September

2 November 2016 |

Author Caroline van Zanten-Boomgaard

The first weekend of September we go to the coursing, or actually the Lievelde. Simon would explain the trail and turn in the morning, Maarten Cameron would run in the afternoon. There were about 66 hounds logged in. Chidish and Cytaugh could do a test run on Friday-afternoon and Saturday-afternoon, and they did so diligently! You can always enjoy walking in the surroundings; Sand, water and forest what else do you want?! The team that organizes this coursing is extremely pleasant and always does its stinkenden best. This year they also had very nice prizes; Wind lights with a candle in it.

The grass was somewhat on the high side and of course there was a lot of commentary on it. It's preferable to let people walk their hounds on billiard sheets where there is no blade to be wrong. The whole course is being helped by this mentality because the organizing associations always adapt to the people's whining. The fields are getting flatter, obstacles are out of the wicker and ditches all the way, a nice long trail is always too long and if a hook is less than 70 degrees (while 60 is allowed) the bend is too sharp and dangerous. Apparently, the whiners have never experienced a real hare-coursing, because they are turning hares 360 degrees in full speed!

When I remember the French Championships in Guignicourt, sometime in the last century, the hounds had to jump over a flowing stream of about three metres wide and covered with pebbles and pebbles. Many hounds jumped into the creek or against the shore but there was no one who complained about it. Coursing is imitating the real hare Hunt and that happened here! And so it should be everywhere but the problem is that people do not train their hounds. With hours running on the leash, they do not learn to use their eyes and to cope with their bodies and they really need it with coursing! I hope that the coursing in France is still a bit of what it was then because with my two youngsters I am eager to go "real" coursing.

Anyway, during the coursing in Lichtenvoorde a Barsoi and Whippet was injured, the Barsoi broke her front leg and the Whippet a metatarsal, both after they ended up in a ditch. At the Whippet it was stupid bad luck because she did not see the ditch but the Barsoi could have seen it but did not look good and did not jump well. Yes, and not looking good and not jumping well is disastrous at this sport. The nasty is just that the screwdriver always gets the blame and usually this is not right!

Sunday 11 September I left early in the morning towards Luxembourg. At the last moment I had decided to register as Brandir still needs a CACIB and Chidish and Cytaugh could still be just in the youth class. On the statistics I had seen that another male was enrolled in the Open class, so whether Brandir would get this IB was just the question. There, the male became Fritzen Gunpowder. A still quite young male who I had given a ZG during my inspection in Bremen mainly because of the too short and not dancing gait work. Well Brandir's is not at the moment that what I like to see so I found it very exciting anyway. Whether it was right that he won, I don't know, you can't judge from the ring, but I was very happy with it. Brandir got the CACIB and becomes international champion. He is also now Luxemburg's champion and it turned out that the Benelux winner card was also forgiven, so also the title Benelux winner Luxemburg he had. With the Dutch and Belgian Benelux Winner title, Brandir is now the first Dutch Deerhound to be the Benelux champion! He is now ready and may stay at home, only a little club matches maybe.

Chidish eventually became best male and BOB with the Luxembourg youth Kampioen's title and Benelux Youth winner ' 16 and also Cytaugh was Luxembourg's youth champion and Benelux Youth winner ' 16. In the honour ring, Chidish came out against a thick 60 other juvenile dogs and was selected until the last 6. After that he had to return to the honour ring with group 10 and he was third! All in all I went home with 8 titles! Not bad!

The weekend was the Dutch coursing championship in Axel. A relaxed weekend with delicious weather, nice walks and Chidish and Cytaugh have walked a test run.

Friday the 23rd we left for Amermont, Belgium. Here Cytaugh and Chidish would run their first game. Finally we were able to join again and we felt like it! It was like old; Camping on a field where the cows are from and everything is on his thaw. It was perfect coursingweer although the terrain was pretty hard by the preceding dry period. The Deerhounds walked on Saturday and to my great surprise there were six Deerhounds reported and also present, 4 bitches and 2 males. This meant that the CACIL could be forgiven. Cytaugh and Chidish walked very convincingly and especially Cytaugh followed the hare nicely. But after the first turn, Chidish was at the top with 265 points followed by Cytaugh with 263 points. Kilbourne Norma Jean received a disq. Because they did not ran, Laïs Palantiri had 218 points, Limelight Palantiri 256 and Livingston Palantiri 261. That became even more exciting because could Chidish and Cytaugh continue to retain these places? In the second round they were thus grouped together and walked Cytaugh again neatly behind the hare while Chidish anticipated and cut off here and there. Chidish showed more passion and strength. He was therefore first at the shelter and made a nice flying kill, as far as that can with a muzzle on it. At the beginning of the evening was the award ceremony and then it appeared that Cytaugh had received the highest number of points for the second circulation, 259. In total, therefore, 522 points and with this she became first with the CACBL and CACIL. Chidish had very astonishingly gotten the least number of points, 252, and thus became third with 517 points. Livingston was second (261 + 257) with the reserve CACBL and reserve CACIL, Limelight was fourth (256 + 257) and Laïs became fifth with altogether 473 points.