Once again Ben Reach found himself a judge for an end-of-season field trial as substitute for a no-show. He was comfortable with his fellow judge, what mattered most to Ben, until he arrived at the grounds to discover that that advertised Judge was also a no-show to be replaced by another man Ben had vowed never again to judge with.
The reason for the vow was the usual: he had lied to Ben about the conduct of a dog he was covering on a find when Ben was off covering the brace mate. He had reported to Ben that the dog had a clean find. Based on that, the dog was awarded first place. Afterward Ben had been told by a marshal and an unbiased gallery rider that the find was a stop-to-bump. When Ben confronted the lying judge he had admitted his lie. “What are friends for,” he had said when Ben asked him if he did it as a favor to the winning dog’s owner.
Ben considered leaving, refusing to judge. But he could not bring himself to do it when so many people he liked very much were depending on him. No, he would judge with the rascal. But how could he be sure he was not being lied to again?
Ben looked up the club officer who had asked him to judge. He was drinking coffee by the fire in the Club House. He explained his problem with his fellow judge. Then he asked, “Has any of your marshals got a Go Pro camera?”
The club officer got on his cell phone and in a few minutes reported to Ben, “Ronnie Cain has got a Go Pro camera with him.”
Ben found Ronnie saddling up in the barn and explained his request.
“I want you to stick to my fellow judge like glue and let him know the club has commissioned you to film every bit of bird work by his dog you witness. “
True to his assignment, Ronnie stuck with Ben’s fellow judge and kept his Go Pro active. He got close up coverage of every bit of dog work Ben’s fellow judged covered. When at the trial’s conclusion Ben met with his fellow judge to cast final votes on the placements, he had the digital photo record and Ben’s fellow judge knew it.
They had no trouble deciding the winners — they had decided them brace by brace as they ran.
When Ben prepared to leave, his fellow judge said, “It was good to be judging with you again, Ben” to which Ben said, “Have a safe trip home.”