Update regarding another Mikhailya Grand-daughter, a hunter out west

Int JP Ch Majenkir O’Blyss Magnus, littermate to our Tresor

In my May 27th post, I wrote about a Majenkir bitch, a Mikhailya grand-puppy bitch whose name  was “Hawkeye”.   Her owner was N28, and the previous spring, her husband drove out from Wyoming where they live to pick up this puppy bitch that was out of a Magnus daughter, “Spiral”.  Today, M-5 wrote the following about this little bitch on Facebook:

“A phone call from N28 with some very exciting news. Last year N—  drove east for a visit and picked up their Borzoi pup from the litter sired by DeJay out of Spiral.

Over the weekend Lily went to her first official Borzoi Breed Hunt with the Rocky Mountain Coursing Club. There Lily took Top Honors in a field of 13 coursing Borzoi over some of the better running dogs from all around the country. The next day was a mixed hunt where Lily came in second to a Greyhound and had the distinction of being the Last Dog Standing when other dogs went lame.

Even after all of these years of being known as a breeder of noted show dogs, I am doubly excited and proud when I receive news such as this. I never want my dogs to morph into “caricatures” of what the standard calls for to continue to win in the show ring.

Since the N——  seldom breed Borzoi, they continue to bring Majenkir dogs West where these dogs continue to win hunts and then go into the show ring where they also win! Their siblings in the show ring who never have the chance to prove themselves in the field continue to rack up show wins for Majenkir and others.”

I replied to my mentor, N5, with the following email:

“Regarding this wonderful posting on FB today, I was wondering if this was the same bitch N28 was showing at the National this year. I went over to her and her husband and introduced myself to them, as soon as I realized that their bitch was a Mikhailya grand-daughter. Is she the same bitch? She was gorgeous. She was like looking at Mikhailya’s ghost for me. Unlike many of the “Mikhailya” grand-bitches I have seen in the ring, including the National, she resembled Mikhailya so very much. Even her mannerisms in the ring were just like her. I could tell she did not love the ring, and even though she almost made the final cut, her heart did not seem to be there. She was a true field dog, and it shone through. When I asked N28 her name though she said it was “Hawk-eye”. I thought it was a strange name for such a pretty, feminine borzoi. They also said she runs very fast.”

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“Tresor” at 18 months old, photographed by Maxine Bochnia.  Littermate to “Magnus”. The get of “Mikhailya”

My mentor, N5, wrote back to me to inform me that they had taken not one, but two bitches back to Montana.  This is the second one, and her name was “Lily”, a littermate to Hawkeye.  So the two Magnus get out of Spiral, and grand-puppy bitches to Mikhailya, also proved themselves as winning hunters in the field.  It also bears mention that there are two other very notable and accomplished kennels in the Western United States that breed high-performance, winning hunting borzoi.  This year, Lily beat them in this hunt test.

I will always be grateful for my place in this large network of beautiful borzoi, especially knowing that I have made a huge contribution to its lineage through a bitch I owned, Mikhailya, and the very special puppy her breeding produced, “Magnus”.   Even though I only own his  litter-mate, he too is competitive in the ring and has outstanding breed type.  Most of all, he has my heart for his spirit and for all of his accomplishments.

I have so much to be grateful for that I should never look back in sadness for what I lost, or doubt my reasons to be happy but instead count my many blessings.   Yet, it is always frightening to feel it when it occurs, when my very foundation is shaken by some  event or other, and it feels so deceptively real to me, only to find out that I was wrong.  It is a difficult way to live except for knowing I have only to reach out and embrace Jelly and Tresor, both, for comfort and peace to be restored again.  And many more times than not, I do not have to reach far to feel the warm hand of LT catch me when I fall.