A general forum for the discussion of hunting with beagles, guns, clothing and other equipment and just talking dawgs! (Tall tales on hunting allowed, but remember, first liar doesn't stand a chance)
I went to a Moderate Brace trial today!? WOW! I don't understand that stuff. They only went 15ft. then they picked up the dogs?! They move so slow that the rabbit had time to stop and have a smoke! I was talking to a guy that has gundogs and mod. brace dogs and I told him that I was new to trialing and he asked what type of dogs that I had. I told him that I have had dogs that will push a rabbit ( keep MR. BUNNIE moving). So anyway, He said he felt that they maybe "bred out the speed and hunt desire out of mod.brace dogs."
My questions is....
Why would you want a moderate brace dog?
What do you get out of have a dog that will only need to go 15-20 feet then get picked up?
How do you kow if he's good or not if he doesn't bring the rabbit back to the gun(judge).
Not being a trialer I could very well be way of on this but I think on these type of dogs speed is of very little reguard.What these guys are looking for is a dog that sticks its nose right down in every spot that rabbit touched and sound off with out ever wavering off the line at all.I have a female 8 year old that would fit this criteria although I would give her a slow to moderate rating.She is fun to hunt with by her self when you want to have a slower day than say the day before when you had your fast dogs out and covered a lot of ground. Gives me a chance to heal up a little while still being in the outdoors enjoying my favorite sport.I also use her extensively to train my pups with. This works very well to teach fast pups to slow down a little until their brains have some time to catch up with their feet.I also use her for breeding some times to my fast males because she most always passes her very big nose on to her offspring.If I lost her tomorrow I would be shopping for one just like her for these reasons. This is all just my own oppinion and experience. Pat By the way. I don't pick her up after 20 or 30 feet and she WILL bring that rabbit around but when it comes you can usually shoot it with a 22 . I have accually shot them as they would stop to catch a bite to eat while hopping along.
MacMaster, Brace hounds (that run a total of 15 feet and blow holes in the ground) are NOT hunting hounds or gundogs......they are hobby hounds. Their owners feed and keep them and attend the brace trials as just a hobby....
I have had beagles my whole like and consider them medium to medium fast. I heard about field trials and decided to attend one. Off my father and I went 2 hours drive to attend a traditional brace trial, not having any idea what to expect. The first "red flag" was all the overweight dogs staked out. As fate would have it, we drew the first brace. My pack mate handler was reluctant to release his hound so I gladly set mine free. In a matter of seconds the rabbit was jumped and my dog was off to the races. The gallery went from steady chatter to dead silence. Everyones mouth dropped, and I was politely asked to go catch my dog. Seriously confused, I handled my hound and stuck around to see the next brace. Realizing what an awful mess I got into we thanked everyone for breakfast and headed back home, eyes filled with tears laughing the whole way home. To this day 25+ trials later in the mid-west association that was the funniest thing I have ever seen. DarrinG is right, that is a different "sport" altogether, but I respect the fact they all have a good time together, and seldom to you hear them bickering!
Rob’s Ranger Rabbit Hunter (Lefty)
Rose City Quad King’s
DogPatch Fly
They move so slow that the rabbit had time to stop and have a smoke! 
I was talking to a guy that has gundogs and mod. brace dogs and I told him that I was new to trialing and he asked what type of dogs that I had. I told him that I have had dogs that will push a rabbit ( keep MR. BUNNIE moving). So anyway, He said he felt that they maybe "bred out the speed and hunt desire out of mod.brace dogs." 