The 2024 Shirley Radburn National Working Tests for Novice and Open Flatcoated Retrievers took place on 30th June at the Packington Estate in Warwickshire by kind permission of Lord and Lady Guernsey.
A raffle was held to raise money for a charity nominated by our hosts, Yellow Wellies – the Farm Safety Foundation. Yellow Wellies is a UK wide independent registered charity which aims to to preserve and protect the physical and mental well being of young farmers. Thanks to the generosity of both our competitors and our helpers and to the largesse our sponsors YuMove, Sporting Saint, Muntjac Trading and Lez Graham (author of the Pet Gundog books) a total of £300 was raised which will go to Yellow Wellies.
Our judges were Paula Cullis, Stephen Cullis, Francesca Prentice and Graham Clelland and we are grateful to each of them for generously giving up their time to judge for us.
The tests attracted a good entry this year with 21 running in Novice (after three unavoidable withdrawals) and 11 in Open(again after three unavoidable withdrawals). Some challenging tests were set for our dogs by Paula Cullis and Stephen Cullis, making excellent use of the ground available which included white grass, marsh grass, ditches and undulating terrain, a small gully and a water course.
On the day, after the hottest week of the year, we had cooler temperatures and a light, swirling breeze.
The tests set were:
Test 1: was a two dog walk up/drive testing heel work, steadiness and hunting, with the dogs walking forward as if into a shooting field where a drive was in progress. A number of shots where fired and dummies thrown into marsh grass. The Novice dogs were sent in turn, over a ditch, to hunt the grass and retrieve two dummies each out of six. The Open dogs had a similar scenario but were sent to pick not from the drive in front of them but blinds placed to the left and right.
Test 2: for the Novice dogs was a marked retrieve into cover followed by a memory retrieve placed as the dog returned. The hazard here was a gully and stream behind the cover, out of sight of the handler, who had to stop their dog from hunting the water! The Open dogs a had a longer marked retrieve and as they returned to the handler a shot was fired honouring a blind retrieve. The dogs then had to be sent out and pushed back over the gully, up a bank, to hunt for a blind in cover on the far side of the gully.
Test 3: was a water test with a mark across a water course and a mark on the bank. Both were picked as memories. The novice dogs picked the mark across the water first. The Open dogs picked from the bank first and covered longer distances.
Test 4: was a hunting and handling exercise based on another shooting scenario, with the dogs asked to pick two blinds, representing shot rabbits, from a ditch of marsh grass. The novice dogs had a walking gun and ground shot as a draw. The Open dogs covered a greater distance with a tighter angle.
The Novice tests ran in the morning and were hotly contested with four dog tied for 2nd to 5th place. After a run off the following awards were made:
1st Garry Ellison with his bitch Ollersett Shimmering Nymph,
Garry was also awarded the Nationals Novice Salver and the Houndswood Novice Trophy
2nd Sue Rogers with her bitch Signy Never Touching Ground,
3rd Helen Fox with her dog Satinbaze Cracksman for Blacktoft JW (AI)
4th Charlotte Wear with her bitch Keveral Mouse and
A COM was awarded to David Foster and his bitch Kenynten Styx
The Open Tests were held after lunch.
After a run off for 3rd and 4th places the following awards were made:
1st Keith Manley and his bitch Brickley Blossom At Lenyam.
Keith was awarded the Nationals Open Salver and the Houndswood Open Trophy
2nd Jane Manley with her bitch Lenyam Kite
3rd Jacqui Crew with her dog Casblaidd Chizel,
4th Rachel Birch with her bitch Varingo Magic Of Light, and
A COM was awarded to Malcolm Awty and his bitch Maddistream Raj Red and
A COM was awarded Charlotte Wear with her bitch Keveral Kracka
The tests were sponsored by Skinner’s who provided vouchers for those placed 1st-3rd.
In addition to those in the awards it was very pleasing to see handlers and dogs coming through from the new FCRS Working Flatcoated Retriever Development Programme, with four handlers who have gained their WFRDP Level 1 out competing today. We also had one WFRDP “graduate” who came along to help out and witness a working test in progress. Other helpers were also new or relatively new to the sport and, we hope, left inspired. Some of the helpers were new to our breed but were delighted to see the dogs out competing. Days like these do not happen without the goodwill and generosity of spirit of all those who volunteered (or agreed) to turn out to help on the day, stewarding, throwing dummies, placing blinds or sorting out refreshments and catering and we are indebted to them all. Thank you!
Above photos by kind permission of Sarah Young.
This section of photos are by kind permission of Penny Simpson.
This section of photos are by kind permission of Derek Churchard
