Saw one of the best field trial men ever to ride a horse behind great upland bird dogs (trained by him) out in the fields the other day. He was battling back from emergency open heart surgery from this spring. He was up in Oregon field trialing with his string of amazing field trial dogs when the pains came. Another friend of mine wouldn't take his brush off that it was nothing and got him to the hospital 40 miles away. Lucky she did. He is with us still because of Kathy.
One of my key mentors is on the mend. He is one of the best "dog men" ever to live, in my opinion.
I wish him all the best on his path to a full recovery.
The song by Slaid Cleaves featured here, "Horses and Divorces," reminded me of a story Randy told me one day when I asked the question, "So, what does it cost to get a field championship on a dog?"
His response will stay with me forever. "For some it will cost a lot of money. I've known some that it has cost them their marriage." He told me this with that simple smile and glint in his eye.
Passion! Randy has the ability to take young, talented Hungarian Pointers, German Shorthair Pointers, and German Wirehair Pointers and make them top-notch hunting dogs and, for those rare few, national champion field-trial dogs.
I may never meet a more down-to-earth and better man then Randy. Tough as nails and as good as the fields that he walks on.
Not only am I a better hunting dog owner because of Randy, but I'm a bit better person because of him.
Randy, I'll see you back in the fields soon.
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