April 16 and 17, 2011 Sunshine State Coursing Club of Central Florida Field Trials, Altoona, FL
Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny, with the promise of a HOT HOT day! A bunch of fellow Ridgebackers got together for a great weekend of racing and good eats at Rocking Horse Ranch in Altoona! Robin Sasso and her girl, Zuri, Ginny Merchant and her gang - Esme, Strider and Deja and Matt and Denise Eberhard and their boy, Finn, were there to continue their quest for AKC Field Champion titles. First on the agenda were Qualifying Tests for 3 new hopefuls. Paula Alshouse's boy, Deputy, passed with flying colors, as did Joan Lipiac's boy, Jambo!! Annie Johnson's girl, Mosa, passed, but the jury is still out as to whether she's in it to win it!! All went on to compete in the trial, with Zuri winning Best of Breed! In addition to the regular trial, we had 43 dogs of various breeds running for their CAT (Coursing Aptitude Test) titles. This is a new program from the AKC - for more details, check out the AKC website! www.akc.org Only 4 of the dogs trying for their CAT failed to get excited over chasing the bunny; the rest were awesome and had great fun, as did their owners! As the day progressed, thanks to a delightful breeze, the weather was ABSOLUTELY PERFECT for coursing and we all had a super time! Between our two runs, we had a great picnic lunch back at our vehicles - YUM!!!
Sunday saw us back again, bright and early! No CAT tests today, so we all got right down to it and we finished the trial by 12:30!! Sunday was Esme's day! She won Best of Breed and came darn close to winning Best in Field! After a tie with the Greyhound, BIF was awarded to the Greyhound, but the judge said it was a close decision! Maybe next time! This is our last trial until the cooler Fall weather arrives. We would love to see more club members come and join the fun this fall!!
