“It was an amazing experience!” Andrea Wright
1st Autumn European Weimaraner Cup from the Weimaraner Club of Great Britain
By Sally Morgan
Thank you to everybody who offered support and encouragement for the WCGB team. It was a fabulous experience and we are so pleased the WCGB decided to enter a team and support the inaugural event.
I arrived with Adrian and Bolt on Wednesday to bright blue skies. The Tuscan location was amazing – the farmhouse complex was perched on a hilltop with panoramic views and the staff were incredibly helpful and friendly. Arriving early we were able to do some training with the Swedish team, while Kimm, Chris and Andrea arrived on Thursday.
We were all made very welcome by the Italians, including Simone Superbi, the Italian Club President and Sophia Joly the vice president. The atmosphere of the weekend was great – friendly and supportive and we loved the welcoming ceremony with the flags and national anthems – a great start to the event.
The first day was a pointing test in the morning (up steep slopes!) with the dogs allowed to run for 15 mins or so. Unlike our own pointing tests, dogs don’t get a second run so a lot rested on the single run, with some handlers getting cover crop and others fields of rough grass and thistle. The interesting bit at the end was the barrage where the qualified dogs ran in pairs on a cover crop so the judges could determine the ranking. The qualifications in the field gained points for the individual and team.
Group 1: judges Piva, Modonese, Sjostrom
1VG Snaiper Missy – Ted Karlsson
2VG Semper Adamas Shark Superb – Giulio Rigamonti
Group 2 :Junior Championship Cup judges Bachini Crudeli Lombardi Wilkinson
1VG Fala Love’a Albus Severus at Powershot – Cristina Soldati
Group 3: judges Frangini, Barzanó, Kugel
1VG Powershot C Altair – Martina Magnani
2VG Snaiper’s Thelma – Kadi Harjak
3VG Jekill – Pino Giancotti
CQN Skyttens Nektar Silver – Fredrik Jonsson
Mylo and Andrea – conformation test
The afternoon was a morphological verification (conformation test). Interestingly, for those who show, the judge sat ringside and scored each dog on head, general morphology and angles and occasionally asked a dog to move around the ring. Each of the three aspects is worth 4 points, so a maximum of 12, which is then divided by 10.
Italian dog – conformation test. Judge sitting by ringside
Last test of the day was the water test comprising a simple seen retrieve of pheasant from deep water for which Bolt, Tara and Mylo gained full marks (2 marks)
Water retrieve – Adrian and Bold waiting
Day 2 was a bit like a shot over day with two guns following each dog. Dogs had to find, point and flush birds. If the guns failed to shoot the bird, the judge threw cold game for the retrieve.
Group 1: Judges Piva, Modonese, Sjostrom
1exc Skyttens nektar Silver Fredrik Jonsson
2 exc Jekill Pino Giancotti
3 vg Snaiper’s Thelma Kadi Harjak
Group 2: Judges Bachini Crudeli Wilkinson
1 exc Semper Adamas Shark Superb Giulio Rigamonti
Group 3: Judges Frangini Lombardi Kugel
1exc Powershot C’Altair Martina Magnani – overall individual winner
2mb Felisin Diosa Deidre Tamara Van den Dam
Day 2 shot over – Andrea & Mylo
By the end the Italians won the team event and the individual dog, with the Swedes in second.
Day 2 – shot over. Andrea & Mylo working down steep side hillside cover crop grass and bramble thickets
A fascinating two days
Dogs trialling in the UK are expected to hunt well but be under control, steady on flush, have soft mouth and return the bird gently to hand. The Italians favour a hard hunting dog that covers a lot of ground and can work independently of its handler (something UK judges tend to refer to as self-employed) and they don’t seem to mind the dogs running in after flush or damaging the bird. We were frustrated by the fact that the handlers and observers did not follow the action in the gallery, but remained by the cars until called forward, so we didn’t see many of the dogs work. Hence most of my photos were taken with a very long lens from 300-500m distance!
Still Andrea’s run — worked pond margins and now on strip of cover crop
It was a truly sociable weekend and, for me, the best bit was meeting other Weimaraner handlers from across Europe.
Andrea Wright and Mylo
Many thanks to the Italian Weimaraner Club for running this great event and for the support from the other teams, without which the event would have never got off the ground. Following discussions between the Italian, Dutch, Swedish and GB representatives, it was agreed that the next event will take place in the Netherlands in 2020.
Team at the end, with thanks to sponsors CSJ, Field and Trial, Harbour Vetinary Services
Sally
Weimaraner Club of Great Britain
Pointing test – Croatian dog hunting hillside of grass and thistle
Andrea & Mylo on cover crop
