Rule Change: ATVs Approved for Judging AKC Field Trial Walking Stakes

Podcast: The Accidental Bird Dog Podcast · Terry Ann Fernando

Opublikowano: 2025-08-27

The AKC just made a major change to field trial rules: judges in walking stakes can now use ATVs and UTVs instead of being required to ride horses. To unpack what this means for the sport, I sit down with Paul Hermes — a Florida-based AKC field trial and hunt test judge — to talk through the impact. Paul is realistic about the situation and in an ideal world, he would prefer to have horses for judging. But he also recognizes the practical challenges: horses are increasingly hard to source, and many younger participants don't own them. We discuss the...