Fred Freeze was a genius at training pointing dogs, of a certain sort. Very smart ones, the ones who understood what field trials were all about. Not necessarily the most athletic or naturally talented, but those that could be taught to leverage the talents of a bracemate. And none had been so well suited to Fred Freeze’s methods as Candice, a pointer female who learned tricks from Fred like a circus performer. Read more
Blog
Rivals
They had been fierce rivals twenty years. Too fierce some said. The rivalry came to a head in the National Amateur Quail Championship run that year on the King Ranch.
They had been top amateur handlers for years now, competing all over the country in regional championships with all-age dogs they bred and trained themselves. Like others in the top echelon, the semi-pros Ben Reach called them, they were serious as a heart attack about winning, so much so that many competitors dreaded being braced with them. They were generally good sportsmen, unless your dog was a threat to win; then sportsmanship went out the window, and you best be on the lookout, or so rumor had it.
Read more
Luke
My friend Luke Weaver died today
His best friend Bubba called to say
We shared memories of our friend
A friend to all who came his way
Luke had a gift for friendship
And a gift for fun
If you were with him you’d be laughing
As sure as you were breathing Read more
Lambing Time
On our small farm
In Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains
Lambing time commenced
On Christmas Eve
The pregnant ewes
Were gathered in
Our barn with third-cutting alfalfa hay
In the manger down the middle
Read more
Setter Derby On His String ~ Part Three
At the cook out on the grounds Saturday Night
He heard lots of praise for Sal
But no one offered to buy her
And leave her on his string
Though two other handlers echoed Willie Koonce Read more
Setter Derby On His String ~ Part Two
Morning came early
And with it the Open Derby
Sal had the second brace
He rode the first so he’d know
Where the birds were being placed Read more
Setter Derby On His String ~ Part One
He was dead tired When he reached the one-course grounds Where starting tomorrow He would run The dogs on his string First he removed his two mounts From the trailer he’d pulled From two states away Behind the old pickup Led them to stalls hung them some hay Then he stretched the chain On the ground neath the shed One by one snapped his dogs’ collars To the links in Read more
The Genius
He was a genius, no doubt about it. He had the riches to prove it. His genius was not in invention, but in seeing before others how inventions could be applied. Time after time this had led him to buy into successful technology companies before they became publicly owned, either through initial public offerings or recently via the SPAC route.
Read more
Arthur and Sam
December 26, 1975: in the arcane world of horseback shooting dog competition, it was the best of times and the worst of times... Read more
When I Was Young
When I was young
I hunted quail
Behind bird dogs
With level tails Read more