South Eastern Hound Club

My thanks to the South East Hound Club for the invitation and for the very kind gift; the show was held in the wonderfully spacious setting of Hickstead & had a real party atmosphere, almost perfect weather & would be a great day out even if you weren’t actually showing, congratulations to all of the Committee and their helpers, and thank you to the exhibitors for bringing along such a lovely selection of quality Hounds to assess.

It was a pleasure to judge the Best in Show, Best Puppy in Show & Best Veteran in Show awards, these were filled with some super exhibits from the Breed classes;

Best in Show was the W/H Dachshund, Ch Tendrow Will To Succeed (Phillips) a most impressive male shown in superb hard condition with correct harsh coat, pro-sternum & wrap around front, excellent for proportional balance, carriage, construction & soundness which was topped off by the most handsome of heads with dark expressive eyes, he set off around the ring with a lot of style on the best of feet, true movement showing those pads & reaching well in front with good clearance to put on a faultless performance. Top quality male, expertly handled.

Reserve BIS was the Beagle, Julemark Primrose at Maplelayne JW (Thornton & Thornton-Margetts) tan/white compact bitch shown in great bloom, head, expression & ear-set all very typical, nicely constructed with good round bone & feet, super topline & tail carriage, moved with great verve & style to take this spot in such a super Group.

Group 3 the Irish Wolfhound Rainster Eilex Among Hunacres (Wilkinson) greatly appealed for quality, size, breed type & balance of construction with a very deep & well filled chest, good strong loin, angulations fore & aft were just right & used well to display true movement, excellent coat & well-muscled condition, standing & moving beautifully today.

Group 4 the Saluki Safeera Kasque Al Djiibaajah (imp Deu) (Williams) most attractive red/sable markings with black fringes, appealed for her moderate typical overall balance, the most lovely head & expression with dark eyes, ears high complementing her super flat skull, neck flowing into her clean shoulder-line, my hands swept smoothly through her body, good loin & tuck up, hip bones & croup falling away very nicely to her hindquarters, well feathered tail held well, came into her own on the move just gliding around smoothly with absolutely no effort, she could have gone on all day, nice example of this Breed.

Best Puppy in Show the Whippet Zoraden Meant to Beaver (Morland & Soffe) quality fawn brindle/white trim, good breed type with good expression, elegant lines throughout with good curvy shape, neck blending into her clean shoulders well, firm front nicely returned, spring to pasterns, good feet, chest of good depth, great topline & underline, moving very soundly here with good forehand reach & propulsion from rear, should have a bright future.

Res.BPIS the Rhodesian Ridgeback, Amahle Just Be Awesome (Maidment) at 9 months this one really takes the eye for breed type, overall construction & balance is so good, strength, symmetry & condition first class, very aptly named she must have a very bright future ahead, she powered around the ring displaying such quality, a pleasure to judge.

Best Veteran in Show the Basset Hound Ch Nelgus Thyme Bomb JW ShCEx VW (Allchorne) at 10 years old this dark blanket tri-colour was so very typical of his breed with superb head & correct planes, lozenge eye, low-set ears of length nicely framing him, very well constructed angled front, tight elbows & good rear, super bone, good feet padded & well knuckled, excellent ribbing & topline, rounded rump nicely angled & moved off with tail held as a sabre with good free effortless stride, what a super dog.

Res.BVIS the Otterhound Ch Olphae Charman VW, such a close decision here as this one, 9 years of age, was also impressive for the most typical breed type, rough double weather-proof coat, he had a masculine noble head with good expressive eye, lovely firm front, very deep brisket, firm proportional body, free long stride & good ground covering movement, certainly fit for purpose.

YRKC Members’Handling 6-11 years

1. Giles-Watts with Clarismore Crown Prince JW (Beagle), this young lady presented herself and her exhibit very well & paid good attention & offered encouragement to her exhibit, she could demonstrate stacking her dog, & moved out and around well enough making sure that she was not between her exhibit and the judge. Well done.

Adult Handling 25 years and over

1. Sampson’s Odisseia De Viamonte at Morialta (imp Prt) (Portugese Podengo – Warren Hound), this male exhibitor demonstrated a very professional approach to presenting his dog, nicely handled on the table & moved to advantage.

AV Brace (11) 6 abs

1. Lucas & Dargonne’s Deerhounds a really good matching pair, typical breed features, elegantly striding out well & quite freely.

2. Rowe’s W/H Dachshunds, lovely pair, well matched showing sturdiness, breed type & excellent movement.

3. Storey, Storey & Piehl’s Rhodesian Ridgebacks, very attractive brace which were strong, breed typical, balanced & well matched.    

AV Special Beginners (12) 11 abs

1. Rose’s Hyndsight Better Believe It (Deerhound) refined & shapely rough coated male with handsome head held proudly & good dark eye, would prefer much neater ears, stands well on his front with straight forelegs & has moderate rear angulation, still maturing through his ribbing, hip bones well placed, tail held low, had an easy natural stride which is his forte. Many that were entered in this class were tied up in the breed classes, hence the absentees.

Special AV SEHC Breeders Class (9) 4 abs

1. Woodcock’s Ch Abbotsoak Any Dream Will Do (Ibizan Hound) with a lovely group to display the type & breed characteristics, all moving out well.

2. Williams Tigsisle Fan The Flames (Whippet) leading this nice team of fawn/white parti’s with elegant heads & good overall shape showing off their condition & type well in this class.

3. Lucas & Dargonne’s Packway Ecotrailer (Deerhound) lovely rough-coated group displaying their balanced construction, typical features & easy movement well.

Special AV Veteran (7-9 years) (29) 12 abs

Super class

1. Lewis’ Ch Olphae Charman VW (Otterhound) – see critique for Res.BVIS

2. Woodcock’s Abbotsoak Grease Lightnin (Ibizan Hound) red/white of nice size, good quality head & ear-set, good alert expression, nicely made, narrow ribs just the right depth, moderate front & rear, nice extension in profile action.

3. Williams Tigsisle Totally Unique (Whippet)

Special AV Veteran (10+ years) 12 (2 abs) 

Again, a lovely class of veterans.

1. Allchorne’s Ch Nelgus Thyme Bomb JW ShCEx VW (Basset Hound) – see critique for BVIS

2. Kimber’s Coachbarn Celeste (Beagle) lovely outgoing & lively feminine tri-colour, head of equal balance with defined stop, good expression, which is important, traditional type & showing very nice outline, ribs well back, topline good, took off around the ring with good driving action, tail held high.

3. Williams Tigsisle Fan The Flames (Whippet)

Jill Cross (Gilari)