Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/528216
S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S 5 9 Trainer Allen Vincent roads a brace of field-trial prospects on the prairies near Columbus, North Dakota. tough, squinty-eyed professional trainers, but there's also a sprinkling of serious amateurs, the kind who face the pros on their own terms without giving an inch. Some travel in gleaming multiple-vehicle caravans; others pull one-horse trailers behind rusty pickups. But they all run on the same fuel: the particular hopes, dreams, and aspirations engendered, and embodied, by a pointing dog capable of competing at the highest level. Their destinations vary, but you'll find the majority of camps within a 100-mile radius of the point where Manitoba, Saskatchewan, S oon, as it has for well over 100 years, it will begin—the annual migration of the field- trial faithful, pointing-dog division, to the northern prairies. It's their version of summer camp, the place they go to escape the stifling heat of the southern United States and, for two hectic months, saddle their horses, turn loose their dogs, and work them on wild birds in big, wide-open country. According to conventional wisdom, one good summer on the prairies contributes as much to a field-trial dog's development as two years anywhere else. Sharptails— Tom Davis u n d o g s G "chickens" in the vernacular—have always been the bread-and-butter bird, with Huns playing a supporting role, and pheasants making the occasional cameo. Most of the prairie pilgrims are For the owners and trainers of field-trial caliber pointing dogs, the prairies are a landscape of hopes and dreams.