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A spotted brown and a spotted black English Setter running

Field Trialling with Pointing Dogs

The sport of field Trialling with Pointing Dogs in South Africa is 105 years old. The South African Field trial Club was founded in 1908. It was a logical development out of wingshooting over pointing dogs. Claims by owners of dogs or their naturally biased friends as to who owned the best gundog could be settled until the next Field Trial.

The formation of the Border Field Trial Club followed in 1945, the Natal Field Trial Club in 1980 and our Western Cape Field Trial Club in 2000. It is ironic that we are the newest kids on the block given that there is a proud history of wingshooting over pointing dogs in the Western Cape, especially in the Overberg.

The most important aspect of our trials is that it is on natural game under normal hunting conditions. We do try to make the best of the prevailing climatic conditions, but do not have trials under contrived circumstances in homogenous fields. (An example of this would be that if a certain beat can be run into the wind, it will if logistically possible, etc.)

Trial Design

Our trials are designed so that a championship dog on average gets about one to one and a half hours of exposure to the panel of judges from its commencement until the stake is complete. This is done in rounds and is subject to a draw until round three.

Thus the names of the competing dogs are drawn in pairs taking care that they belong to different handlers. They are taken to a suitable venue. The duration of the time that a brace of 2 dogs is down is announced prior to the commencement of the round (10-20 minutes on average). Each contestant is handed a gun. Game is not shot, merely saluted. They are asked to proceed on foot.

There are 3 judges and a field steward. Generally one judge each ‘tags’ a handler and the Chief Judge aspires to get as much of an overall view as possible. At the end of a round (all the braces) the performances are discussed by the judges and the dogs with eliminating faults (such as chasing, breaking to shot, etc.) are left out of the draw for the next round of braces.

People with their dogs in the early morning mist

After the first two rounds dogs can be eliminated for faults less severe than the described eliminating faults. At the end of the two or more day trial the aim is to decide which few dogs in what order would one take along to hunt that terrain under those circumstances for those days. It’s as simple as that.

I would take that dog, then that one and that one and then those two for spares”, is what the panel is actually saying at the conclusion of the stake.

The verdict is reached by consensus.

Judges look for dogs that hunt energetically with enthusiasm, make good use of the wind, terrain and circumstances. It must complement the handler and be in harmony with him or her. It must master the birds and serve them to the gun in a practical way. Style is important but not the be-all and end-all – it must be pleasing.

Logo of the National Field Trial Association

British Breed Field Trials

The British breeds trials have a long and rich history in this country and have been the sole domain of the National Field Trial Association (previously the South African Field Trial Club), under whose auspices the field trials have been run and a breed registry established.

The National Field Trial Association (NFTA) currently runs five British Breed trials a year. Five of these trials are run and hosted by the member clubs throughout SA in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Free State/KwaZulu-Natal, and Mpumalanga, and the winner of each of these trials is designated as a Field Trial Champion (FT Ch). The final trial of the year is the National Championship Trial, in which the top winning dogs from that trial year compete for the ultimate title – that of National Field Trial Champion (Nat FTCh)!

The “Nationals” are held yearly and are hosted by a different club in different regions each year. The awards earned in all of these trials are tabulated and used for ranking purposes for the awarding of the Dog of the Year title and National Colours. The Dog of the Year is the top-ranked dog and National Colours are awarded to the National Championship Winner as well as the top three highest ranking dogs. Those dogs awarded National Colours may represent SA in international events.

When dogs from SA have been able to compete in the World Championships, they have done so admirably, but monetary constraints and quarantine restrictions have made it impossible for teams to compete in recent years. We certainly hope that will change soon!