and make it home to Denver by 7:00 P.M. Oh, and did I mention we had prime rib BBQ sandwiches for lunch on Sunday????
Thanks again to everyone with Ark Valley who made this a stellar event, and one which we will look forward to each HT season!
Almost forgot the best part -- our 13 month old golden ran his first seasoned tests this weekend, and PASSED BOTH DAYS!!! We're especially proud of this given a particularly challenging Seasoned water test on Sunday, where only 6 dogs passed out of 18...