Ordinarily the four-legged athletes competing on the fields of the Bouckaert Farm are sport horses, but two weekends a year those athletes are of the canine variety – swift sighthounds like Greyhounds, Whippets and Scottish Deerhounds chasing a fast moving lure that simulates the action of a hare on the run. The sport is called “lure coursing” and is an adaptation of the ancient sport of coursing, in which two Greyhounds chase a hare in a contest between the dogs themselves and the hare.
The sighthounds will take to the field at Chattahoochee Hills the weekend of March 19–20 for the Southeastern Greyhound Club’s 15 annual Run For Rescue field trial to raise funds for the club’s racing Greyhound adoption program, Southeastern Greyhound Adoption. Spectators are welcome, and admission is free. The running will gets underway at 10 a.m. each morning and will conclude about 2-3 p.m. The program for the event, which has directions and additional information, can be found at the club’s web site at www.greyhoundadoption.org
The club and Chattahoochee Hills enjoy a mutually beneficial partnership, says John Parker, president of the Greyhound organization: “They have what we need – nice big open fields – and we have what they need – club member volunteers who enjoy a nice weekend of horse sport in a beautiful countryside setting. Carl is very generous in letting us use his lovely farm for our sport, and volunteering at the eventing trials is a fun way for us to express our appreciation to him.”
Lure coursing is an amateur sport for sighthounds and sighthound crosses known as lurchers and longdogs – they are called “sight” hounds because traditionally they have hunted by sighting the game rather than by scenting it. The dogs run against each other in duos called “braces” in an elimination-type competition similar to tennis or basketball tournaments in which the winners of each brace proceed in the winners’ bracket, while those who lose compete in a consolation bracket. Unlike racing, lure coursing is a test not only of speed, but also agility in making the sharp turns and stamina in completing a course that averages 800–900 yards in length. A judge tallies points as the dogs run the course, then signals the winner at the end of each course. The lure consists of white plastic bags on a string which is pulled by an electric motor around a series of pulleys in the ground to create the turns.
The Greyhounds club runs its meets under the sanction of the National Lure Coursing Club or the American Sighthound Field Association. Many of the dogs which compete are former racing Greyhounds adopted as pets; like the off-the-track Thoroughbreds which excel at eventing, racing Greyhounds are natural athletes that can adapt well to a new sport.
After the Run For Rescue trial on Saturday, March 19 (approximately 2:30 p.m.), the Greyhound club will offer “fun runs” on the lure for spectators’ dogs of all breeds and mixed breeds for a nominal charge of $3 per dog, as an additional fundraiser for Greyhound adoption. The fun run dogs will run alone or in a pair at the election of the owner. There will be a sign-up sheet at the Secretary’s table for the fun runs, and they will be conducted on a first-come, first-served basis. All dogs in attendance must be on a leash, and owners are advised to hold on tight when the lure moves, as most dogs get quite excited when the lure is moving.
For additional information, please e-mail John Parker at fieldchmn@aol.com
