The Trial Ground https://csjk9blog.com/ A dated record of working-dog sport in Britain: gundog trials and working tests, sheepdog trials, canicross, bikejor and carting, explained entry by entry. en-gb August: the open sheepdog season at its full sizehttps://csjk9blog.com/2026/august-open-sheepdog-trial/https://csjk9blog.com/2026/august-open-sheepdog-trial/Sat, 15 Aug 2026 09:00:00 +0000August is the busiest month in the British sheepdog year, with the four National trials inside three weeks and the International following in September. Carting and draught tests in Britain: small, but written downhttps://csjk9blog.com/2026/carting-and-draught-tests/https://csjk9blog.com/2026/carting-and-draught-tests/Sat, 11 Jul 2026 09:00:00 +0000British draught work is run by breed clubs rather than a federation. The Newfoundland regulations set five levels, with exact weights, distances and ages. Working tests on water, and the certificate behind themhttps://csjk9blog.com/2026/june-retriever-water-test/https://csjk9blog.com/2026/june-retriever-water-test/Sat, 13 Jun 2026 09:00:00 +0000A water test asks a dog to enter readily and swim. It does not ask for a retrieve, and for a retriever it is one of two certificates the title depends on. Inside a spring spaniel working testhttps://csjk9blog.com/2026/spring-spaniel-working-test/https://csjk9blog.com/2026/spring-spaniel-working-test/Sat, 16 May 2026 09:00:00 +0000Once the shooting season closes, spaniels compete on dummies. How the beat, the gun and the flush are simulated, and what changed in the rules in 2026. Canicross in March: reading a forest trail at the end of a seasonhttps://csjk9blog.com/2026/canicross-march-forest-trail/https://csjk9blog.com/2026/canicross-march-forest-trail/Sat, 14 Mar 2026 09:00:00 +0000March is the last safe month of the dryland season. What changes on a forest course as winter ends, and why the temperature rule decides the day. Nursery trials: a young dog in the dark monthshttps://csjk9blog.com/2026/nursery-sheepdog-trial/https://csjk9blog.com/2026/nursery-sheepdog-trial/Sat, 21 Feb 2026 09:00:00 +0000Nursery trials fill the British winter and are not run under a national rulebook. What is actually fixed, what varies by society, and what the diary shows. What a January retriever field trial asks of a doghttps://csjk9blog.com/2026/january-retriever-field-trial/https://csjk9blog.com/2026/january-retriever-field-trial/Sat, 17 Jan 2026 09:00:00 +0000Cold water, heavy cover and a short day: how a retriever trial is organised in the last weeks of the season, and what the judges are counting. How a dryland course is laid out for bikejorhttps://csjk9blog.com/2025/dryland-course-bikejor/https://csjk9blog.com/2025/dryland-course-bikejor/Sat, 22 Nov 2025 09:00:00 +0000Starting chute, finish zone, no self-crossing, room to pass: the design rules for a dryland racing trail, and the equipment rules that come with a wheel. Canicross kit: the harness, the line and the belthttps://csjk9blog.com/2025/canicross-kit/https://csjk9blog.com/2025/canicross-kit/Sat, 27 Sep 2025 09:00:00 +0000Three pieces of equipment, each with a job and a measurement. What the race rules require, what they forbid, and why the metal snap is banned at one end only. A sheepdog course, from outrun to single, with the pointshttps://csjk9blog.com/2025/sheepdog-course-parts/https://csjk9blog.com/2025/sheepdog-course-parts/Sat, 19 Jul 2025 09:00:00 +0000The seven parts of an International Sheep Dog Society course, the distances, and the published scale of points that adds up to 110 on the standard course. Spaniel stakes: novice, all aged and openhttps://csjk9blog.com/2025/spaniel-stake-classes/https://csjk9blog.com/2025/spaniel-stake-classes/Sat, 10 May 2025 09:00:00 +0000What each spaniel stake is confined to, why novice is about awards rather than age, and why a class you saw advertised may not be a Kennel Club stake at all. How a gundog working test is judged and markedhttps://csjk9blog.com/2025/working-test-marking/https://csjk9blog.com/2025/working-test-marking/Sat, 08 Mar 2025 09:00:00 +0000Marked out of twenty, graded by letter, or whatever the judges agreed that morning: the regulation is less prescriptive about scoring than most people think.