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| Loren Morehouse and Larry Morgan |
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| John Russell and Russ Reavis |
In attendance was John Russell, Larry Morgan, Loren Morehouse
and AKC Rep Russ Reavis.
John brought up a proposal regarding scratches. The rules that are currently in place offer a full refund for injury, illness and bitches in season.
The petition wants to extend the scratch refund. A person can scratch any test prior to the the start of the trial and receive a partial refund of 60% of the
entry fee and 40% will be retained by the club and Entry Express. No reason for your scratch would be required. The people who submitted the proposal are not in attendance today.
A number of clubs have a printed policy on refunds … some fees
are refunded upon approval of committee.
The discussion ensued and a current club president thinks weather should
not be a reason for scratching a dog.
- The ensuing conversation was such that no one in attendance thinks refunds be given for weather-related reasons. It was felt that contestants might start "field trial shopping."
- We were advised by one person to be careful of what we make mandatory. Easy scratch policies would really affect small clubs if dogs started pulling out.
Entry Express gives clubs the option to give refunds with the “OK” of the
Field Trial Committee.
The vote in this room today was the the rules should stay should stay as
it is, because lots of clubs have no stated policy. Allowing scratches for no
reason may increase multiple entries issues, and really affect the Derby stakes.
It was
decided that everyone in attendance did not want a blanket policy that allows
scratches for no reason and it could endanger clubs with fragile economics or
small entries. A survey of the group gives this proposal NO Support.
Next Topic: At the National Open the discussion was about
mandatory marking of blinds.
Joe Broyles stated the marker does not have to be an obvious
orange marker, “but due to our age, we need bushes or some specific marker.” He
feels it’s easy to mark without giving the blind away.
A question was asked – “How do we define marking a blind?” It is hard to define … At the meeting in Paducah, almost everyone agreed
it should be marked. Something that should be encouraged is to make it easy
for the “average” person to see the end of the blind.
Suggestion: Say “SHOULD” mark the blind so the handler can
see it. nThe question was asked if there was anything in the Rules about seeing the blind, and the answer was NO.
We are asking judges to make a common sense decision to see
a blind … to make it recognizable and be cognizant that circumstances change with weather and wind. The thought was that rule changes are not great for identifying the end
of the blind.
A request was made for a blind planter to stand over the
bird so that the contestant can see. Again, use common sense, put a stick, weed, etc. – something found in the
field as a definitive marker.
John then asked if anyone had another subject they wanted to
bring up. Nobody did, so with no further business, the meeting was adjourned at
2:40 pm.
It was announced that new Rule books available on the stage.
