A Trip To The IWCA Specialty   When the opportunity presented itself for myself & my friend, Julie, to go to America for the IWCA Specialty it was definitely a case of Yarnscombe Maids on tour! Neither of us had been that far before but chances like this don’t come along often & as the Specialty was in Texas it seemed like fate that we should go, watch the show, learn more about the US system & stay with my good friend Lesa Newbitt (Bereton IW’s).   When we booked the tickets in January it seemed a long way off but April soon came around and we flew out from Gatwick on the Tuesday morning. The show had already started with the Lure Coursing & Sweepstakes classes but being Easter weekend flights before then were EXPENSIVE! We touched down at Dallas airport about 2pm (US time) and walking out of the building into the open air was a bit of a shock. The heat was amazing! So dry, not at all what we’re used to over here. Lesa came & collected us & we drove across town to the Southfork Hotel (did I forget to mention that the show was being held at the famous Southfork Ranch, home to JR & Co from the TV show Dallas??????).   That evening, after we had settled into our room & adjusted slightly to US time, we attended a seminar held by Ulli Peiler (Knocknarea IW’s). I was sorry I hadn’t had the opportunity to hear the 1st part of his talk earlier in the day. Ulli is a very gifted & entertaining chap & he makes everything sound SO easy!   Next morning we were off to the Ranch and the start of the conformation judging. The system is surprisingly similar to ours, start with the boys, then do the girls & finish up with the BOB. Main differences I noticed are that the Americans spread it out over 3 days, have a winners dog/bitch & don’t get to the Best of Breed class until the 3rd day – where everyone goes in together dogs & bitches! So the Wednesday was set aside for dogs, starting, as we do, with puppy. The conformation judge was Gretchen Bernardi (Berwyck IW’s) & I was looking forward to watching very much. Everything was very well organized and the 7 classes were well filled. Lots of interesting hounds caught my eye so I was glad Lesa had remembered to get me a catalogue. The photo is of the Winners Dog Karen Catov-Goodell’s ‘Pinehurst Mason’.   Thursday was conformation judging of the bitches. Again many lovely girls to catch your eye, in fact I have to say that I felt the quality was deeper in the bitches than the dogs. Many of the classes were packed particularly the 12-18mth class. The line up was so long I had to take 2 shots! Winners bitch came from the Bred by Exhibitor class and was Pamela & James Paloma’s ‘Erinwood Mueslix’   Friday brought the end of conformation judging with the Best of Breed class. I was lucky enough to have been asked to handle Lesa’s dog ‘US CH Hydebeck Flap Jack’ in this class so unfortunately I don’t have many photo’s from the Friday. Best of Breed was the Winners Bitch ‘Erinwood Mueslix’ with the BOS coming from the day’s BOB class ‘US CH Wolf Tone Mike’.   Friday night we attended the Judges Dinner back at the Southfork Hotel. The hospitality was just great & it makes me wonder whether we should look at making a weekend event of our championship breed shows? The meal was good & we got to meet & talk with some of the American exhibitors. Everyone who attended went home with a cuddly toy memento – going along the Texan theme there was either an Armadillo or a Texas Long Horn.   The trip was almost over. We just had a few days left  to stay at Lesa’s ranch. It was home from home for us Yarnscombe Maids with Wolfhounds & Horses!!!! I even got the chance to have a go at riding ‘western’, a real challenge for someone used to having contact on the bit & rising to the trot!   Time whizzed by & after a trip buying souvenirs for those who had been left at home looking after the hounds & horses (Chuck & Jack!) it was pretty much time to board the plane home again. On the way to the airport we stopped to take some photos in a field of ‘Texas Bluebonnets’. They are usually plentiful at that time of year but the weather in Texas is incredibly changeable (while we were there we experienced a hurricane & beautiful sunshine!) and a fall of snow the previous week had all but wiped them out.   So, you’re going to want to know if it’s worth a 10 hour flight there & back to go see the show in 2008? The answer is definitely YES! Flights were reasonably priced at £350 return & the hotel tariff is a ¼ of what we would expect to pay here, so it’s not an expensive trip. Things I learnt are:- Americans have Tea, thing is they drink it cold (YUK!) and look at you strangely if you ask for it hot! They don’t have kettles, so you have to use coffee machines to get hot water (for the aforementioned Tea – good job I took my own Tea Bags!). They eat sandwiches on strange bread & they don’t have butter on them! Local shop assistants are fascinated by the English accent & will keep you talking for ages about absolutely nothing just so they get to listen to the accent. Eating out is easy there is a wide variety of restaurants & diners, food is cheap & good but a little spicy. Southfork Ranch is not as big as you think it is. There is ALWAYS turbulence flying into Dallas Fort Worth – the plane is not going to crash – honest! & the weather is varied and can alter in the course of an hour, so go prepared for spring, summer, autumn & winter all in one!!!!!   If you’re going, I hope you enjoy your trip as much as we did, oh,  and tell Lesa ‘Nicky says Hi!’        © Nicky Warwick 2008