Event Judge Ronald Horn with Los Alamos Middle School 8th grader Jennifer Necker and Aspen School 6th grader Tazler Smith. The students will participate in the English Setters junior showmanship competition Friday, Nov. 9 in Albuquerque. Courtesy photo
Special to the Los Alamos Daily Post
English Setters Bring Lots of Spots to the Albuquerque Spotlight
The English Setter Association of America will hold its National Specialty Nov. 6-9 at the Marriott Pyramid North, 5151 San Francisco Road NE., in Albuquerque, finishing up the week with a Hunt Test Saturday, Nov. 10 at Founders Ranchin Edgewood and agility trials Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 10-11 in the Dairy Barn at Expo New Mexico.
Tazler Smith, a 6th grader at Aspen School and Jennifer Necker, an 8th grader at Los Alamos Middle School, will participate in the junior showmanship competition Friday, Nov. 9.
Smith and Necker, both members of Los Alamos Dog Obedience Club, are accomplished junior handlers who have garnered awards in previous competitions with their English setters.
The junior showmanship competition is open to children aged 9 to 18.
English Setters are known as the true gentlemen and ladies of the dog world. Their beauty is surpassed only by their friendly, happy nature.
They are true family dogs who are willing and able to do whatever their loved ones enjoy. They are very gentle and patient companions for kids.
The breed was developed many centuries ago to hunt upland game birds, such as pheasant and quail.
The English Setter National Specialty is more than just your average dog show. It is an event of national and international scope with the very best examples of the breed coming from all over the U.S., Canada, and a few other countries to compete.
Tuesday, Nov. 6, the week will kick off with the host club, the English Setter Club of Phoenix, hosting their specialty, including a Breeder’s Showcase where breeders can proudly present their dogs to a panel of three judges.
Wednesday morning, attention turns to how smart English Setters are with Obedience and Rally trials, which will include members of all breeds competing.
The day is capped off by Veteran Sweepstakes in the evening, where the grand senior citizen English Setters strut their stuff.
Thursday and Friday the judging gets down to brass tacks with more than 200 puppies and adults, champions and non-champions competing for the prestigious awards of Best in Futurity,
Best in Maturity, Winners Male and Female and leading up to Best of Breed, where more than sixty champion English Setters will vie for the top award.
The week doesn’t end Friday. On Saturday at Founders Ranch, ESAA hosts the Hunt Test where English Setters will show they can still do what they were bred to do, hunt birds.
Saturday and Sunday, at the Dairy Barn at Expo New Mexico, there will be two agility trials each day.
Almost 20 English Setters, along with many other breeds, will compete for qualifying scores and titles as they leap over jumps, zoom through tunnels, scramble up high A frames, and twist through weave poles at top speed.
More information is available www.esaanational.com
