HUGE CONGRATS to Blair and Jean Holzer for their 4th Place finish in the GSPCA National Amateur Field Trial Stake with their "pupper"  

FC AFC Holzer's Desert Willow!

That 4th Place finish came from a Stake of 81 Shorthairs! Impressive finish in such a large stake of some of the VERY BEST GSP's in the Nation!

Thanks guys!!! It was another incredible trip. This year I thought Willow's first series run was better than last year's, whereas her second series run was better last year. She didn't handle as well the first half of the 45 min brace as she usually does. She intended to check every friggin tree in Kansas and made it clear to me that she was going to come with us when she was good and satisfied she hadn't left birds behind. She bolted off the line following the same line we took for first series and headed out to the closest tree line - which would be fine if the course went that way, but it turned 90 degrees left. I had to scout her up and found her down in a big hole (reminiscent of last year) standing on a covey of bobbies. The gallery, judges and Blair were about 400 yds out and I screamed my brains out "DOG STANDING" and waved my hat like an idiot for what seemed like forever. Finally the gallery relayed the message and they came ripping over. I have to say Willow's bird work was flawless, she never flinched on any of her birds, even though she had to stand this first one for probably 7 min or so. So we recast her and intended to haul butt and catch up, and she promptly finds another bird. Worked that one, took off and caught up. She had a third find and then a non-productive. She beat it to the trees again (a recurring theme) and I had to scout her up again - found her in the pond getting wet and getting a drink, then off to the races again. She finished the brace going away, just as strong or stronger than her breakaway. Honestly it wasn't her best work, but it was still pretty nice.

The winner - Rusty (NAFC/AFC Reo Pawnee) belongs to our friend Don Dalton, who is also relatively new to the sport. He had a great run and Blair and I both had him in first, which he refused to believe. The night before the second series, we had made tenative plans to breed Rusty and Willow on Willow's next cycle, so that's the plan! I told Don it was a good thing I told him I liked that dog for her before the win or he would think that was the only reason I was interested. He has always been consistent, and like Willow matured quickly and started doing very well in trials at a very young age. Plus he's just a nice, nice dog and well put together.

This is a great sport we're in, with wonderful people and the town of Eureka always takes good care of us.

Off to bed,

Jean

GREAT REPLAY! Sounds like she got it done well Jean! Sounds like you had a wild ride Scouting too!!!
Win pix?
Hope I didn't overstep posting up the Congrats before you had a chance to brag. I was pretty excited for ya's for doing so well.

Overstep? Certainly not! We just rolled in last night, so I have to locate the camera somewhere in the camper and get photos uploaded. I'll post soon as I can.

And yes, it sure was a wild ride scouting for her - was last year too. The horse I ride for scouting is our baby. He's only 4 now (so 3 last year) and he was one tired, sweaty, panting baby by the end of that 45 minutes.

Jean

Cool - a breeding with not only a couple of my favorite dogs, but some of my favorite people in the sport too!

Congratulations Jean and Blair!

Doris

Thanks Doris and Dan! They should be nice pups if we're fortunate enough to get her to take. I found out after her last (failed) breeding that the stud has come up sterile, so I have more hope now.

Hope Virgil does well for Terry!!

Photos are up - the few we got anyway, although I haven't added any text or captions yet, that will probably be this coming weekend. Check the website out. www.desertrosekennel.com

We couldn't stay for the futurity - this whole job and time off thing really gets in the way of field trialing! So I don't know what "the excitement" was - pm me!

Jean