“What is the noblest thing you ever saw a dog do here?”
The fellow asked his buddy as they watched the embers dim
Sitting before the fireplace at Chinquapin
The others had all gone to bed Read more
What Is
Category: Field Trial Recollections
A Lesson Learned from Marshall Loftin
I learned a lesson from Marshall Loftin.
It was at the Invitational at Paducah. Marshall was judging, I was reporting. Marshall had House’s Rain Cloud to watch. I rode close to Marshall, trying to learn. Read more
2018 Florida Championship
Segment of Tom’s American Field report for the 2018 Florida Open All-Age Championship detailing the finals performance of the champion, Lester’s Georgia Time, handled by Robin Gates and scouted by Tony Reynolds.
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One Find Champions
“It’s bird dog, not birds dog,” judge Andy Crowell said when I asked him how he and fellow judge Rich Robertson had chosen Lester’s Georgia Time as 2018 Florida Champion, handled by Robin Gates for Jim Clark and Baker Hubbard of Columbus, Georgia, with only one find, and that of a single hiding in a hedge row and found by the dog while it was regaining the front after a change in direction of its course. Andy explained that in an all-age stake it was race, not bird finding, that counted most. And Time’s race had been outstanding, all at the front and searching. Read more
Reflections on the Second Course at Chinquapin and “27”
It has been my privilege to report the Florida Open All-Age Championship at Chinquapin Farm each year since 1995. In those years I have watched many great performances by the best all-age dogs competing in four decades. The memories of those races are indelible, subject to recall when least expected, sometimes on waking in the night, sometimes when driving to an appointment, sometimes on seeing a dog’s or handler’s name Read more
2021 Florida Open All-Age Championship
Fifty-four dogs, including two English setters, were drawn for the Florida Open All-Age Championship, starting January 10, 2021 at Chinquapin Farm, Branford, Florida under the experienced eyes of judges Cecil Rester of Angie, Louisiana and Woody Watson of Leesburg, Georgia. Read more
Chinquapin
A magic place
For fifty years
For bird dog folk
Where quail live wild
Neath every pine
And run when pointed
Before they fly Read more
The Florida Championship or How I Became the Reporter
How was I ever so lucky
As to end up the Reporter
Of the Florida Open All-Age Championship?
Me born a mountain boy sheep farmer?
Luck pure Luck
The main force in my life
And I’ll bet in yours
Some good some bad of course Read more
Chinquapin in January’s Second Week
Chinquapin
Where it all begins
As dawn emerges from dark
And quail awake
From their huddled sleeping state Read more
2007 Florida Open All-Age Championship
Funseeker's Rebel Named 2007 Champion, House’s Snake Bite, Runner-Up, Chickasaw Bud, Top Qualifier
On the sandy hills of Chinquapin
A bird dog casts into the wind
With each breath he seines for scent
Of Bobwhite quail–that southern gent Read more