Monday, December 7, 2009

A Great Red Setter Has Passed...


Red setter Ch. Prosper
(Comeback Riptide x Comeback Miss Pat)
August 12, 1995 - December 2, 2009

We received notice today that the great red setter Ch. Prosper passed away on December 2. He was 15 years of age. "Jimmy" had a long competitive career amassing a total of 85 placements including 6 championships and 6 runnerup championships. His most notable win was the Region 2 Am Shooting Dog Championship in 2001. After the initial series of 53 entries the judges could not agree on the order of placement between Prosper and a pointer so they decided the only way to settle it was with a second series. After 45 minutes, when Prosper had racked up 5 perfect finds to none for the pointer the doubting judge said "I`m convinced; put the rope on him."


Prosper at age 13 on the North Dakota prairies

Prosper was a very wide running dog who would always show to the front. And, above all, he was a bird finder. I remember well training on the prairies one summer when Prosper was in his prime. Dr. Boser and I had been running derbies for much of the morning, and we hadn't found a single bird. The weather was hot, and we were heading back to the horse trailer to call it a day. When we got back to the trailer, we decided that we couldn't head back to camp without any birds. So, Roger put Prosper on the ground, the same grounds we had just run 2 braces of derbies through with no birds. Prosper had 4 finds in 30 minutes, and was wide and moving forward when Roger went to reel him in.

Prosper was a genuine bird dog, who lived to hunt and work for his boss. He was truly one of the great ones. The National Red Setter Field Trial Club extends condolences to Dr. Roger and Mary Boser. The great ones always seem to leave us too soon.

Al Fazenbaker

No comments:

Bearcat

Bearcat
VOTE BEARCAT FOR HALL OF FAME