The Vizsla Club of America 2009 Field Nationals

November 1-7 at Cloverdale Farms; Danville, Virginia

Hosted by the Old Dominion Vizsla Club           Written by Diana Boggs

AUTUMN by Emily Dickinson

The morns are meeker than they were

The nuts are getting brown

The berry’s cheek is plumper

The rose is out of town.

The maple wears a gayer scarf

The field a scarlet gown

Lest I should be old-fashioned,

I’ll put a trinket on.

And so in keeping with tradition, the VCA put on their Championship autumnal trinket for seven days at the Cloverdale Farm of southern Virginia; wearing it proudly beneath the foggy haze of warming Indian summer dawns, with bright leaves drifting slowly down on the carpet of competition for courting warriors. Winds of mischief practiced their winter song with fickle fingers of fate or luck… amidst the dying goldenrod, harvested corn fields, pokeberry vines, blackberry briars, pines & hardwood that would successfully hide the quail & chukar in tree lines that were surrounded by large cultivated & upland fields which are exclusively used for AKC (American Kennel Club) & AF (American Field) Championship field trialing.

Cloverdale came into the Leggett family in 1935 & originally consisted of 1500 acres. Time and the splitting of the family lands still utilize 1100 acres effectively for classic field trialing. The Leggett family is a third-generation AF field trial family. Their primary sporting dog interest is the English Setter & the All-Age venue.

Not satisfied with top class grounds, Fred Leggett has created a complete paradise for today’s field trialers. There are many permanent camping spots with electric. There are corrals for horses to rest & a small lake. The centerpiece of Cloverdale Farm is “The Barn” which sets high on the great hill and whose entrances proudly boast “Dogs & Muddy Feet Are Welcome”. Inside of “The Barn” is a warm, luxurious, rustic gathering place with dual firesides, dining tables, living rooms, kitchen, patios where wooden rocking chairs picnic tables were lined up in two rows, toasting inside the sun-room & upstairs in the ethereal banquet room. “The Barn” has hosted field trials for many decades where many competitors of old wore suit & tie to handle their dogs. As “The Barn” currently stands, it was remodeled in 2000 & features a towering carved bear as a centerpiece.

Perhaps the best part of Cloverdale Farm is Mr Fred Leggett, himself. His quiet & confident manner bespoke his true southern charm & his family’s deep roots inside of high-class field trialing. He did seem to find Vizsla people as charming & enjoyable. We certainly saw a lot of gentlemanly pride as appreciation to Mr Leggett for providing such a grand place to field trial.

Fred Leggett also understood that to capture a Championship aura, one had to have a great photo. Each night he displayed his wonderful photos on his laptop. Then he gave them away & shared with all the true beauty that is field trialing. He was greatly amused with the Porta-Potty that appeared in one of the Vizsla senior competitor’s truck bed, an event that was received with hilarity by everyone on the grounds, including its so-called "victim". A national bow and curtsy go to Field Trial Chair- Grace Ann Lawson, Field Trial Secretary- Terri Lucas, The Field Trial Committee consisting of Mary Allen, Tony Smid, Don Brown, Al Lucas, Dave Pomfret, Jack Sharkey & Howard Shultz also deserved accolades. Not to be left out of national southern gratuity the Gunners proudly claim the largest of bows for their superior marksmanship & competitive shooting between each other by creating a healthy companionable bantor as to “who shot who”. Gunners were Captain of The Guns- Danny Gooch, Don Brown, Al Lucas Sr, Thomas Digney, Tim Carwile, Tony Smid & Dave Pomfret. Marshalls were Captain of Marshalls- Julia Bonar, Tim Carwile, Mark Smith, Howard Shultz, Al Lucas, Mary Allen, & Tony Smid. Bird planters were Dave Pomfret, Grace Ann Lawson, Danny Gooch,………………. & the horse wrangler. Becky Smith & Trish Burdin ably maintained the dog wagon. Fred Leggett, Jim Rowell & Jerry Jordan drove the gallery wagon tractor. A special bow goes to Jim Rowell who did the most tractor driving & catering to the ladies who later commented about him being such a good farmer. Whereupon Jim stepped out of the tractor & proudly exclaimed “I’m not a Farmer, I’m a Lover”! And of course we all smiled graciously, for Jim’s patience  despite the pesky persistent ladies who ride the wagon are really one-rut individuals for “Let’s Go & Let’s Go RIGHT Now”. Another special bow goes to Karen Bertke for her Hospitality & Texas Hold’em games that were quite the favorite.

A curtsy or bow is due to Shella Fuhrman & Terry Lucas for their Raffle auctions, Mark Johnson for Hay Collection, Trish James for meal sign-ups/collection, Ben Zahn for meal sign-ups, Margie Howard for decorations, Bonnie Sullivan for hospitality, Trish Burdin for hospitality/dog wagon & Britt Jung & Linda Kelly for Qualifying On Line judge. The Derby Calcutta was Tuesday evening. Top bid was around $265 going to Audra Jacobi Jaconetti whose big bet paid off when her wager on Calli won. The Calcutta raised $2150. Many thanks to auctioneer Clint Sails.

There was plenty of youth present from placing competition to future competitors, two of whom tried mightily to compose bracing narratives for Derby whilst riding the wagon before they fell asleep… to the miniature field trialers who nimbly danced across The Barn’s lawns. Not to be outdone by smaller peoples, the AKC Rep signed up Michayle Syczylo for AKC Field Junior Handling. Sister Carlie only has to wait until she is nine before she too can join. The youth inside of field trial competition was no slouch either with youth having a major part of developing the two National Championships, as well as the Derby Classic winner.

The courses were composed of large cultivated cornfields & upland habitat with at least two narrow cuts where dogs had to be under control to get to the larger fields that followed. There were medium to heavy tree lines that unrelenting briars crowned themselves as king. The course distinctly suited the AF style of competition of rimming the edges, as some cover was very high. Also the briars were unforgiving as if to “punish” dog, scout & handler for coming near. However, despite the high cover & naughty briars, there proved many opportunities for dogs to showcase pieces of Championship accomplishments. One corner was named “Farley’s Edge” from Barry Bassingthwaite’s Farley always knowing there was a bird inside a corner of “that” edge.

The Vizsla trait of digging into cover cost more than a few, their dreams of National Vizsla glory. More than one handler and judge would crawl under the briars to locate game as those pesky briars would not easily reveal the birding treasures to be pointed out. The dogs that did well learned quickly to point birds in brush with them standing outside it. One of the things that Mr Leggett mentioned is that AF field trialers usually would call their dog to them at the head of the pass & heal them quickly off horseback through the narrow cuts to release them on the other side.

It would be remiss to not paraphrase the suggestion that one of the judges had for administrating our National Field Championships. One judge suggested that the retrieving be done in the first series (30 minutes) and only those dogs that successfully retrieved would go on to the 45 minute Second Series. He allowed that his suggestions would showcase first retrieving, then stamina, application & style & would not allow smart handlers to “rest” their dogs while retrieving.

Mention should also be made of Barry Bassingthwaite’s generous trophy contribution to the National Championship winners with silver & gold inscribed fancy belt buckles. Barry wanted to repay the VCA for giving him the opportunity to participate & win their events. The belt buckles looked phenomenal. Thank you Barry.

Southern kudos to Mimi Baker painted Vizsla portraits on slices of agate, which were mounted on wood for the VCA trophies. Mimi did all of the 2009 National Trophies for Field, Show, Obedience & Agility as she also did the trophies (portraits painted on agates) for the VCA Carolina Nationals in 2003.

THE VCA NATIONAL FIELD CHAMPIONSHIP- Denes Burjan Memorial Traveling Trophy

Ed Hart recently from Dayton, Ohio & Ed Kerr from Berlin, New Jersey were judges of the VCA National Field Championship. Ed Kerr has field trialed over 40 years with Brittanys & judged 35 Championships, nine classics, five futurities & countless weekend field trials. Ed Hart, like his judging partner has been in bird dogs for forty years. Ed too has judged Championships, including the AKC Gun Dog Championship. Tim Carwile was Judges’ Marshall & Scribe. The stake boasted 54 entrants. Competing entrants had 45 Field Champions (AFC & FC), six National Championships, eight Dual Champions & one BISS (Best In Specialty Show). At this competition the judges made a typical AF move on Monday night by announcing a Leader Board the night before all of the dogs been selected for the Second Series.

THE VCA NATIONAL DERBY CLASSIC- 

Count Bela Hadik Memorial Traveling Trophy

Gus Allimonos & Jesse Chapman (Nova, Ohio) judged the Derby Classic. Gus, from Tabernacle, New Jersey has been in bird dogs for forty years. He has judged AKC & AF Field Trials. Jesse Chapman has been field trial judging for five years. Don’t let that short tenure affect Jesse’s potential to judge & do it well. He is married to Sandra Chapman, daughter of Jim Basham (all-breed professional) who has been in bird dogs for nearly fifty years. Jesse Chapman shows great promise as a judge and professional competitor by his Ohio peer group. Howard Shultz was the Derby Judges’ Marshall. Mark Johnson was the Derby scribe. The VCA National Derby Classic had 28 entries.

Frank Vicari (Hampshire, Illinois) and Art Cohen judged the VCA National Amateur Championship. Frank packs major bird dog accomplishments through 35 years of field trialing & judging the very highest of class in German Shorthaired Pointers. Art Cohen of Glen Rock, Pennsylvania has field trialed Brittanys for 35 years. He too has judged the AKC Pointing Dog Championship. Mark Smith was Judges’ Marshall & Scribe. There were thirty-eight entrants. Of those entrants there were 38 FC & AFC titles, five VCA National titles, six Dual Champions & one BISS titled dog.

On Sunday November 8, a day after the field trial concluded all that was left after the hustle & bustle of people, vehicles, trailers, birds, dogs & glory was a flock of gossiping blackbirds sitting on a telephone line nearby two mated pumpkins (with their names painted on) sitting in front of the trash bin. We know what this year’s National had to say about their event. Wonder what the birds & the pumpkins had to say about us?

See y’all next year in Nebraska for the

VCA & AKC Vizsla 50th Anniversary Celebration.