Why game keepers count on Margaret and her dedicated band of fellow pointer and setter enthusiasts

Competitive pointer and setter trialling is limited to a small number of experts, one of whom is Margaret Ward, who has been competing for the past three decades. She explained the intricacies of the sport to Wendy Short and outlined its links with the annual counting of red grouse on Teesdale estates and beyond. 

EACH year, Margaret Ward and her fellow trials enthusiasts converge on the moors in Teesdale and the surrounding area to pit one dog against another and to survey red grouse numbers on the moors.

Margaret keeps pointers and is quick to “point” out that the term “English Pointer” is not used by enthusiasts to differentiate the breed from its German counterparts. They are simply known as pointers, she stresses.

The other breeds used for trialling are Gordon setters, Irish setters, English setters and, occasionally, red and white setters, all of which have their own breed clubs. German short-haired and wire-haired pointers are not included in the contests, which often see as many as 40 dogs entered in the open section, not to mention the novice and puppy classes.

Pointer and setter trialling is highly specialised and only the most committed competitors take part, with opportunities to practise on live game few and far between for most devotees, says Margaret.

She lives in Worcestershire and most of her dog training is limited to open fields, with not a game bird in sight. Nevertheless, her homebred pointer bitch, FTCH Springpoint Lace, is a veteran of the trials field and has won several top events.

Run under Kennel Club rules, the moorland trial involves two handlers, each with a single dog, running together. The event is designed to replicate a day’s shooting, with dogs judged on their quartering skills, drive and purpose when hunting and style on “point.”

They must also drop to the ground and stay down when birds take to the wing. Even more challenging is the rule that if the first dog finds game, the second must stay back and allow the other dog to take the point; this is known as backing.

Trials are also run on lowland ground, with partridge as the main quarry.

Working setter and pointer owners need to be very fit, to endure long hours walking on the open moor in all weathers and their dogs must be well trained.

Few commands are needed and these are given via a standard gundog whistle, which is used to communicate stop, right and left turns and recall.

Ms Ward says: “My love of pointers began when I was leafing through the Observer’s Book of Dogs. I had previously kept spaniels and Labradors and I was looking for a “summer” dog, preferably a short-haired breed that was medium in size.

“The pointer looked very appealing and when I read that it was often described as the aristocrat of gundogs, I was hooked. My first pointer did well in showing, but I was curious about the breed’s working ability and attended a training weekend, which was a real eye-opener. I trained my first bitch to a reasonable standard and I made sure that the next dog I bought came from working lines.”

Grouse Counting

GROUSE shooting is a hugely popular sport which brings many visitors to the region and is a key driver of the local economy.

In order to work out how many days’ shooting each estate plans to offer for the forthcoming season, it is essential that game keepers have a clear picture of the number of grouse on the moor.

This requirement was the catalyst which forged the close relationship between grouse shooting and pointer and setter dog handling many years ago and it has continued largely unchanged today. It involves a team of volunteer counters and their dogs, who walk sections of the moor, with the dogs alerting the handler to each covey within a particular territory.

Ms Ward has been a grouse counter for the past three decades and in July each year she makes the journey north, to spend a whole month in Teesdale. In return for the service, gamekeepers will usually allow trials to take place on the land they manage.

“The counting of grouse is by invitation only,” says Margaret, a former dance teacher who worked at a London academy before her retirement.

“An unruly dog on the moor will do more harm than good. Game keepers sometimes come and watch our trials to assess our dogs, before selecting new handler and dog teams for their estate.”

She adds: “Once an area of land has been allotted to a volunteer, he or she will return to that patch of moor every year and that way will build up a fairly accurate estimation of the population.

“Pointers find the grouse using air-scenting and freeze, to indicate their location. After pinpointing the birds they will creep forward slowly, applying pressure until they are flushed for counting; at that stage the dog should lie down, because it has then completed its work.

“The birds do not always flush together and there is often what I call a village idiot, which thinks that by remaining still it will not be detected. These are easily identified, because the dog’s body language will only relax when all of the birds have been flushed. Once they have been dispersed, the birds wait until the disturbance has passed by and then the cock will call the rest of the covey back to his territory.”

The obvious question for Ms Ward is how to avoid counting the same birds twice, and she has a ready answer.

“A covey of grouse will usually be found close together. If I come across a number of birds which are spread out widely, that usually means they have recently been disturbed and they won’t be included in the list. It is best to err on the side of caution and discount birds, if there is any doubt.

“The keepers always eagerly await our return from a counting day, because the figures are so important to them; they reflect all the work they put in to maintaining the habitat all year round. A minority of keepers will have their own pointers and setters, but most will rely on the clubs to provide the information,” she says.

“Counting also takes place in the spring, but at that time of year the challenge is to identify the number of pairs, rather than coveys.”

Grouse numbers tend to fluctuate in four-year cycles, but the figures have been encouraging over the past couple of years, she reports.

“I understand that the improved survival rate is partly due to the medication which has been introduced to protect the birds from internal parasites. They have also benefited from the recent mild winters.”

Black grouse are not included in the counting process, she adds.

“The dogs occasionally find black grouse and the point will be subtly different, perhaps because the birds are bigger. But black grouse are not found in such high numbers on the areas we visit, as they prefer habitat with wooded areas.”

Along with other enthusiasts, Ms Ward always stays in a caravan at the Lamb family’s Doe Park site, in Cotherstone, which she describes as “fantastic.”

“Doe Park is managed to a very high standard and we have plenty of space to exercise our dogs and get in some training practice before we go out on the moor,” she says.

“Whenever I bring new visitors to the site, they are always impressed with the beautiful setting and the abundance of wildlife they can see from their caravan windows.”

When Ms Ward’s “summer dog” has enjoyed a season of work, she turns to her “winter dogs; ” a pair of liver and white springer spaniels, which she uses for beating and picking up at local shoots.

However, faced with the onset of the aches and pains which can develop in later life, Ms Ward had resigned herself to being without a pointer for the first time in very many years, when she loses Lace.

However a new hip and, more recently, a new knee, have given her a new lease of life.

“I’m getting a pointer puppy,” she says, gleefully.