Going to watch a field trial

[Breck]

have fun at the trial, you'll love it. A good thing to do is visit one stake, watch a dozen or two dogs then move to another stake watch a dozen or two dogs there and move back, etc. A good time to change locations is when a series is finished and judges are doing callbacks as there is usually a decent delay before the next series starts. The Qual will finish Friday so on Saturday you can rotate between the Derby, Amateur and Open throughout the day.
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As for directions to trial I would think start off by showing up at the Smith Farm listed on EE. Paste address into your map. 4863 HWY 367 Bradford, AR
To be sure I would email the chairman or secretary listed on EE and find out where you need to go. No offence to the guys putting on the trial but the directions at the bottom of the EE page are somewhat confusing lol. I'm savvy with maps and couldn't make heads or tails out of the directions.

cheers

[The Snows]

Be sure to wear dark clothing if you plan on sitting in the gallery area. Remember .... These dogs are trained to handlers being in white and should you wear a light / white shirt you are going to spend the day crouched down peering over someone's shoulder rather than sitting in the front row and watching EVERYTHING!

[blake_mhoona]

have fun at the trial, you'll love it. A good thing to do is visit one stake, watch a dozen or two dogs then move to another stake watch a dozen or two dogs there and move back, etc. A good time to change locations is when a series is finished and judges are doing callbacks as there is usually a decent delay before the next series starts. The Qual will finish Friday so on Saturday you can rotate between the Derby, Amateur and Open throughout the day.
.
As for directions to trial I would think start off by showing up at the Smith Farm listed on EE. Paste address into your map. 4863 HWY 367 Bradford, AR
To be sure I would email the chairman or secretary listed on EE and find out where you need to go. No offence to the guys putting on the trial but the directions at the bottom of the EE page are somewhat confusing lol. I'm savvy with maps and couldn't make heads or tails out of the directions.

cheers

yea that was the plan on showing up at the smith farm.

the derby has 29 entries so i'm assuming thats about the average size field. figured i'd watch the derby take couple pics right a few notes watch a half dozen dogs then go over to the AM and do the same for each series. for some reason i had it in my mind that the qual lasted 2 days and same for AM and the Open.

[grid]

Lots of great info and advice in this thread. I'm going to try to stop by my first field trial in Niland soon.

[blake_mhoona]

so the qual will finish in one day? i talked to one guy and he said he didnt think that it could be done (24 entries) but i guess it could. i've emailed the chairman but any insight on here?

[TimThurby]

I'll be there, hopefully through Sunday. More than welcome to look me up. I'll be at all 4 stakes sometime or another. Light grey F250 w/5 hole chassis mount.

Definately go to the listed address. That is the HQ. From there everything will be signed to other stakes.

[Tim Carrion]

Ask for a catalogue. This will give you a good contact list.
There you will find the names of that club's officers as well as the name and address of each dog owner.

Enjoy!

Tim

[blake_mhoona]

well i had a good time. got into town at 8 and saw the sign for CARC so went down that road ended up being the open. they were finishing the last series of the day before. they had apparently started at daylight. stayed long enough to see 2 dogs on land blinds. amazing the tight lines they run or rather their handlers keep them on. made my way to the derby. watched the first series then most of the second. went over to the AM in time to see the last dog on the 1st series. i expected a tough quad instead it looked like an even tougher triple. they said the next series was going to take awhile to set up so i went back to the derby in time to see the start of the water and watched all but 3 dogs. one of the pros was held up over at the open so i left while they were waiting on him. he had a lean mac pup on his truck that looked good wished i could of seen his water work. they ended up having to finish sunday and i couldnt make it back.

met a bunch of good folks and learned alot. you could tell which people had an abundance of water to train on. you could also tell which people didnt pay their own entry fees. i figured some of the pros would handle to the marks and use it as a training scenario rather than call the dog back at the slightest of cheat. i guess in my mind if your gonna take yourself out you might as well handle so they can learn something.

one guy said something interesting. you pay to train on the land. the water is where they drop like flies. which is true. 28 dogs. 1st series 3 dropped. 2nd series no drops. 3rd series i counted at least 10-12 that could of been dropped that completed it. not including the 4-5 that were picked up before finishing. but i dont know exact numbers as i left before callbacks

i'll post pics sometime tomorrow of setup of derby and let yall evaluate

[Bryan Manning]

Blake I don't know if we met or not it was a busy weekend for me. I was the marshal at the derby. I'm glad you had fun and it was a tough 3rd series. And you didn't miss anything we finished the derby that night. Sorry I just seen this post and didn't realize which trial you were talking about.

Edit just seen where you were from I think we did meet. It was good meeting you and you are welcome to come train with me any time you are up this way.

[rboudet]

"i figured some of the pros would handle to the marks and use it as a training scenario rather than call the dog back at the slightest of cheat. i guess in my mind if your gonna take yourself out you might as well handle so they can learn something."

Some will.... but what are you going to do if that young dog won't take the cast? Or even sit on the whistle.