OPEN TEST WITH WATER
ISENHURST ESTATE, CROSS IN HAND, EAST SUSSEX
By kind permission of Clive and Gilly Nickols
Judges: Gilly Nickols, Mary Jane Opie, Gwen Butcher, Martin Bagg
1st Garrethall Quartz – Barry Harvey
2nd Brockweir Pipit – Inger Alexanderson
3rd Swaine Distichum – Verona Clatworthy
4th Bedgebrook Never Say Never to Wylanbriar – Diana Stevens
COM: Turnerbrook Oak – Sophie Mills
Rainy day as per everywhere else 
Started spiting, then started raining and ended up absolutely hurling it down.
5 good strong tests for a decent sized field. Test was run alongside a Novice test with water.
Test 1: Double. Mark at about 150 yards up a valley through a heavily wooded and brambled area. Blind no shot back up in similar area.
Test 2: Blind with shot over a lake on the diagonal. Started well back from the edge. Dummies placed round so dog to go there and back on the water.
Test 3: Mark down a grass ride. Blind to be picked first up a steep hill through wood.
Test 4: Two dog walk up down a bracken and heather hill above lake. Shot over the lake with blind retrieve. Dog one sent over to pick. Walk on, then shot and dog two sent over to pick from a different area so no copy cat following to same area
Test 5: Heavy drive with dummies into lake and beaters dogs sent to retrieve them. Then turn around and one by one, 8 in line, sent in different directions over a lake, left and right to pick from two seperate areas.
Bondy went well. Few hiccups to work on and some good stuff too. Scrunching my toes at a couple of handler errors which cost us…well…cost us dear with only 3 marks between the top 4 dogs. Fish pulled a zero for Allan fumbling the dummy and it hitting the ground on test two, so that was them relegated to the numpty corner (his words!)
Really enjoyed this run of water tests but looking forward to running the boys in a Brace test on saturday this coming week.
Huge huge thanks to the UGS kent & E Sussex and for all the helpers who stood out in the rain all day for us to play with our dogs on the wonderful Isenhurst estate! All competitors are so grateful!
