P W That Was Then This Is Now "Nova"

NOVA’S RUN-2ND PLACE IN NGSPA 2021 FUTURITY.

BY: Keith Richardson, April 6, 2021

April 4-5, 2021 marked the 62nd National Futurity held by the NGSPA, and the second Futurity held at their new location near Grovespring, MO at the Sportsman’s Field Trial Association’s grounds. There were 38 dogs and the judges were John Rabidou and Robin Lambourn. She was handled by Richard Robertson, Jr. and scouted by Keith Richardson.

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Nova is the third generation of exceptional Prairie Wind females starting with Mya (Open Shooting Dog Invitational winner), her daughter Airee (Open All Age Invitational winner), and now Airee’s daughter, Nova.

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Nova was 23 months old. She ran in the 18th brace, with Gabbie, Bill Monk’s dog handled by Chris Goegan. It was the sixth brace of the last day of the Futurity with one brace left to end the stake. It got hot early with several previously run dogs being affected by the heat. After cast off Nova immediately took to the edges of the large field with an intelligent pattern in search of game. Her race was strong and forward, paying close attention to her handler, and responding to his every direction. The first half of the course was a series of large mown fields with good edges, then the fields ended and the course went up a hill where Nova had her first find which was joined by her bracemate. The style of both dogs was excellent as both handlers worked to flush the birds. When several quail took flight Nova stood staunchly while her bracemate chased the birds with one flying back over Nova’s head. Nova stood tight except for a minor rotation to mark the bird. She had no let down of intensity during the confusion. Both dogs were cast off together and they coursed down the hill to another meadow with big edges where Nova had her second find. The bracemate again joined her and chased up the bird with Nova standing still until Rich shot and gathered her up. Again there was no let down of intensity during her bracemate’s infractions.

Both dogs were again released together, and Rich took the opportunity to get Nova into a small pond while her bracemate continued on the opposite line. Nova then crossed the field where she dug into the cover worked it until she pinned the quail for her third find. This one was undisturbed by her bracemate which had already passed through, and like the others she held rigidly with high tail through the flush and eventual collaring. Upon release she rounded the corner with handler spotting the forward dog on point. He cautioned Nova, but as soon as Nova saw the other dog she slammed into a beautiful back with high head and tail, and she stood watching the flush, and the other dog again chasing the bird. Once her bracemate was caught both dogs were released together. Nova had a strong finish going away hunting the edges when time was called.

She impressed the judges with her consistent forward race while hunting the entire time and the way she responded to her handler. Her bird work was impressive demonstrating that of a mature fully broke dog, and while it is said that a field trial has never been won by a back, her slamming on back and holding it with incredible style until the end of the work could not help but impress. It was an exciting run and one I will never forget.

Her performance was the culmination of Rich’s intelligent and thorough work during the previous summer breaking her slowly and methodically on wild chukar and huns. After running a few fall derbies she had another several weeks of training before being rested until March 1 when she spent nearly four weeks being trained on pen raised quail in the south, where our grounds had edges and cover a lot like our Nationals grounds. During her training Nova consistently demonstrated the ability to learn quickly and to recall what she had learned after long periods of not being run. She has the innate desire to please during training, and to go with her handler. She learned to identify bird-holding cover and to hunt it intelligently so that she consistently finds birds. Not only is she a proven bird dog with an outstanding “nose”, a natural retrieve and an eye-catching gait with excellent endurance, but she is loving, calm in the house, and the perfect family dog. She has a bright future.