In Finland I watched several hours of video film of lure coursing
in Russia. The competing breeds were Chortayas, Whippet, the Mid Asiatic
Tazi and Borzoi. Since we don't do much coursing in Sweden I know practically
nothing about coursing but at least I have eyes to see with. Had to rely
on them because the speaker text was all in russian and no help to me at
all.
The Chortaya was the supreme courser of these breeds, no question
about it.
They were constantly at the lure, very intense and extremely fast and agile.
They were the only ones to catch the lure by the way.
The Whippet hunted the lure in the same way, almost but not quite
as intense in the hunt as the Chortaya, and of course a lot slower since
they are smaller. Maybe I should mention that the Russian Whippets on the
video did not look quite like we are used to... Small, like our Scandinavian
Whippets, much flatter skulls and a behind that somehow reminds me of an
Italian Greyhound.
The Mid Asiatic Tazi hunted the lure as I've always figured a
sighthound would. They sometimes got a bit confused and started to chase
each other instead of the lure. Not at all as intent on the lure and not
as fast as the Chortayas or the Whippets.
Then there was Borzoi, "my" breed.
A big disappointment to me!! Compared to the others they were big, slow
and clumsy. Only one bitch was *really* interested in the lure and chased
it with all her might and she was quite fast. The others actually had to
be coaxed to follow the lure through the whole run...
The lure was a piece of pelt that had a long and wide ribbon
tied to it. The pelt followed the wire in a straight line but the ribbon
"tail" fluttered in the wind, making it very visble.
At another Lure corsing event, obviously at a horsehow in a big
riding hall (house?), the lure was not anything plastic but a dead pheasant
and now the Borzoi had not trouble at all to be interested. |
