Rain Is A Trial Too Far

The pointer and setter trials were plagued by dreadful weather and a lack of birds, leaving no clear winner, reports David Tomlinson

LATE SUMMER IN EAST Anglia was hot and dry, but autumn arrived with a vengeance on 6 September, the day I drove up to Sandringham for the Pointer Club’s last open trial of the year.

HM the Queen’s Norfolk estate has hosted the event for more than a quarter of a century — this was the 26th running. It makes an ideal venue for a trial, with its sweeping fields of stubble and an abundance of wild game. It also provides a ground that is ideal for spectators because it’s rare for competing dogs to be out of sight.

The pointer and setter trialling season is a long one, starting on the grouse in March, concluding in north Norfolk in September with a week of trials on partridges and pheasants. Unlike spaniel and retriever trials, no birds are shot, though pointed birds are saluted with a gun when flushed, to test the dogs’ steadiness. Many of the dogs competing at Sandringham had been working on the moors on August grouse, while others had days on the moors to come.

There was an almost full card for the trial, which meant nearly 40 dogs running, though the number of handlers competing was considerably fewer as several were handling more than one dog.

All such trials start with a draw to establish the running order — the dogs always run as a brace. As the draw was made the sky became increasingly threatening: it was clearly a day for winter shooting coats. I was inexcusably lightly dressed, having not anticipated quite how much the weather was going to change.