Monográfica and Concurso 2009


Date:June 27, 2009
Location: Almoguera (Spain)  

After two years break - because the dates were set too late for us or we had other things to do - we were able to participate in the Monográfica again. Besides the reunion with friends, socialising with other breeders and owners in the world of Galgos, and enjoying the Spanish hospitality with excellent food and wine, it is of great importance for us to - at least once a year - adjust our view for the breed Galgo Espaņol at the Spanish original.

Joint lunch
with the members...
...of the
Club Nacional del Galgo Español

This time, the exhibition took place in Almoguera, a small but nice village with a little castle in the centre. It is located in the province of Guadalajara, circa 80 km away from Madrid. There is a swimming pool which we, of course, tried right away. By car, you only get to Almoguera on small and winding roads, and all our friends complained about this when they arrived. We liked them, because they led through a diversified landscape with hills, durmast oaks, corn fields and large meagre areas of different colours.

Meagre areas with durmast oaks and corn fields
The castle of Almoguera
The town-hall
View on the village
The castle at night

We used the first week of our holidays at the beaches of the French Atlantic coast to acclimatise to the expected temperatures in Spain.

On the way direction Madrid we stopped at the Ermita San Baudelio de Berlanga which is located close to the village Berlanga del Duero in the Spanish province Castilla y Leon. It is well-known beyond the boundaries of Spain, not only because of its special architecture, but also because of some beautiful frescos. Among these is an early illustration of hare hunting with Galgos. Due to the fact that these frescos have been removed and were sold to several museums in the 20th of the last century, you can today only see the reminding imprints of the colour pigments.

The yearly special event of the Club Nacional del Galgo Espaņol (CNGE) is usually divided into two parts: Concurso and Monográfica. In the Concurso, Galgueros (Spanish hunters) can present their dogs. These Galgos, bred and used exclusively for hare hunting normally have no papers. Owners and dogs are in the exhibition ring for their first time. Registration of the dogs for the Concurso takes place on the morning of the exhibition. For that reason, it is uncertain how many Galgueros will be there with their dogs, at all. So, originally it was planned to set up two rings, where Concurso and Monográfica could take place at the same time. Since only about 60 Galgos were entered for the Concurso, which was far behind expectations, both parts were carried out successively.

The Concurso was judged by Antonio Jesús Cuenca González from Badajóz (on the photo above - together with the winners of the competition 'junior handling'). If a dog in the Concurso meets the basic requirements of a Galgo Español, the owner can request papers for the dog at the RSCE. Unfortunately, this is done very seldom.

Open class females (Concurso)
Best puppies (Concurso)
Best junior female (Concurso)
Best junior male (Concurso)
Best female and male (Concurso)

Originally it was planned that Antonio García Pérez (kennel Ubrique) judges the Monográfica. Because he was prevented for any reason, Jesús García de Lera (on the photo below, together with his wife Mercedes Bellido) took over. In the catalog, 38 dogs were listed but only 26 Galgos were presented (for members of the CNGE, registration for the Monográfica is free of charge). Nevertheless, the show gave a good overview about the most important Spanish kennels and breeding lines. The BOB was given to Tata de Valle Estrella, like 2005 in Medina del Campo, best male was the young Dalí de Calathea.

Tata de Valle Estrella
Dalí de Calathea
Claudia with Little Lobito Hilda
Bambalina de la Dehesa Extremeña
Elfo and Elvis de la Dehesa Extremeña
Rocío with Gaviota de Calathea
Nisela de Valle Estrella
Ukelele's Lolita
Huracán
Dana de Calathea
Rayma Claret
Rayma Collons Cagueme

Some additional notes around the event: with great pleasure we heard that Helio de Valle Estrella, who is present in the pedigrees of many Galgos which are living in Germany, is still healthy although being 15 years old now.

Actually, hunting with Galgos seems to be a healthy pastime: we met Valentín from Cuenca who, although 83 years old, still goes hunting on a horse with his Galgos.
You could not face his age and when he presented his dog in the Concurso with youthful verve, he got his deserved applause.
Some confusion among the Galgueros was triggered by two Whippets: they mistook them for very young Galgos and were surprised by the strange and untypical figure of these "puppies".

Our conclusions: the time of the Monográficas with brimful classes has passed. Also the relevance of the Concurso connected to the Monográfica has declined, because nowadays, there a many more than just one Concurso per year taking place all over Spain almost every weekend. But if you look at the development of the last years, you can notice that the quality of the presented dogs in the Concurso has significantly increased since our first visit 11 years ago. You see a uniform picture and the number of dogs, where you can notice the blending of Greyhound, has become smaller.

On our way back home, we again did something for the education of our Galgos and visited the Castle of El Cid. After that, we spent another week at the beach and then went back to rainy Germany.

El Castillo del Cid

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