It has been a long, hard winter here in Michigan. We got over fifteen inches of snow during the final week of November and it stayed with us for nearly the entire months of December, January, and February. This rotten old snow made it impossible for brace trial beaglers to run and train their dogs. When an avid beagler cant train dogs it makes time go by twice as slow.
However, by yesterday most of the piles of the once lovely white stuff had disappeared down the storm drains and into the creeks and rivers as it made its way to our Great Lakes. Another storm front is heading our way and is scheduled to arrive sometime tomorrow but any accumulation of the dreary stuff will be short lived as spring is just around the corner.
We did get a chance to get out and run some dogs yesterday. We broke them out of mothballs and headed for Border Beagle Club. Border is located in Stockbridge not too far from Jackson Michigan. The weather was much better than anticipated. It reached a high of forty-four degrees and the sun shown brightly and glistened off the remaining remnants of snow.
We dont expect much from our strain of beagles the first time we put them on the ground after a long winters lay-up. In fact, it is part of our ritual here in the north. We work our prospects hard in the fall to bring them to a peak and then we let them set so they can think over what they have accomplished so far during their short lives. Our beagling friends in the southeast and the southwest and south do not have this luxury. The weather in those regions usually makes it possible for them to run dogs all year long so they never get the time to relax and contemplate like we northern beaglers do. Even in those steamy southern summers beaglers can arise early and get several hours of training under their belts before the heat becomes intolerable. The success of both yearly running versus seasonal running is debatable but the fact is we have to deal with the hand we are dealt.
Now we are looking forward to the Southern that will be held beginning next weekend. Many beaglers here in Michigan are making plans about heading to Lookout Mountain Beagle Club for the yearly extravaganza. Some are heading south as early as tomorrow morning. We are leaving Friday night and will arrive just in time to see the first brace of the field champion trial go on the ground.
The time at the Southern is a joyous time for everyone. Old friendships are renewed and new ones made. Wave after wave of beaglers follow the braces as the friendly little beagles methodically track the little gray bunnies. Beaglers watch with intensity as brace after brace goes down. Many mark their books with what they think are the high scoring hounds. Those that dont relish in their minds those great runs that they have anticipated all winter remembering those hounds that they expect will be back in second series. Breeders make notes on hound characteristics that they observe that they might want to introduce into their strains.
After each days trials are over beaglers gather in groups to discuss matters that might interest their minds. Restaurants are filled with the happy chatter of beaglers. Motels rooms are lighted far into the night as beaglers discuss the days happenings.
For us beaglers here in the north the Southern serves as a reminder that the dreary winter has come to an end and that another season of beagling has begun. All of us return north ready to train that good one to get it ready for the licensed trial season that is just around the corner. The long hard winter that has just passed is just a shadow in our minds as we look forward to preparing for another year of time spent in the sport we dearly love.
