NBHA Invitational Breeders Championship
The 2014 NBHA National Invitational Breeders Championship was held in conjunction with the NBHA Futurity and Jerry D. Kilgore Puppy Classic on March 26th and 27th at the Whetstone Quail Demonstration Area at Williamsburg, Missouri. This is the second year for this renewal to be held at this location. The NBHA is the leader in walking field trial events and the team effort for the Championship of Kevin Western, Tim Penn, Larry Carpenter, Joe Zimmer, and Chris Gebhardt mad the trial run smooth and successful. It is folks like this that help make a National event like this come off without a hitch.
We were fortunate to have two of the finest Gentlemen available as this year’s judges, Chuck Davis of Madrid, Iowa and Dr. John Niebrueggee, of Kirksville, Missouri. Chuck Davis is the past NBHA president ad has run dogs for years in the Midwest. Chuck was our returning Judge for this renewal. Dr. John Niebrueggee is no stranger to the field trial game when he competed fiercely in the 80’s and 90’s with his successful string of dogs. Both men rode attentively and when it was all said and done the announcements were well received.
I cannot say enough about the grounds and the Whetstone WMA at Williamsburg, MO. Nicky Walker, Wildlife Biologist, and her team had these grounds looking as good as they ever have. Their hard work and attention to detail of the grooming of the grounds was amazing. Those in attendance would agree that these grounds will allow for a dog to show but he still has to hunt and handle. We are thankful to have the cooperation of Missouri Department of Conservation and Nicky Walkers team.
The National Bird Hunters are blessed to have amazing sponsors. Purina provides dog food to the winners as well as samples and hats to the trial participants. We were fortunate to have Gailen Cooper, Purina rep, in attendance to hand out Purina gifts. Garmin provides one of their new Delta Sport remote training collars to the winner of the Championship. Christie Saddles provide gift certificates to the winners and Gun Dog Supply provided gift certificates at our drawing for the trial participants. We could not have a successful trial without the support of these sponsors. Their participation and sponsorship of the NBHA is much appreciated.
The judges named Starfire Supersport, handsome liver and white pointer male, the champion for Ray Brown of Paducah, KY, and Indian Creek Wingman owned by Patricia Knapp of Hamburg, NJ and handled by Garry Malzone to the Runner Up spot.
Starfire Supersport, call name Mick, ran in the 5th brace and tallied 4 well spaced finds. Mick’s bird work was impeccable and he finished with a strong forward race. Ray Brown purchased Mick at nine months old and has guided him to several Championship wins including the 2013 NBHA National Amateur Invitational Championship and Region 5 Walking Championship.
Indian Creek Wingman, call name Lucky, is a well put together setter male out of Terry Merritt’s breeding program. Lucky ran in the last brace of the trial and tallied 4 nice finds. This Setter stylist ran a forward race that put him in the winner’s circle. The future looks bright for the team of Patricia Knapp, Garry Malzone, and Lucky.
Out of the 16 dogs that ran in the Championship we had 13 of them finished the hour with bird work making the judge’s decision very difficult. They mentioned Penrosa Stoneyox and A Carolina Shadow as having very good braces but they could not top the winners.
This year the NBHA Open Invitational Breeders Championship had over 90 percent of its entries coming from dogs that had been from a NBHA nominated litter. With this continuing support of breeders promoting their efforts in the NBHA Futurity program we feel that this championship is becoming a class of its own. Looking forward and beyond, the NBHA Futurity strives to build and make a breeding program that will reward a breeder for their efforts, not only with the Puppy Classic, and the Futurity, but the Breeders Championship as well. Once again, the Missouri Bird Hunters Association has sponsored $400.00 toward the NBHA Open Invitational Breeders Championship by supporting the NBHA Futurity program. In return the NBHA Futurity is to award $200.00 to the breeder of the champion and another $200.00 to the breeder of the runner-up champion, provided that the winners are from an NBHA Futurity Nominated Litter. This year’s runner up champion, Indian Creek Wingman was nominated in the 26th NBHA Futurity and was bred by Terry Merritt of Pinehurst, NC.
In the Championship and the Futurity we had participation from eight different states, they include Missouri, New Jersey, Kentucky, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, Texas, and Alabama. Thank you to all who have supported this great event.
The NBHA Futurity staff would like to thank the NBHA National office for their support, the management team at the Whetstone Wildlife Area, all the trail participants, and anyone else who made this year’s event a successful and memorable event. Hope to see you next year.
Submitted By Kevin Western
