Part III -B
Over the next few days the four men fell into a pattern of rising early and working dogs. Bobby even had Trey handle Jack a few times in case he ever wanted to run him in an amateur stake. The first time, Bobby rode over and took back the whistle that he had given Trey. In his nervousness, he kept blowing it, and each time Jack would break further to the front until he was more than a half mile away. After a couple of times running Jack, Trey began to settle down. He also paid more attention to what Bobby, Mack, and John did when they were handling dogs.
A few days after Buster had received his correction, they were running him and he had a beautiful find along a slough that usually had a brood of pheasants in it. When John got off his horse he didn’t go in front of the dog, instead he turned to Trey, “I need you to get down and help me with your dog.”
Trey slid down off his horse and walked over to John, “What do you want me to do?”
“Go in there and flush those pheasants. Buster isn’t going to break again when he can see me in front of him, so we need to change things up a bit.”
Trey shrugged his shoulders and stepped in front of Buster. John could see the dog’s head tilt slightly as he snuck a look at Trey. When Trey moved out in front of him, Buster’s muscles began to quiver as he fought the urge to beat Trey to the birds. Trey took two more steps and Buster broke. John had a firm grip on the cable and dumped him once again, then repeated the process of setting him back where he had been standing and working him over with the flushing whip until Buster was once again standing up on his toes. The birds had never flown as they had most likely moved down the edge of the slough in the heavy cover. John stepped aside and nodded to Trey who moved forward away from the dog walking more than 30 feet before the small pheasants started to bust out. As each bird lifted John fired another blank from his pistol until the cylinder had gone full circle and it clicked on a fired round.
Trey walked back, “Do we put him in the harness now?”
“No, I think we’ll leave him down this time and give him another chance to mess up.” John actually expected that Buster would be perfect on the next find even with Trey flushing. And he was right. The next find had Buster pointing on the edge of a mowed hay field. This time John stayed on his horse and nodded to Mack who snuck in behind the dog and picked up the cable. Trey went in front and another brood of pheasant took off. Buster never moved a muscle and was still standing on his toes with his tail up when the birds flew to the far end of the field. John finally got down off his horse, went to the dog, led him off point, handed the cable to Mack, and hooked his roading rope to Buster’s harness. He hooked the rope to Trey’s saddle who was riding one of Bobby’s spare horses that morning, “I wouldn’t do this with one of your horses until we’ve had a chance to be sure they’re rope broke, but you might as well learn to help with the roading now that you’re my assistant dog trainer.”
They all laughed as Trey mounted up and took his place at the back of the group where the dogs being roaded belonged. John who had Buster’s bracemate in a harness fell in beside Trey, “What do you think your grandfather would say if he knew you were now an assistant dog trainer?”
With all seriousness, Trey looked out at the distant horizon, “If there’s a heaven, I’m sure he’s up there looking down and smiling right along with us.”
“I believe there is, and I’m sure you’re right.” The two men rode along in silence each thinking his own thoughts of heaven and those they had loved whom they assumed were there now.
The middle of the next week came and it was time to go on to another field trial. It wasn’t a championship but it was still a National Qualifier and the draw that had been posted on the Internet showed that almost all the trainers on the prairies would be there. The pay out on this trial would be a substantial share of the total entry fees and the winning handlers in both the derby and the all age would go home with considerable checks. The owners always liked to win championships — the handlers like to win the big purses. The monthly fees and handling expenses pay the bills, but the handlers who collected the big purses are the ones who drive the new trucks, have the best horses, and can afford the better leases for training. As in many endeavors, success in field trials is self-perpetuating with the most successful handlers getting the best clients with the best dogs, which in turn win more championships and more purses. There are a number of professional handlers in all aspects of field trials but only a small percentage who stay at the top year in and year out.
Rebel Yell put a lock on the Prairie All-Age award with a win at the trial and Bobby and Trey had ear to ear grins when the picture was taken. Trey was excited about his first win as an owner. To be honest, Bobby was thinking about what he’d do with that big check. One of the handlers, who wasn’t that good with dogs, was one of the best horse trainers on the circuit and he had a big grey horse that Bobby coveted.
The derby also had a big entry and Buster was drawn in the second brace. John brought him to the line as a large gallery gathered to see Buster go. For the first time in many years John had butterflies in his stomach. He knew why. There were plenty of birds on the grounds and it was open enough that he would be able to let the big pointer roll and still be able to keep track of him.
John spoke quietly to Buster, “If you’re going to get it right one of these times, this would be a good time to do it. Trey is letting you sleep on his bed and saved you from a life of probable misery. So you owe him big and today you should start paying him back.”
Mack came up and took Buster from John and held him while John mounted his horse. He was braced with a young trainer who considered himself pretty funny, although most didn’t share his opinion. When Mack was on his horse the youngster, which is how John thought of him, spoke so all could hear him, “You just let me know if you need a head start, old man.”
No one laughed. John turned on him with fire in his eyes, and then he gained control of his temper and spoke softly, “In my day, sonny, I took your granddaddy to school, and then I did the same to your daddy. It looks like it’s your turn.”
Before the boy could think of an answer the judge said, “Let ‘em go.”
Both dogs were off like they were shot from a cannon and streaked out to the front until Buster was clearly in the lead, then he veered off to the left side of the course and headed for a far bluff. The kid’s dog continued straight ahead, and, he pushed his horse into a lope. Soon he was far ahead of John, the two judges, his scout, and the gallery. He came to a rise of ground, reined in his horse and pointed far to the front. When the judges didn’t acknowledge his dog he turned to look at them only to find they weren’t there. John had veered off slightly so that he would be closer to Buster if he went on point. Both judges and the entire gallery had followed him. One of the judges turned to the marshal for the stake and said something. The marshal then spurred his horse and rode after the kid. When the marshal got to him, he conveyed the message from the judges that he might want to stay with them a little more, turned, and galloped back to the judges. When the kid looked again he could not see his dog and had no choice but to go look for him.
His dog had also swung to the left and had run back to get in front of the judges. John saw both dogs, but kept his mouth shut as Buster slowed and pointed in front of a bluff on a hillside around 300 yards away. John raised his hat to signify his dog was on point and spurred his horse out of a walk for the first time. He stopped well back from the dog and dismounted. He walked slowly to the dog watching his bracemate out of the corner of his eye. When the other dog saw Buster he didn’t slow down, but went in front of him and flushed his birds. John quietly cautioned Buster who wanted to do the same. John fired his blank gun and then collared his dog. One of the judges turned to the handler who had agreed to scout for the kid and told him to get the dog. As the dog was coming through to make sure he had gotten all the birds in the air the scout yelled whoa once, and the dog suddenly realized that he was in trouble. He stopped and cowered down. The scout walked over and put a harness on him and took his place at the back of the gallery.
The kid came riding in at the shot, only to find his dog in a harness. The scout handed him the rope, “Consider your entry fee the cost of your lesson.” He rode off with the rest of the gallery as John sent Buster forward.
The kid started to say something, but no one was even looking his way. There were two things to do – go back to the headquarters or follow the rest of the brace. He almost put his tail between his legs and headed in but then he squared his shoulders and caught up to the gallery and the other handlers who were roading dogs. Nobody said anything to him, but they all knew that Preacher John had just given the kid a lesson that you could never get in Sunday school.
Buster meanwhile had once more streaked to the front on a quest to find more birds and was rewarded with his second find with just five minutes to go. When the judges called time, Buster was just a dot of white on the horizon and Mack and John went after him. The judges really didn’t care if they caught him or not, he was still in judgment when they called time and they would both love to see the derby that could beat Buster. John, Trey, and Bobby rode every brace until the derby finished the next day. A couple of dogs came close but none of the riders who had seen Buster go thought any dog had beat him. When it came time for the announcement one of Bobby’s other young dogs was announced as third. Another handler took second with a very good derby. Buster was declared first and the trial chairman handed Trey his second blue ribbon of the trial. Both John and Trey were congratulated all around.
After the announcement, the kid came up to John and looked him right in the eye, “I called my daddy, and told him what happened. He said if you were the same Preacher John that he remembers that I was lucky it wasn’t much worse. He also told me I better apologize before you got it in your head to spend more time educating me.” He stuck out his hand, “Mister John, I really do apologize. Sometimes words come out of my mouth before I even think about them. And this isn’t the first time they have cost me.”
John took his hand and shook it, “No hard feelings, and say hey to your daddy for me next time you talk to him.”
“Yes, sir.”
John watched the boy walk away and then looked down at the check that had been handed to him. The amount startled him. When he left the sport 25 years before, a check this size would have been a lot at a major championship. He walked over to Bobby and held it out to him, “This is yours.”
Bobby made no move to take the check, “How do you figure that?”
“I was just helping you out with the dog — you should get the money.”
“I figure you earned it, not me. Besides I might have paid you that much to take that kid down a couple of notches.”
John turned to Trey, “Help me out here. Don’t you think Bobby should take this check?”
Trey thought about it, “No, John, I don’t. From the way it’s been told to me you’re the one responsible for Buster’s success. In fact, I was thinking that you, Bobby, and Mack all deserve a bonus. I just bought some old grey nag for Bobby. I haven’t figured out yet what I’m going to do for you and Mack.”
He took Buster and headed for the trailers. Mack and John just shook their heads.
Bobby looked at them, “How’d he find out I wanted that horse?”
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