Rossenarra Pointers

The History

Our involvement in Pointers began in 1974 when we first lived in Ireland, having been given a working Pointer by T. Brophy Snr. We ventured to one of the first Ch. Shows in Kilkenny, where a Mr. E. Seaman was judging gundogs. We afterwards asked him where we might acquire a well-bred Pointer and he recommended contacting Mrs. Kitty Edmondson and so the story began. Our first Crookrise puppy, Crookrise Devil, duly arrived in Ireland. A year later we purchased C. Yellow Star, a good sound bitch who did her share of winning both in Ireland and when we returned to England in 1976. About that time we had formulated some idea of what we wanted in a Pointer and we were greatly impressed by a dog we saw at WELKS, Mr. McGarry's Toberdoney Prince Consort. For us, he was what a Pointer was all about, full of type, with the classic dish and expression of his bloodline. A well balanced dog with excellent shoulders and rear angulation, a superb temperament, correct Pointer movement and tail action and, he was already a field trial winner; this working ability was important to us as we have always felt the breed should fulfil their true function and be built accordingly. However we were to wait some 2 years before we mated Yellow Star to Prince Consort. Devil had his own ideas and he and Star produced, in 1977, our first litter.

Probably the best known was exported to the USA to a young undergraduate, Wayne Cavanaugh, in New Jersey; he was USA Ch Rossenarra Amontillado of Crookrise. Amontillado proved to be a very influential dog, at the time of writing he still stands in the top ten of All Time Top Producing Sires in the USA, sire of 22 Champions (AKC Gazette). Also in that litter was Rossenarra Allegory who became a useful brood bitch in Malcolm Crossland's Bongazaan Kennels, and Rossenarra Alfabega who features in the pedigrees of Gill Russell's Swandance Pointers. In 1979 the most significant Rossenarra Pointer was born, the product of Ch Toberdoney Prince Consort and Crookrise Yellow Star, she was Ch & Ir. Ch Rossenarra Buckskin. The first Pointer to be so titled for 22 years and not repeated since. By the age of 12 months Buckskin was Best in Show at a Gundog Group Ch Show under Mr. John Nash (Moanruad) gaining her Ir. Ch title before the age of 2 years from 4 Green Star majors. Although Buckskin's career was mainly on the bench, she was an intelligent natural working bitch who competed and won at field trials. Buckskin's most notable wins in the UK were BOB at Crufts 1982 under Mrs. Kitty Edmondson, Res. BIS Southern Pointer Club Ch. Sh. under Mr. D. McGarry, and Res. BIS National Gundog Ch. Show 1984 under breed judge Mr. Terry Rhodes and BIS judge Mrs. Valerie Foss. Buckskin will always remain the closest to our ideal Pointer, she was truly classic, a lovely dog to live with and a very special girl.

The mating of Prince Consort and Yellow Star was repeated in 1980 producing two Champions, Rossenarra Charade and Rossenarra Classique campaigned by Mrs. K. Bride, Classique being an Open Stake winner at field trials. In 1983 Rossenarra Buckskin was mated to Crookrise Pepper, this union produced a number of good working dogs including Mr. & Mrs. Bagot's Rossenarra Delta, a field trial award winner, and our Ch. Rossenarra Diamond Lil. In 1985 Rossenarra Buckskin was mated to Appleby Legionnaire (all Toberdoney breeding), the most promising dog pup went to Mr. Des McGarry. This dog was the multiple CC winning GB Ch Rossenarra Eldorado of Toberdoney, his sister Rossenarra Etoile was also exported to the UK gaining a Res. CC. Eldorado went on to produce a number of Champions and CC winning offspring including Ir. Sh. Ch. Rossenarra Fine Romance and Finesse when mated to Ir. Ch. R. Diamond Lil in 1989. He also sired Springhill Swift of Toberdoney and Swandance Saffron of Dalric, both CC winners. We had retained a bitch from the mating to Appleby Legionnaire, Rossenarra Encore, and decided to mate her to GB Sh. Ch. Timadon Dipper in 1992. Dipper, having a complimentary pedigree, offered the right package, excelling in layback of shoulder, rear angulation and lashing tail with a wonderful temperament to match. The mating of Rossenarra Encore to Dipper produced three Champions, including another favorite of ours, Ch. Rossenarra Ghia, an elegant bitch from the same mould as Buckskin, who repeated her grand-dam's achievement of BIS at the BRGCCI Gundog Group Ch. Show 1995, under Mrs. Peggy Grayson. The other two, sold as promising puppies were Ch Rossenarra Guy, a Best in Show winner at Ch. Shows and Top Irish Gundog 1995, and Ch. Rossenarra Gigue who was also a winner at an Open Stake Field Trial.

In 1995 Wayne Cavanaugh judged Pointers in Ireland and to his surprise and delight found his BOB in Ir.Ch.Rossenarra.Ghia! The story came full circle, so impressed was he with Ghia, 2 of her puppies subsequently were exported to the USA in 1996. Rossenarra Intrigue became a USA Ch. in March 2000 and his litter sister Rossenarra Impudence also gained her title later in the year.

In fact, USA Ch Rossenarra Impudence wrote herself into the histoy books by producing six USA champions in her first litter, all gaining their titles before the age of two. That feat gained her the Pedigree Top Producer's title of joint Top Producing Pointer Dam and Top Producing Sporting Dam for 2001.

In 1998 a granddaughter of Eldorado was purchased from Des McGarry, Toberdoney Dargle , who was subsequently mated to Rossenarra Inca in 2002. An orange and white male puppy from that litter, Rossenarra Kayftara, was exported to Spain and is presently being successfully campaigned by his owner.

Our aim has always been to produce Pointers with true Pointer type, sound temperament and ability to work. We were indeed fortunate to have chosen T. Prince Consort as a sire, in doing so we tapped into the bloodlines of the most successful dual-purpose kennel of that time and gained a friend and mentor in Des McGarry. The line down through Buckskin, Eldorado and Ghia to her beautifully headed son Inca continues today. Buckskin's great grand children are today being successfully campaigned in the UK, Ireland, Spain and the USA.