Robin and Rick

I had a phone conversation with Rick Furney this week that brought back vividly memories from the past quarter century and beyond, sweet memories of watching Robin and Rick compete head to head in field trials across the country. I first watched Robin handle at the Eastern Open Shooting Dog Championship at South Hill, Virginia, in 1976 when Hilmar won for Larry Moon and Alamance Pride was Runner-Up for Arthur Bean, and Robin handled a marvelous string of shooting dogs. That was forty-four years ago!

Then in 1995 I watched Robin again in the Florida Championship, won that year and the next by Double Rebel Buck for Fred Dileo. In 1997 I watched Rick win the Florida with House’s Shady Lady, his favorite as a ground worker and a favorite too of Judge Nathan Cottrell, especially for the way she patterned for Rick as he rode calmly just ahead of the judges singing her around. I recounted for Rick my memory of her third find in the hills to the left as we passed the clubhouse on the right and Rick’s good fortune when those birds left her (but in view of the judge) as Rick rode to her. We both remembered exactly where she stood and why it was fortunate the birds left early (Lady sometimes relaxed during flushing on a third find).

I interviewed Rick by phone for the report of that trial, our first conversation, and I remember the conversation as if it were yesterday. Rick was just getting started on the All-Age Circuit after being dog trainer on American Heritage Plantation (before that he’d worked for Mr. Evans as hunt manager on the 35,000 acre plantation managed by his father Mr. Coy Furney from which American Heritage, Abigail and Chickasaw were carved). As a second business Rick was operating an electric dog fence installation business in Albany.

Rick related how he and Robin had been pals and fierce competitors since childhood but always competed fairly. Rick also recounted how hard it was to compete with Robin for customers because of the magic of the Gates name in the sport. When I asked him why he chose the Circuit over a plantation job, he said memorably, “There is something about living in another man’s house and driving his truck and saddling his horse for him.”

Year after year following that I watched the two special friends compete at Chinquapin, Dixie, Paducah, Chickasaw, Coney Lake and elsewhere. They always put down great dogs, including for Rick Miller’s On Line, Miller’s Southern Pride, and Law’s High Noon, two of them National Champions. Robin had Silverwood, Joe Shadow, Flatwood Silver, National Champion In the Shadow and double National Champion Shadow Oak Bo. In the early years they worked together in summer at the Gates camp at Broomhill, Manitoba and later Rick had his own camp nearby. Through all the years they remained close friends.

In our call this week, Rick remembered in detail their call-back together at the National Championship which Rick won with On Line. “We agreed in advance to split the purse equally no matter which dog won. Robin called point for On Line. Afterwards he said with my owners listening, “ It was an honor to get called back with my forty pound bitch with that great sixty pound champion.”

Rick is devastated by Robin’s death, as are many. “Through all the years we were fierce competitors but always in a fair way. And no one could show a dog better or cover its holes better, and they all have holes. He was a master at coming up with a plan to beat you. And he could handle owners and match them to dogs better than any of us. He was the best in all aspects of our sport for a very long time.”