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South of England Show 2005 HOUND SHOW TRIUMPH - 8.6.05 SALTWOOD - 2nd (restricted) HOUND CAVALCADE |
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 Footies |
 RichardBlakeney - senior Huntsman in the South East |
 The Huntsmen of the South East |
 Hounds a-go-go |
 Richard leads the way |
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FROM THE KENNELS If you live in East Kent, and in particular near Elham, you may have noticed a haze of euphoria hanging over the Kennels, and more noticably over the Huntsman's head. He has even received some phone calls asking if he could still get his head through the door!! If you want to know why, read on!. The end of May/beginning of June is the start of the Hound Show Season, and luckily the Surrey Union have a small Show at their Kennels the Sunday before the South of England Show at Ardingly. It is a wonderful place to take the puppies to their first Show, and if anyone is particularly shy you can find out before they hit the big time at Ardingly! The judges this year were Alistair Jackson, Director of the MFHA, and Dominic Jones, Master of the Tiverton. "SAFEGUARD" who is out of "SILKY" (there's a surprise!) by BICESTER "SAFEGUARD" won the Doghound Championship in the morning. He makes a lot of noise and loves showing. In the afternoon his sister "SATIN" had several blonde moments. She knows she's gorgeous because she won at Peterborough last year, and the huntsman and lot of other nice people keep telling her how beautiful she is!. However, she really behaved like a very spoilt Page 3 blonde, and would not pay attention at all, and she was only reserve Bitch Champion. The end of the day was crowned with "SILKY" making positively her VERY LAST APPEARANCE in the Show ring, winning the Progeny Class with three of her daughters, otherwise known around here as the blonde bombshells!! SO, all in all a good start before Ardingly, where the sun literally did shine all day!! The Doghound Judges were Edmund Vestey MFH from the Thurlow, and Dominic Jones again!. "SALTWOOD" (brother of Safeguard) excelled himself and came 2nd in the first Class, which is restricted to Packs from the South East. For some reason they didn't like "Safeguard" who went out before his brother. The two young doghounds "GAMBLER" and "GABRIEL" didn't get a ribbon, but Richard was thrilled as they showed beautifully. We were 2nd in the entered couple of doghounds to the Cattistock with "Safeguard" and "Potter" beating the Heythrop who were 3rd. (We also won a huge Cup for being the best local Pack) We were 3rd in the two couple of entered doghounds with "Safeguard", "Panther", "Forester" and "Warrior", behind theCattistock and the Heythrop, and again we won another trophy for being the best local Pack. We all stopped for lunch more than satisfied with a very good morning, little dreaming of what was about to happen. The judges for the afternoon were Capt. Ian Farquhar, Master of the Duke of Beaufort's Hounds, and Mark Hill, Huntsman of the V.W.H. The first class was won by "SUDDEN" one of Silky's first litter by Heythrop "Busby", she showed very well and beat the Avon Vale and the Hursley Hambledon. A great start, followed by "Satin" and "Sago" coming 3rd in the entered couple of bitches. It all then got a little hazy as "SATIN", "SAGO", "SUMMIT" and "SAPLING" WON the Class for the two couple of entered bitches, beating the Heythrop and the Cattistock. Everyone was on a complete high by this time, and Richard entered both "SUDDEN" and "SATIN" for the Bitch Championship. They took forever, and eventually got it down to two!! Our own "SATIN", by now beautifully behaved with only a small blonde moment or two when boredom set in, and the Cattistock bitch, whose name escapes us all at the moment. The Heythrop bitches were 3rd and 4th. They still took forever, no-one had any fingernails left, but "SATIN" did WIN the Bitch Championship at the South of England Hound Show. It was great that we had so much support, Nigel, Alison, David, Peter and Evelyn, Doris and Fred, David and Diana, Mally and John and Sonia. If I have forgotten anyone - many apologies, it was brilliant to have you all there. There is a HUGE amount of work involved getting ready for the Show, many many thanks to everyone who helped, specially Ross, who is better than most professionals at holding hounds in the ring, Esme for all her hard work, and Jim once again for holding the fort in our absence. The phone here at the Kennels didn't stop ringing for at least forty eight hours, Richard is absolutely thrilled to bits, as he says it has only taken him thirty-five years, and we left the Showground with the window of the lorry down, and him singing "WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!" (honestly"). There is a definite shortage of sleep around here, as we had to pile into the lorry again on Saturday morning, and go back to Ardingly for the Hound Cavalcade. Huge thanks to Sarah for letting her beloved "Ben" be the huntsman's horse again for the day. He does love a party, and led the nine Packs into the Main Ring looking a picture, (thank you Rosanne and Ro). Thanks also to Mally and Ross for being immaculate whippers-in. It was a wonderful Parade, lots of foot followers as well, with great support from our own Supporters Club, and finished off a great Show for the East Kent. W. |
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