Tűzvihar Magyar Agárs Has a New Website

Tűzvihar Magyar Agárs now has a new home on the web. Check it out at: www.tuzviharhounds.com

I have also added a link to the new website under the "related links" column on this blog.

Belated Easter Race Results and Report

We had the largest entry of MA's at the BRNC Easter races a few weeks ago. Willow, Belle, Gil, Gator and Luna all came together for one heck of a meet full of exciting and close races. Gator and his sister Luna are definitely catching on fast. Gator was Gil's main challenger all weekend and will probably be the top racing MA very soon (watch out Gil!).

The results for Saturday were:
1. Gil
2. Gator
3. Willow
4. Luna
5. Belle

Unfortunately Belle hurt her shoulder and was not able to return on Sunday for the next set of races. Even so the dogs put in some more good races and good competition.

The results for Sunday were:
1. Gil
2. Gator
3. Willow
4. Luna

All in all it was a great day, beautiful weather and good footing for the dogs. We hope to have many more like it soon!

Plans for a Magyar Agar Litter in the USA

Gil x Willow

We have tentative plans for a Magyar Agár litter in 2010/2011. The parents for this litter will be Gil, Ch. Aranyági Utonálló Fenség CC JOR, and Willow, Betcha-Katcha Nubia.

The sire is an accomplished show, racing, and open field coursing dog. He was the number one Magyar Agar in LGRA and NOFCA for 2008 and number one in UKC conformation 2008 as well. The dam is close to completing her LGRA racing championship and was the number one LGRA MA in 2006 and 2007. Both parents will have their eyes, hearts and thyroids tested/screened for good health. We expect the puppies to be versatile and athletic examples of the breed, suitable for showing, racing, coursing, lure coursing and couch-potatoing. The puppies will be UKC and FCI registerable.

We are looking for responsible and dedicated individuals/families to provide homes for our puppies and are taking reservations now. If you are interested in acquiring a Magyar Agár puppy please contact us.

Racing Results for March 21st 2009

We had a nice day of LGRA racing with four MA's entered. Here are the results:

1. Gil (by a hair)
2. Willow (a very, very close second)
3. Luna (getting better by the minute)
4. Gator (a very "earnest" runner)

Pups' Racing Debut

After a long period of never-ending rain we were all very happy to finally see the sun again and head out for a weekend of racing. Unfortunately Willow and Belle came into season and had to stay home, and Fecni is still recovering from her open field injury. However, Gil and the two yearling pups, Gator and Luna, were ready and rarin' to go so we had a good showing of MA's for the St. Paddy's day races.

As usual LGRA was held on Saturday. All three dogs had to be hand slipped this weekend due to the starting boxes being a tad too small. This proved to be a bit more work than we anticipated (Luna decided that she just couldn't wait for the official start) but things definitely got easier as the day went along.

The pups did very well for their first official race meet and I definitely anticipate that they will improve with time and experience. In the end, Gil placed first in all three races with Gator coming in second (and earning his first GRC points) and Luna a very close third. She and her brother are very well-matched against each other so it will be interesting to see how they develop.

Unfortunately Luna couldn't make it back for the oval on Sunday but Gil and Gator returned for more fun and excitement. This was Gator's very first time on the oval and I wasn't sure how he was going to do on the corners. Well, I didn't have anything to worry about because he took to the oval like a pro. The first race he had a disadvantage being on the outside box but still took the first turn very well and remained close behind Gil the whole way. The second time around he drew the inside box and led the race to about the halfway mark before Gil passed him. I don't think it will be long before this boy gets his oval technique down pat.

All in all it was a great weekend with beautiful weather and great racing. We're looking forward to more weekends like this in the very near future.

The Coursing Season in Review: Part III

And now for the final installment of the coursing season review.

Gil attended one last hunt for the season while Fecni attended two. As mentioned in a previous post, Fecni tried her luck at a NOFCA mixed hunt and ended up tying for 5th place against some of the top coursing Greyhounds and Whippets in this part of the country.

The weekend prior to Fecni's mixed hunt victory both she and Gil headed back out for another rare breed hunt. The weather was much fairer this time around (thank goodness!) and we had a nice entry of 6 Ibizans, 1 Galgo, 4 Afghans and the two MA's. That gave us enough dogs to split the stake into two with the Ibizans forming one stake and the rest of the dogs making up the other stake.

Since we had had a lot of luck popping rabbits in the high brush up against the levy we decided to start there. It turns out that without the strong winds all the bunnies had moved out into the open. We were happy to move ourselves out of the high brush and out into the middle of field, but unfortunately there were quite a few rabbits that got away because we were moving too fast. Still, we managed to finish on finals at a decent hour. Gil ran a very nice prelim course with Santana the Galgo and Wendy the Afghan. The rabbit broke right and took the dogs right back towards the high brush that we had just come from. The dogs had a good decent-length chase before the rabbit decided to head up the levy. Gil wasn't able to clear the levy and lost sight of the hare. The Galgo managed to climb up the levy but by the time he reached the top the rabbit was long gone. Gil won the course and moved up to finals.

Fecni didn't have such good luck in her prelim. Even though the brush was thinner out in the open, there were a lot of these toothpick-like reeds that stuck out of the ground all over the place, making it hard for a lot of the dogs to get sighted. Fecni put in a hard run but in the end she didn't make it to finals. That left Gil and the two Afghans Neka and Fiana running off in the final course.

We didn't have to walk long before the rabbit popped from the right and took a hard left right in front of the dogs. Gil got a late slip which gave the Afghans a good lead on the rabbit, but it didn't take long before Gil caught up and wrenched a right-hand turn on the hare. The rabbit carried all the dogs waaaaay out into the field until they were just about out of sight. We could see some dust kicked up about midway through the course where we believe Gil attempted a take but failed. He was temporarily slowed down but picked up the pace quickly with the two Afghans following up from behind. This rabbit also tried to escape by heading up the levy, but this time Gil climbed his way up and continued his hot pursuit with the Afghans following along the bottom of the bank ready to catch it in case it decided to come back down. It was an incredible course, by far the longest one run that day, with a lot of hard work put in by all three dogs. I have to say, the Afghans did an amazing job and their owners should be very proud of them!

At the end of the day Gil ended up taking first place, followed by Neka in second and Fiana in third. That gave Gil the last points he needed to finish his Coursing Championship, making him the very first member of his breed in America to earn a NOFCA title.

All in all it was a great coursing season, with a lot of great running and great people. We can hardly wait until next year!

Many thanks to Dave Mills for the wonderful photography!

Race Practice Videos

Here are some long-awaited videos from the race practice that we had back in January.

This one's a race between Gil and Willow. Gil ended up winning this one:


Belle's single runs:


Gator and Luna:


And last but not least, the race between Gil and Gower the Lurcher. This was a very close and interesting race: