Blog

Avoiding the Second UP

January 26, 2018 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments
It was the dread of every field trialer — the second UP. In this case the dread meant much more than usual. Floating Mary was running in the last brace of the Lee County Open All-Age. Ben Reach and a fellow from Virginia — I forget his name — were judging. The stake up to now had been mediocre at best. But Mary was laying down a hell of a Read more

Priceless Memories

January 18, 2018 | Field Trial Recollections | Comments
Field trials have brought me priceless friendships. Among the most cherished was with Ed Mack Farrior and his lovely wife Floyd. They arose from an invitation to report and later judge the National Amateur Free-For-All Championship at Union Springs. Read more

The End of the Trial

January 5, 2018 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments
It was a situation Ben had encountered often in his long career as a field trial judge, but its ending would be truly memorable. Time had expired with both dogs out of sight at the front. Handlers and scouts rode in search, hoping to find their dog pointed. Success could mean victory, for the brace, the last of the Championship, had also been the best. Each dog had scored two Read more

The Finalist ~ conclusion

January 1, 2018 | Short Stories | Comments
The runoff brace began after lunch. Three hundred were riding. Soon it was apparent conditions were ideal, the dogs closely matched, and the derbies were in a duel. First Bud, then Melissa, scored on the limb. At thirty minutes down each had scored three finds, not a bobble. Then a twenty minute dry spell, followed by two rapid finds by each dog. The judges had set no time limit for Read more

The Finalist

December 31, 2017 | Short Stories | Comments
John Pace got the word on his return home to Georgia from North Dakota where he had spent July and August training pointers. Six to nine months to live. The end would likely come quickly, until it did he would likely be able to work. He took the news philosophically, for there was no other way to take it. He had no children, his wife had died two years ago. Read more

Handler: The Life of Fred Dileo ~ Chapter Four

December 29, 2017 | Fred Dileo | Comments
How did Fred Dileo become a handler? From the bottom up, starting with nothing, fueled by determination and a desire to learn. He traveled to Texas after high school, worked in construction a while, then on a dude ranch. His mother had given him a Setter pup during high school. He trained it to hunt on pheasants on a state wildlife management area near his home and skipped school to Read more

Handler: The Life of Fred Dileo ~ Chapter Three

December 28, 2017 | Fred Dileo | Comments
Three essential ingredients make a handler: Mentors, owners, dogs. These ingredients plus talent and work, tempered by dedication, or determination. On these Fred Dileo built his career. Then on the personal side, there was Patricia, the love of his life, and Taylor, his daughter, much like him in personality and equestrian skills and like her mother, a beauty. Riding at Chinquapin in 1995 to watch his Double Rebel Buck was Read more