Trialling in the dock

FIELD TRIALS ARE A tricky subject for a gundog correspondent to write about, especially as I’ve never competed with a dog in my life.

I have watched AV spaniel, cocker, retriever, HPR and pointer and setter trials, and been to the championships of all five, so I do write with some knowledge and experience. However, I have found that many triallers are wary of even the slightest criticism. An article I wrote some 20 years ago that was mildly critical resulted in both verbal abuse and hate mail.