A short run for Sam in the rain before driving off to the Woodall Park Spring Pointing. Both Jim’s Ben and my Sam ran poorly. Home via our election district to hear that Norwich lost another football match.
We heard that the Bosnian Serbs seem to be pulling back from a final assault on Goradsne following the latest UN/NATO threats of air strikes
It was after 7.00am by the time Diana called me with my morning tea because she now takes the view that Debbie can get herself up for school on a Saturday. I was troubled to see that it was pouring with rain and had some difficulty finding a dry spell to give Sam a small run before I had eaten my breakfast and loaded him into the car ready to go.
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My destination was between Stevenage and Hertford near Stapleford, and I was there in good time for the preparation, but it was still raining. I opted for some plastic waterproofs in place of the stylish Barbour’s and wax proofs that the others were wearing but I kept dry and, when the sun came out later, I could roll them up and put them in the back of my waistcoat and keep comfortable. As chance would have it, I was the first to run with Jim the second and it was still raining and almost still, when we scrambled onto two straw bales on the back of an open pick-up to make our way over to start.
Difficult conditions for Sam but that was no excuse for his performance in two runs: morning and afternoon. He just ran to please himself and went forward and beyond my influence and then did the same thing in the afternoon so that he was wrongly positioned for the eventual pair of partridges that he missed and were flushed by us following him up. Jim was given three tries in all and ran well but also missed a pair and could not get the grading he wanted even though he was desperate to succeed. The senior judge was from Holland and was very strict and probably used to a higher standard of dogs for he had criticisms for all the junior dogs and handlers.
Mine was forecastable but he thought that Jim's Ben had something wrong with its conformation and co-ordination of front and back legs such that it was rocking as it ran and this rather shook him. Even more out of control than Sam was a new dog of experienced handler and breeder, Jerry Kew, whose young dog import had been in quarantine for six months as an excuse. We did have the youngest two dogs there and I still hope that I can get Sam working better for me.
A long day that did not finish until early evening there and so back quite late. I did drive by Percy's house and also the wards of Buckden and Offord’s and was pleased at the poster display. Then on the telephone late with Terry Clough reviewing his Buckden campaign. Norwich lost another football match today and seem to have lost their way as well. The Bosnian Serbs seem to be pulling back from a final assault on Goradsne following the latest UN/NATO threats of air strikes.