They drew if fair
And they drew it square
The second course
In the morning
The one you want
If you got enough dog
And a scout
Well-mounted and sharp-eyed
The course that begins
At the foot of that steep sandy hill
At the top of which lies
Buck’s bones
Where from the crest
A judge can see a dog’s cast
Through a half mile of hills
Covered in wiregrass brimming with quail
Where if your dog goes
Fast and deep to the front
He can look like a million bucks — But
If he don’t, he looks like junk
‘Cause in that space
Feeds twenty wild coveys by Slade’s count
And if your dog’s got the nose
And the brains and the class
He can cinch it in the first quarter hour
But they seldom do
For when they are fresh
They’re more run than hunt
And more likely to go by ‘em than stop
His dog today is all hunt
From release to pick up
And he’s got no let up or quit
The kind you need at Chinquapin
The handler and scout have been partners two years
Their deal is to split
Their purses 50-50
So their incentives align it would seem
But in field trials
As in life
Things are not
Always as they seem
Twelve are call back for the finals
Three morning, three afternoon
Many are bitter
But those with no entries think they got it ‘bout right
* * * * *
They turn him loose at 9:30
He drives to the front
Up the gut on the left
In clear sight of all, and stands half way to the fence at the hilltop
Handler lifts cap and yells “Point”
Canters to his dog standing high and tight
Dismounts and flushes
Birds lift and pistol cracks, all is in order
That is one in the book at 8 minutes
Scout waters him and releases him for the restart
Handler mounted beside him hits his whistle
He bounds ahead hunting
He scores again on the hill top
Where Silverwood did in 2002
Handler rides to him and swings down
Flushes and birds fly — that’s two-dog’s a statue
Now the gallery rides quiet
Only thing heard is clomp clomp and tinkle of bit chains
And handler’s song ahead
Bracemate is lost — his handler gets tracker
Call of point comes from the corner
Where course turns east toward the highway
Course slopes gently down from the left to the fence
A mile to show him and birds to be pointed
Handler and scout make quick work of the find at the corner-clean
That’s three in the books good race so far
Now is where the dog needs to reach and reach far
He does and is seen at the front always reaching enough
Handler calls him in to a trough under power lines over gate on the highway
He jumps in and cools off which he needs
Then he’s off to the front again reaching and hunting
Handler singing on course behind him–scout dragging fence by highway
They reach the left turn 90 degrees away from highway
He turns to handler’s horse as he should and reaches for the new front
One more find at the front and a finish and he’ll be the Champion
Handler’s hat is lifted at 55
Judges and gallery canter to him
Dog stands majestic — he’s got ‘em
Birds fly pistol cracks — all in order
Now for the finish
Scout empties his last detergent bottle to cool him
Turns him loose at 58
He’s off sprinting down the hill and out of sight
Judges call time and say, “You have got 19 minutes to show him”
Scout and handler canter after him
But he has disappeared
They search and search as minutes tick away, but can’t find him
Then, just as all expect to hear “Gone too long”
A judge who has ridden off to a hilltop
Yells, “I got him”
He’s next seen on the dog truck
When all twelve call-backs have run
He is named Champion
His scout’s dog that went in the first finals brace
Is named Runner-up
The night after that
The Champion’s handler got a phone call
From the judge that rode to the hill top and saw the Champion just in time
“Your scout had your dog on a rope when I saw him” said the judge and hung up
That’s what ended that scouting partnership