~ Henrietta & Zorro ~
The law robbed us of hare coursing but, rather than continually bemoaning that fact and possibly becoming all bitter and twisted as a result, it was important to move on and quickly! This is what we have endeavoured to do and it has worked for us. There are those who dismiss lure coursing as nothing like the real thing. They are right of course, it isn't; but the real thing no longer exists so confine it to the history books (for now).
In the East Anglian Whippet Coursing Club we have got on with maintaining a good head of members and coursing the lure using a variety of venues that we used regularly in the past. The course is set out and covers a distance of about 700 metres which is a good test for the dogs. We try to replicate the travel of the lure to something approaching how a hare might have travelled. The club uses a slipper and a judge, the latter mounted on a quad bike following the dogs as they chase the lure. To all intents and purposes the whole event is run on similar lines as previously, only now, of course, there are no hares. We compete for the same club trophies and our dogs seem to go even more mad when they see the lure running than they would have done for the hare. It is therefore fair to say that the dogs enjoy it and, as far as we three are concerned, that should be the criterion.
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Rosettes won by Moss, Tilley & The Shiner ~
Our club will mainly run a stake of eight dogs. To win the stake a dog must beat three opponents and only the very fittest of competitors will triumph. Rosettes are given for the winner and runner up. These rewards are hard earned and I know that we value ours immensely.You will by now have gathered that we cannot recommend lure coursing more strongly. In our view there is not currently a better test of a dogs speed and stamina than on a good layout of a decent distance. Why not give it a try!
We are already in to December 06 and I have to report, somewhat sadly, that we have yet to attend a lure coursing meeting for this season. Our commitments on the racing tracks have, it is fair to say, occupied our dogs and our available time to such an extent that something had to give. The racing season has now largely wound down for the winter which will hopefully allow us to again test our dogs over the twists, turns and longer distances that lure coursing provides.
Moss an Tilley who will soon be approaching six years of age and The Shiner not that far behind them, will compete as of old but with our appreciating that time does take its toll and their appearances will be controlled to take account of that fact.
No such restrictions need apply to Zorro and Henrietta and we look forward to noting their progress now that they are slightly more mature.
