Tag: Florida Open All-Age Championship

2002 Florida Open All-Age Championship

September 18, 2018 | Field Trial Championships, Field Trial Reports | Comments
Silverwood Captures Crown, Double Rebel Pearl Named Runner-Up In a race that will be retold as long as any who saw it can faintly remember, ten-year-old pointer multichampion Silverwood scorched the second course at Chinquapin Farms, scored four perfect finds and unleashed a spectacular finishing drive that carried him a mile beyond the usual finish to capture the Florida Open All-Age Crown for handler Robin Gates and owner Dr. Everett Crouch. Read more

Races ~ 5

August 30, 2018 | Prose | Comments
None who saw it Will forget it Silverwood’s hour at Chinquapin In January 2002 If an hour race Can be called magic This one was it Plus it was Hunter’s first year as scout The judges were Luke Weaver And Vernon Vance The bracemate Last year’s Champion Million Dollar Man Read more

Joy and Escape

May 17, 2018 | Prose | Comments
Every soul learns Leaving childhood behind That survival requires An escape that brings joy Without that escape Worry and care Grind one down Like a carborundum wheel stone Read more

Special Stage

April 17, 2018 | Prose | Comments
Among the pleasures of age Remembering places we love Visiting them in mind’s eye Seeing old friends there as well Many such places lie In my memory bank Ready to revisit By simply closing my eyes I can see Course Two at Chinquapin With handlers and horses waiting At the foot of Buck’s Hill To hear a judge say let ‘em go See two pointers sprint Up that hill and Read more

Mike Furcolow Remembered

April 10, 2018 | Remembrances | Comments
I first met Mike at the 1995 Florida Open All-Age Championship where I had come to report my first trial and Mike had come to watch his Double Rebel Buck, Continental Champion of 1994, to be handled by Fred Dileo. Buck won, and would repeat in 1996, with Mike again watching. Over several ensuing years I would see Mike and his wife Terri Daniel at the Florida and the Continental Read more

Handler: The Life of Fred Dileo ~ Chapter One

December 26, 2017 | Fred Dileo | Comments
This is the story of a man who began with nothing and reached the pinnacle of his profession at age forty-six, only to be struck down in a senseless vehicle accident. His profession was all-age pointing dog trainer-handler, an obscure calling unknown to all but a few. Yet, among the small cadre of field trialers scattered across North America, the profession carries a mystique, and its top practitioners are deeply Read more

The Little Brown Bird

December 7, 2017 | Prose | Comments
For twenty-two years Life has given me An annual week That renews The second week in January I enter a world Where the parts of nature I love most Surround me Where wiregrass on ridged sand Tall pines here and there And a little brown bird We call quail thrive At dawn they whistle To greet one another From where they slept Tail to tail in a circle Then they Read more

Looking Forward

November 16, 2017 | Prose | Comments
November’s half gone December’s just ahead January looms not long beyond So my excitement builds For come January’s second week I'll be at Chinquapin for my annual retreat To heaven on earth Where wiregrass grows on ridges of sand And quail whistle at dawn from all around And a bird dog can search wide and yet be seen Way off yonder Where a handler’s gut tightens before Let ’em go Read more