A Lure Coursing Fool

That would be my dog, Finn.

On Saturday and Sunday, March 21 and 22, 2009, the Sunshine State Coursing Club held AKC tests and trials for Lure Coursing. We decided it was time to release the beast out on the field and let him have some fun.

Fun does not describe it. On Saturday, he completed his first leg of the JC (Junior Courser) test with ease.

We left right after the tests due to company coming to town, but the 4 Ridgebacks that ran their tests passed the first leg. And, a Ridgeback won the BIF (Best in Field) that day. Huge congrats to Ch. Rollings SV Porsche at RidgeHill; better known as Porsche. And boy can she run.

Sunday we got there bright and early. Finn passed his 2nd leg and became a new Courser - Kengali's Leap of Faith, JC. All of the Ridgebacks entered passed their test and were moved up to the trials. What an awesome day for Ridgebacks.

Waiting for the trials is just that. Waiting. You have to wait for all of the other sighthounds - Borzois, Whippets, Greyhounds, Ibizan Hounds, Basenjis, Afghan Hounds and Salukis to go. We were placed 2nd to last, so we did not hit the field until after 1 pm - and we had been done at 9:00. Oh well.

Finn ran his first heat with Mo (Jakona's Mozart Concerto, JC) and Porsche. Now please remember that Porsche won BIF the day before - which means she beat every other dog on the field. I think Finn managed to stay in the lead until the straight away and then Porsche turned on the turbo boost and blew these big boys away. Didn't matter. They all had a blast and loved chasing that "bunny" In this picture, Finn is in blue, Mo in pink and Porsche is yellow.

At the end, it put Porsche in 1st, Lilly (Ch. Lilly Mandisa Tucker, JC) was 2nd and then Finn, Shooter (Ch. Ridgehill's Straight Shooter, JC) and Rico (Kennebec's Lionheart, SC) in a tie for 3rd place. Which meant, those 3 would run together.

In the above, Finn is blue, Shooter is yellow and Rico is pink.

I guess they tied again because those 3 had a run off. This time, Finn in blue, Shooter is pink and Rico is yellow

In the end, Ridgebacks ruled the field again. Porsche won the RR Open followed by Lilly, Mo, Finn and Shooter (they only place up to 5th). Porsche also was BIF on Sunday - AGAIN!!!

What a great day.

If you would like to see the photo gallery, please go here:
http://www.pbase.com/deniseeb/lure_coursing_32209.