Training (Stefano Martinoli IT, Michael O´Connor IRL)

Location

City: Tábor

Check-In Location: View Map | GPS: 49°22'33.865"N, 14°41'41.373"E
Testing Location: View Map | GPS: 49°22'13.676"N, 14°44'2.757"E

Basic information:

Stefano Martinoli (IT)

I have always been very interested in gundogs and when I went to England as a young boy and saw retrievers at work I fell in love with this breed. My first trial dog was a Labrador retriever called Ft. Ch. Black Bullock (Bullet) and I started trialing him in 1989 and he became a FT Champion. Since then I have never turned back. I started my own line of working Labradors called Waterfriend Labradors and I have been breeding Labradors out of English working bloodlines in Italy for a long time. I have also been a professional gundog trainer for many years, I am a passionate gunman and I enjoy shooting and picking up with my dogs.

I have competed 8 times in the Coupe d' Europe Field Trial for the Italian team with different dogs, and won once in Team and once the Individual Challenge. I have made up many Field Trial Champions over the years and I have run my Labradors in Open Field Trials successfully in Europe as well as in the UK where I qualified 2 dogs to run in Open Field Trials.

I have been judging Field Trials, Dummy Trials and Working Tests for many years and I am very happy to judge for you!

www.waterfriendlabradors.com

Michael O´Connor (IRL)

My name is Michael O Connor and I am from Ireland. I am a panel judge with the Irish Kennel Club. Over the years I have been running dogs in tests and trials with some success, and have competed in the Irish Retriever Championship several times. In 2013 I was honoured to have been selected as one the judging team for the Irish Retriever Championship. It was a great two days and I really enjoyed it. I am lucky enough to have been involved in gundogs since I was a teenager and wasintroduced to field trials by Championship venerable Jim Curtin of Mid Cork Field Trials Association. He was kind enough to give me my first trialing Labrador in 1997 and I was irredeemably bitten by the bug. The bitch was Turramurra Dee and we won our first trial - a novice stake in Co. Wexford, Ireland. Dee was joined in my kennels by Holly's Pet, bred by man named Patsy Cronin (Ennis Co. Clare Ireland.) She was a yellow bitch that attained her F.T.Ch. title. She was the foundation bitch for theWatergreen prefx. Watergreen dogs have gone to compete successfully in field trials. Some of the most noteworty being F.T.Ch. Watergreen Frazier, F.T.Ch. Watergreen Flash, F.T.Ch. Watergreen East of Eden, F.T.Ch. Watergreen Freeway, F.T.Ch. Watergreen Gangster. At the moment my personal dog in training is Watergreen Jet. She is a fox red female and is showing great potential. I have a particular fondness for yellow or fox red dogs and always admire a dog with drive and stamina - but not one that constantlychallenges its handler and the bounds of the rules that define our sport.

This will be my first overseas judging appointment which I consider to be one of the highlights of my career. I am delighted and honoured to have been selected and look forward to two great days judging with the other judges. I also look forward to the company of the competitors and their dogs performance.

I would like to wish everyone - competitors, fellow judges, hosts and sponsers a wonderful two days.

Kind Regards,
Michael O Connor

Entry fee: