The first winter storm of the 2003-2004 season threatened our Fall trial December 6-7, 2003.  Friday evening we watched as weather.com predicted snow all night and into Saturday afternoon.  Three competitors called from Maryland and Pennsylvania to say that they were snowed in and would not be coming.  SV judge Helmut Rueppell and the four of us already here agreed to meet at 7:00 AM to decide whether we would postpone until Sunday.

At 7:00 we found that the storm had passed to the north of us, leaving us with just a dusting of snow and the sun beginning to peek through breaks in the clouds. With conditions appearing to be about as perfect as they can be at this time of year we decided to go for it!  The SchH I handlers laid their tracks and watched Armin lay the SchH II track as the clock ticked down.  First up were Steve and Izra who turned in a nice 91 SG, followed by Ron and Arnot with 96 V and James and Chief with 95 SG.  Kathy and Riot then went out and showed us how it should be done with a beautiful 97 V, although Riot made it clear that he had his own opinion of the frosty, wet ground.

After a short breakfast we headed down to the field for obedience and protection. The sun came out just as Izra and Arnot reported in to Herr Rueppell.  It continued to shine on Chief and Riot as all four teams turned in solid performances.

Armin suited up for protection and the final phase got underway.  Armin's intense, strong, correct helper work gave each dog a serious test of its character and training.  Izra showed her power and earned her 91 SG score. Arnot was next up and provided a little comic relief with a creative blind search, giving Ron the opportunity to observe "Mein Hund hat das noch nie gemacht!"  Nevertheless good strikes, full grips, and clean outs earned him 84 G.  With impressive power Chief showed that he will be a force to be reckoned with and received 87 G.  Riot finished our four for four day with 82 G in the SchH II routine.

Dog	Handler	A	B	C
Izra von Willowind	Steve Webb	91	83	91	265	G	SchH I
Arnot vom Tiefen Teich	Ron Harris	96	92	84	272	SG	SchH I
Trold Chief	James Laney	95	83	87	265	G	SchH I
Ehriot vom Dragonerreich	Kathy Males	97	87	82	266	G	SchH II

As the blizzard passed us by, leaving ice and snow all over the region, we enjoyed good tracking conditions, good field conditions, good helper work, and fair judging.  All our dogs' characters and training were tested, and all came through well. And all showed us just what needs more work!

Thank you to Herr Rueppell for traveling so far and making nervous handlers comfortable, to Fran for getting up way early and braving icy roads to be our trial secretary, to Armin for excellent track laying and helper work, not to mention great training, and to the competitors who traveled long distances under difficult conditions to be here.  And last, but not least, to the spectators hardy enough to fight through the storm to get here and support us.