Field Needs
1. Good and timely relations with the landowner are critically important for each test.
Good introductions, descriptions of a tracking test, insurance coverage, signed waivers, exact time of use, invitation to the event, clean fields after the trial, thank you notes and thank you gifts, all help the landowner give approval.
2. Try to get land use permits a year in advance. Keep in touch with landowner during the year to monitor possible changes in land use that could affect the number of tracks. (Example: late snow, mud, fertilizing, construction, ownership changes, hunting regulations changes, new fencing). Consider contracting for use of the fields for the following test at the end each event.
3. Identify sites well in advance (a year is not uncommon) and determine if the area can hold the number and types of tracks required.
4. The judges must be provided with maps (or provisions must be made for a site visit by the judge's) well in advance of the test (one year is suggested). If maps of the area are not submitted to the judges with adequate time for review before the sanctioning papers are mailed, the number of tracks posted in the premium of the test cannot be guaranteed. If for unforeseen circumstances the fields must be changed after the premium is published, the judges for the test must be contacted to approve a field change.
Maps for the judge's must include:
a) Scale of distance indicated on the map;
b) locations of all buildings, fences, obstructions such as paved and unpaved roads,
streams, rivers and wooded areas,
c) changes of elevations and contours.
5. Check on fenced fields. Are there gates for entrance and exit to get judges and tracklayers safely into and out of the field? Is there enough space for a legal track if you only have one gate?
Field Requirements for the TD..........
Roughly 5 to 7 acres of OPEN land (farm land, land reserve, desert) for each TD depending on access to the tracks.
The ASCA Tracking Regulations require that the TD test track must consist of the following:
A length of 440-500 yards... Having 3-5 turns going both left and right... Have each leg separated by at least 50 yards... Be at least 75 yards from any other track... Must be 15 yards from any boundary... No obstacles...
For example: 2 smaller fields separated entirely by a woods line or a fence would NOT work.
Field Requirements for the TDX..........
Roughly 22-27 acres open land (similar to TD) for each track, including areas with obstacles (eg. woods, gullies, fences) as required. Ease of access for tracklayers, crosstracks, and use of obstacles will determine the total area needed for each track.
The ASCA Tracking Regulations require that the TDX test track must consist of the following:
A length of 800-1000 yards... Having 5-7 turns both right and left... Be a minimum of 75 yards from any other track... Have each leg separated by at least 50 yards... Have at least two obstacles (walls, roads, woods, etc.)... Go over varied terrain...Two sets of crosstracks.