Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Heart of the Matter, Part Deux

Belmor Field Titles in AF competition... Pretty Belle owned the Field!

1982.. The Mid Atlantic Gordon Setter FT Club held the Gordon Setter Open Shooting Dog Championship in Ohio. The Championship title was withheld. The Gordon Setter Club of Northern California held the second annual Alec Laurence Open Shooting Dog Classic on May 7. The Mid Atlantic Gordon setter FTC held a trial in September. Belmor's Pretty Belle competed against 29 all-breeds in the Northern District Amateur Walking Shooting Dog Championship..

1983.. The highlight of the year was the running of the Gordon setter Open Shooting Dog Championship by the Mid Amerca GSFTC, Kildeer Plains, Ohio. The Championship had been run in 1981 and 1982 but no title was awarded either year. This time the title was awarded to Belmor's Pretty Belle. It was the first time that a Gordon Setter ever earned an American Field Championship title in the history of the breed.

1984.. The Mid-Atlantic GSFTC ran the Harry Malcolm Amateur Shooting Dog Classic. Page's Shurridge Liz (Jack Page, CT) was elected to the American Field Hall of Fame. Belmor's Pretty Belle (J./B. Morris, VA) won the Gordon Setter Open Shooting Dog Championship. Springset Kahua Viper (J. Hustace, HI) won the National Gordon Setter Amateur Shooting Dog Championship in Hawaii.

1985..
... A memorial was placed in the field for Danny Boy O'Boy, much loved Gordon, owned by Norm and Sue Sorby (CA). Springset Cascade Thunder, also owned by Norm and Sue, was elected to the American Field Hall of Fame. The Mid-Atlantic GSFTC ran the Gordon Setter Open Shooting Dog Championship. The stake was judged by Ken Marden, later to become President of the AKC.
The GSCA ran a "dress rehearsal" for the National Championship at Medford, New Jersey. Belmor's Pretty Belle won the championship. She also won the annual Walking Shooting Dog Award given by the Maryland Field Trial Association.

1986.. Belmor's Pretty Belle won the Gordon Setter Open Shooting Dog Championship for the fourth time. She also competed in the Region 1 Amateur Shooting Dog Championship in Connecticut in a field of 27 starters. Belle won the Amateur Walking Shooting Dog trophy awarded by the Association of Virginia Field Trial Clubs.

1987.. Belmor's Pretty Belle was the first Gordon Setter in the history of the breed to win a Regional Runner=Up All Breed Championship in the continental United States. This was earned at the Region 2 All-Breed Walking Shooting Dog Championship in NJ with 24 Setters and Pointers.... Belle won both the National Gordon Setter Open and Amateur Shooting Dog Championships.


My thoughts,
It can readily be seen that Belmor's Pretty Belle was the force to be reckoned with during the eighties. She was a fearsome competitor against All-Breed competition in American Field Trials. Some Gordons of the day did not even bother to show up for a trial in which Belle was entered.
Today, Red Setters are the only breed giving the English Setters and Pointers a run for their money in AF Stakes. In my opinion, today's Field Gordon breeders need to follow the same path that the Red Setter folks chose. Playing in the AKC against AKC English Setters and Pointers is at best a farce, and not showing what a real Field Gordon is capable of...

More tomorrow..

Hang on to your seat belts, as this could easily turn into a week-long rant!

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