Mary Devos completes AFC on Lightning Strike

By Bonnie Hidalgo, Executive Field Representative

Mary Devos, the teenage daughter of Marc and Sandy Devos of Centennial, Colo., recently completed her dog's Amateur Field Championship. Mary won the Amateur Gun Dog Stake at the Northern Colorado Brittany Club Field Trial on Memorial Day weekend 2007, thus gaining the final points for her Pointer's AFC title.

Lightning Strike, better known as "Ike" is a 5-year-old who was bred, raised and trained by the Devos family. Mary began running him as a puppy in the fall of 2002. On their first outing the pair took third place in Open Puppy at the Jerry Musgrave farm near Hoyt, Colo.

Mary got an early start in the sport of Field Trials for pointing dogs. She began riding at trials at the tender age of 8. By the time she was 10 she was an accomplished rider who could be found in the gallery during most braces of local Colorado field trials. Mary began scouting for her dad at the age of 12. She has become well skilled and is an excellent scout. Other handlers frequently ask her to scout.

Mary's first attempt at handling in Gun Dog competition came in 2005 when she was 14. She handled Dave Heller's pointer, NAFC/FC/AFC Heller's Wild Willie to a third place at the Rudy Budin ranch near Stoneham, Colo. In 2006 she began to handle Ike in Gun Dog stakes, placing consistently.

Mary Devos works her own dog with the help of her dad, Marc. She is a very knowledgeable young lady with an avid interest in the sport of horseback Pointing breed field trials. Her current goal is to put the final four points on Lightning Strike's Field Championship. Mary's other interests include horseback riding, basketball, football, hanging out with friends, and shopping.

Mary is the eldest of two children in her family; she has a younger brother, Mitchell. Her summer project is to train her brother's Pointer; Maker's Mark and to have him ready for Gun Dog stakes this fall. This young lady is extremely well liked and respected by all who know her, especially by those who "play the field trial game" in the state of Colorado. Mary Devos' future is bright!

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