How long should a trial be?
Moderators: Pike Ridge Beagles, Aaron Bartlett
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Guest
How long should a trial be?
I am very interested in how others feel a trial should move along.Should it be an all day affair with long B.S. sessions between casts or move along at a quick pace with the B.S. reserved for while the cast is being run.I am in the latter group and wish I could go to a trial and know that my whole day is not shot because there are 1-2 hour delays between casts.I love trialing but I was under the impression it was all about watching the dogs.Am I the only guy that feels this way?So far I kinda feel that way.
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redsrule
x xb
dont know what club u went to or how many dogs were there but those i go to we get them out quick as we can cause we usually have at least 50 opens 15 champions and 10 grands and sometime we get done early after noon others have seeen dark..but when i trial that day i plan on a all day eveent if its shorter than i get a bonus!!!!!
how long
Guest I am with you 100%, there is too much B.S.ing going on while dogs are being rolled and in between casts at a lot of clubs. In my opinion a club should do the following to reduce time:
Make a list of running spots prior to the hunt.
Have guides that know where the spots are.
Have entry's close at 6:00 or 6:30 so that the dogs can be rolled and hit the ground at or near first light(especially in warm weather)
A little pre-planning and thought can make a hunt go a lot faster.
Just my two cents
Big Dog
Make a list of running spots prior to the hunt.
Have guides that know where the spots are.
Have entry's close at 6:00 or 6:30 so that the dogs can be rolled and hit the ground at or near first light(especially in warm weather)
A little pre-planning and thought can make a hunt go a lot faster.
Just my two cents
Big Dog
Black and Tans, Blue Ticks, and a few others bringing smoke
how long
To Guest- It isn't about the wife not wanting you to stay. A hunt with 25 or 30 dogs shouldn't take until 5 or 6pm to finish up. I go expecting to be there until it's over because I come with winning in mind, but being that I always have to travel 3 or more hours to get to any trial I would like for them to get it on and over with. I have seen clubs shut down to take a lunch break. I think food should be offered but you need to pick it up and go, not sit around for and hour to hour and a half hob knobbing and chewing the fat. There is plenty of time to talk while you are out on the cast.
Big Dog
Big Dog
Black and Tans, Blue Ticks, and a few others bringing smoke
Guest,
I to love to get the hunt done in a timely fashion as well as yourself. I have been in the ARHA since Jan. of '95. I have witnessed all day events and up to 2 day events.
I started field judging in '95 as well and I understand that the number of judges at the hunt determine the pace of the hunt. I "WILL" handle my hounds at a hunt and not judge while my hounds are out in another cast.
I judged for a couple years while my hounds were out in a cast somewhere else and this is not fair to my hounds at all. I feel like I owe it to them being as I am the one that feeds them, conditions them, and "handles" them on a daily basis. They are at their best for ME. Win or Lose.
I was also the Master of Hounds, Sec./Tres., and even the President of a club and we pushed as fast as the judges would come.
If the judges are not there or they want to handle their hounds then you (the club) are at the mercy of them (the judges).
But as well as I want the hunt to move along and see the hounds run I enjoy the socialization with other houndsmen as much as the run.
It's not all about the $15 trophy to me. maybe you should converse with some of the houndsmen and you would be supprised at what you could learn or what you could teach someone new to the sport; I promise that you would make a lasting impression on a new beagler by talking to him / her for a few minutes.
Do you judge??? I don't know since you didn't list your name...
If not you could get your liscence and speed up the hunt by helping out.
When I judged.... I helped at "EVERY" hunt I attended.
Everyone can help in some way or fashion to speed up a hunt and if the hunt isn't going fast enough for you then make the best of it and enjoy yourself.
I to love to get the hunt done in a timely fashion as well as yourself. I have been in the ARHA since Jan. of '95. I have witnessed all day events and up to 2 day events.
I started field judging in '95 as well and I understand that the number of judges at the hunt determine the pace of the hunt. I "WILL" handle my hounds at a hunt and not judge while my hounds are out in another cast.
I judged for a couple years while my hounds were out in a cast somewhere else and this is not fair to my hounds at all. I feel like I owe it to them being as I am the one that feeds them, conditions them, and "handles" them on a daily basis. They are at their best for ME. Win or Lose.
I was also the Master of Hounds, Sec./Tres., and even the President of a club and we pushed as fast as the judges would come.
If the judges are not there or they want to handle their hounds then you (the club) are at the mercy of them (the judges).
But as well as I want the hunt to move along and see the hounds run I enjoy the socialization with other houndsmen as much as the run.
It's not all about the $15 trophy to me. maybe you should converse with some of the houndsmen and you would be supprised at what you could learn or what you could teach someone new to the sport; I promise that you would make a lasting impression on a new beagler by talking to him / her for a few minutes.
Do you judge??? I don't know since you didn't list your name...
If not you could get your liscence and speed up the hunt by helping out.
When I judged.... I helped at "EVERY" hunt I attended.
Everyone can help in some way or fashion to speed up a hunt and if the hunt isn't going fast enough for you then make the best of it and enjoy yourself.
Dale Vandiver,
Cross Creek Kennel
Cross Creek Kennel
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Buckeye Bob
- Posts: 489
- Joined: Sun Sep 07, 2003 10:01 pm
- Location: Ohio
Goose,I am "guest" and posted that way because I did not want to offend anyone at my club.However I do want to respond to a few issues (1)Yes,I AM married and love my wife and kids who don't come to the trials.Saturdays are extremely valuable to our family and I will never sacrifice my family for a $20 trophy and my name in the mag(2) I am a judge and the last two hunts I stayed and helped ALL FREAKIN DAY with none of my dogs entered. 
(3) IMO a judge should be rested up by the time the dogs are loaded up,drove back to the clubhouse,loaded back up and drove out again.(4)Any time I have entered a dog and I was judging I brought a friend or kid with me to be a handler 
(5)I have no problem whatsoever with a visitor wanting to be with his dogs and opting out of judging,but why in the world even try to have a hunt if even the sponsors of the hunt wont judge? 
Sorry for offending anybody,not my intent.This sport is not my religeon,I have all day Sunday for that! 
(3) IMO a judge should be rested up by the time the dogs are loaded up,drove back to the clubhouse,loaded back up and drove out again.(4)Any time I have entered a dog and I was judging I brought a friend or kid with me to be a handler (5)I have no problem whatsoever with a visitor wanting to be with his dogs and opting out of judging,but why in the world even try to have a hunt if even the sponsors of the hunt wont judge? Sorry for offending anybody,not my intent.This sport is not my religeon,I have all day Sunday for that! -
Cannon Hollow Hounds
- Posts: 423
- Joined: Sun Feb 22, 2004 1:16 am
- Location: N.W. , PA.
Bob,
I am in no way offended by your original post. I was merely trying to explain why some hunts go on so long and what holds them up.
If you are a judge (which I had no way of knowing) then I commend you
for helping and everyone at the club should as well. There is never enough praise for what a judge goes through and and puts up with sometimes. 
I understand your not posting your name now but you must understand my end of that as well being as there is so much bashing on these boards by "GUESTS".
I also understand your concept on judging at a home cluband carrying a handler for your hound so you could judge.
Our thoughts on that differ. I joined a club and took office in the club to try to keep it strong and alive. This in turn let me participate in a trial closer to home. Do I not deserve the right to handle my dogs in their cast as someone else that paid the same entry fee.
I can remember judging 6 cast at one hunt and being there all day "judging" while my dog won the hunt and I never saw him run. I was happy for him but the excitement for me wasn't the same as if I watched each cast and saw the competition was so close or how he destroyed the rest of the cast. Does that make sense
I'm glad to see that you help out your club and only want to improve upon it by speeding up the hunt but how many hounds do you usually have for a trial?
The all day hunts I went to in Tn. would usually draw 90 hounds for a club hunt.
Not offended Bob just voicing my opinion on the original post.
Good luck and happy running
I am in no way offended by your original post. I was merely trying to explain why some hunts go on so long and what holds them up.
If you are a judge (which I had no way of knowing) then I commend you
for helping and everyone at the club should as well. There is never enough praise for what a judge goes through and and puts up with sometimes. I understand your not posting your name now but you must understand my end of that as well being as there is so much bashing on these boards by "GUESTS".
I also understand your concept on judging at a home cluband carrying a handler for your hound so you could judge.
Our thoughts on that differ. I joined a club and took office in the club to try to keep it strong and alive. This in turn let me participate in a trial closer to home. Do I not deserve the right to handle my dogs in their cast as someone else that paid the same entry fee.
I can remember judging 6 cast at one hunt and being there all day "judging" while my dog won the hunt and I never saw him run. I was happy for him but the excitement for me wasn't the same as if I watched each cast and saw the competition was so close or how he destroyed the rest of the cast. Does that make sense
I'm glad to see that you help out your club and only want to improve upon it by speeding up the hunt but how many hounds do you usually have for a trial?
The all day hunts I went to in Tn. would usually draw 90 hounds for a club hunt.
Not offended Bob just voicing my opinion on the original post.
Good luck and happy running
Dale Vandiver,
Cross Creek Kennel
Cross Creek Kennel
Top hounds don't even settle into their best running till they've been running a while. They need to adjust to the existing conditions AND settle in. They are athletes and like all athletes they have to warm up to be in top form. For that reason when we are running hounds here we don't even bother looking at them till they've been running for an hour. Once the hounds are settled in any judge should take as much time as is necissary to ensure that the best hound of the cast is found. IN fact while one cast is being judged another cast could be in the field warming up.
The best way to run a trial I am increasingly convinced is to run them all together. That's not the same as large pack because we would make no attempt to keep them all in one pack but would instead let them split up naturally as they will into their packs and make no attempt to keep them all together until the field is whitled down to a manageable number. All hounds could be cast while the judges have breakfast and settled in during the big bull session over breakfast and then the judges could get down to buisness.
The best way to run a trial I am increasingly convinced is to run them all together. That's not the same as large pack because we would make no attempt to keep them all in one pack but would instead let them split up naturally as they will into their packs and make no attempt to keep them all together until the field is whitled down to a manageable number. All hounds could be cast while the judges have breakfast and settled in during the big bull session over breakfast and then the judges could get down to buisness.