Women in the Field by Patrice Fellows

photos Graham Cox, Kennel Club Library

A gr~at thing abo~t The_ Best of the Best: A History of the IGL R~tnever Champ1onsh1p 1909-2011 , which 1 published last year With Graham Cox, is that it has tremendous scope as a workbook. Have you ever thought, for instance, how remarkable it is that- un­like ~ust_ a~out e_very other Sjport - men and women compete side by s1de 1n ~1el~ tnals? This isn't a recent development or a legacy of 1960s rad1cahsm and 1970s feminism: it was eve~ thus.

The bo?k tells a fascinating tale of the men, women and dogs in­volved 1n ~he I~L Championship over the past 100 years, a century that saw field tnals evolve from the all but exclusive pastime of titled and landed gentry to a discipline pursued by a diverse group of people from every walk of life, overwhelmingly made up of amateur ow~er/~andlers. Whatever the social trends, however, women have ma1nta1ned a constant and dvstinguished presence throughout.

Lorna , Countess Howe with FT Ch Balmuto Jock (Kennel Club Library)

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And although fewer in number than men - accounting for just 156 of the 858 handlers that have competed over 1 02 years - they have more than made up for their minority status by their distinctive contribution to the sport.

The first woman to compete in a British field trial was the Duchess of Hamilton and Brandon with her black Labrador bitch Dungavel Juno in 1907. The Duchess did not compete in the IGL's inaugural Retriever Championship held two years later at Little Green near Havant in Hampshire, but she won with her home-bred bitch Dun­gavel Phoebe who was handled by James Alexander.

Following the Duchess of Hamilton and Brandon, another titled lady dominated the field trial world during the inter-war era: Mrs Quintan Dick, who later became Lorna, Countess Howe. One of the founders of the Labrador Retriever Club, she achieved

remarkable success both in the ring and the field. The Best of the Best ranks her as one of the eight most exceptional handlers in the history of the Championship: a distinction she achieved by qualify­ing 24 times and garnering 19 awards, including three wins.

Lady Hill-Wood and her Labradors (Kennel Club Library)

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With her dog FT Ch Balmuto Jock she secured victory and the Glen Kidston Challenge Trophy in 1926, 1928 and 1929. In 1936 she had a fourth and final victory with her dog FT Ch Balmuto Hewildo, this time handled by Tom Gaunt. In the ring she won Best in Show at Crufts in 1932 and 1933 with Ch Bramshaw Bob and again in 1937 with Ch Cheverells Ben of Banchory. To this day her name is synonymous with the foundation of the first Labrador breed club the formulation of a Breed Standard and the dual-purpose ideal. '

Another exceptional handler that competed alongside Lorna, Countess Howe during the inter-war years and beyond was Lady Hill-Wood. She was the very first handler to win the Glen Kidston Challenge Cup four times and the second person to win with three different dogs: she won in 1933 and 1934 with FT Ch Hi­wood Chance, in 1960 with FT Ch Hiwood Dipper and in 1964 with her daughter's FT Ch Dacre Hiwood Frank. Like Lorna, Countess Howe, she made a considerable impact on the Labrador breed and the field trial world in a Championship career that spanned 35 years. She competed at her last Championship in 1965, gaining a Diploma of Merit with the defending Champion - FT Ch Dacre Hiwood Frank, and returned for the last time to judge at Woburn in 1970.

June Atkinson figured prominently as a consistently accomplished handler in the Championship over five decades with her Holway Golden Retrievers. Another of the book's 'exceptional handlers', from 1950 to 1995 she qualified 36 times with 20 different dogs, winning 13 awards and securing first place in 1954 with FT Ch Mazurka of Wynford at Shadwell Park and Six Mile Bottom and finishing second the following year at Sandringham, both times in trials over three days. She judged at Holkham in 1996 when the Championship moved permanently to three days and that was the nir:Jth time that she had officiated: a unique record that no-one else has approached and testament to her special place in the history of British trialling,

Other noteworthy women handlers of the modern era still

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competing today include Sandra Halstead, who qualified 25 times from 1976 to 2011, winning 7 awards and securing a victory in 1979 with FT Ch Westead Shot of Drakeshead, five years before hus­band John took the first of his hat trick of wins with FT Ch Breeze of Drakeshead. No wonder he began his winner's speech at rain­sodden Welbeck in 1985 with the words, "Thank goodness, I can stop being the kennel boy now". As well as her competitive suc­cess, Sandra has judged in 1989, 1994 and again in 2002.

Sandra Halstead and FT Ch Orakeshead Vodka at the 2013 IGL Retriever Championship (Graham Cox)

Another is Tess Lawrence: up until 2011 she qualified 21 times with 11 different dogs and won 9 awards. In 2007 she secured a victory with home-bred FT Ch Willowyck Ruff, an influential sire that tragi­cally suffered a premature death before being able to defend his title. She judged in 2005 on the Queensberry Estate and again in 2010 at Sandringham.

These women, and others like Gabrielle Benson, Jayne Coley, Audrey Radclyffe, Mary Rountree, Diane Ryan and Janet Webb who, the book reveals, qualified 17, 12, 11 , 17, 15 and 12 times re

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spectively, through their dedlication and passion for gundogs, have consistently contributed to making the exacting standards of the IGL Retriever Championship what they are. Moreover, they have proved that, in this sport at ~east , women compete on equal terms with men. And while their numbers haven't increased dramatical­ly, their presence has grown steadily: after all , at the Centenary Championship at Blankney in 2009 women handlers constituted a quarter of the card. Who would deny that, in this sport at least, parity beckons?

The Best of the Best: A History of the IGL Retriever Championship 1909-2011 by Graham Cox and Or Gareth Davies can be ordered onfine from www.pernicepress.com.

Tess Lawrence, who won the 2007 IGL Retriever Championship with FT Ch Willowyck Ruff (Graham Cox)

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IN 2009 THE IGL RETRIEVER CHAMPIONSHIP REACHED

ITS CENTENARY.

'The Best of the Best' records and celebrates that hundred years.

An engaging story and an authoritative account of the origins and development

of this premier event. It's also an wunatched work of reference with in-depth

statistics and analysis of what the 'patterns of excellence' over the years reveal.

THE BEST OF THE BEST

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"The Best of the Best ofi:en

captures that mix of elation

and disappointment that

I know well ... This book,

which presents so much

more than a list of award

winners and also-rans, is

a work of reference which

readers are sure to return

to again and again."

- H ER GRA-CE

THE DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE DL,

D EPUTY PRESIDENT, IGL

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