Simon Luxmoore with wife Pauline Luxmoore- Ball with ‘ Bramble ,’ one of their German Wirehaired Pointers . Luxmoore says that Bramble “ is the life and soul of our house and has recently given us a litter .”
KC CHAIRMAN , CONTINUED FROM PAGE 98 differs greatly from Irving ’ s . Luxmoore also graciously answered additional questions via email . Some highlights from our conversations follow .
Bo Bengtson : Simon , please tell us how you got your start in dogs ; I believe both you and your wife have long backgrounds in dogs . How long have you been active breeding , showing and judging ? What breeds have you had ? Field activities ? Simon Luxmoore : My wife , Pauline , and I currently own nine Siberian Huskies and two German Wirehaired Pointers . We live on 7,500 acres of farmland in Norfolk on which we have worked our Siberians over recent years . We train our dogs to pull ATVs — all-terrain vehicles or “ four-wheelers .” I was born into a family that had Boxers , which were succeeded by an Elkhound ( well , probably 90 percent Elkhound and 10 percent something else !), and my mother then ventured into the world of Basset Hounds . She had Bassets for more than 25 years and was what you might call a “ hobby breeder ” but won Best of Breed at Crufts on one occasion during the 1970s . Her kennel name was Tanneron , which was passed on to my younger brother , Nigel , who is a very well-known figure in the breed and has judged on a number of occasions in the US . He is currently Chairman of The Basset Hound Club .
I was swept into the world of dogs when I retired from playing first-class rugby with Bath — I was an England International as a schoolboy — and wanted to continue to stay fit , so I acquired a Siberian Husky in 1981 . While I was at work , my brother took it to a show , Ladies Kennel Association , and won , and the rest is history .
I have owned , worked and shown Siberians since 1981 . The
I have owned , worked and shown Siberians since 1981 . The emphasis has always been on working dogs .
emphasis has always been on working dogs . When I say “ working ,” I mean that my first interest has always been in running Siberians in harness , what we call “ dry-land racing .” Having bred and trained excellent working teams , we have then chosen to show our best working dogs in the show ring in the UK . It would be fair to say the type of Siberians in the show ring in the UK is not the same as that typically shown in the lower 48 in the US .
We have never had more than 20 dogs in the kennel but built up a very successful championship-winning team over many years . In the show ring , we bred Ch . Zima Toaki , who was the breed record holder at the time , and have bred and made up some 15 champions — after 35 years , it is hard to accurately know who went on to win their titles . But in total 126 green cards ( which is what we call the Challenge Certificates ) and Reserve CCs won by Zima and Hushwing dogs is accurate , and they won Best of Breed at Crufts on several occasions .
Pauline was brought up with racing Greyhounds and German Wirehaired Pointers , and when we met , she owned her own six Siberians and had the same enthusiasm for working sled dogs . We both judge , I since 1986 , concentrating primarily on our Working breeds at championship show level but also some 75 breeds at open show ( non-championship ) level . I have judged all the sled-dog breeds at Crufts over the years ; Alaskan Malamutes in 2018 will be my second appointment at Crufts for that breed . Pauline judges Working , Pastoral and Gundog breeds at open show level , Siberians and Malamutes at championship show level , and she is judging Canadian Eskimo and Greenland Dogs at Crufts in 2018 .
BB : Are you continuing your own dog activities while in office ? SL : Yes , I will continue to judge the breeds I was already judging at championship and open show level prior to being elected KC Chairman but will not start to judge new breeds while in office . In addition , I stopped handling dogs in the ring prior to being elected Chairman . Pauline shows only very rarely — twice under breed specialist Siberian judges during 2016 . We work our German Wirehaired in the surrounding area but do not compete in gundog competitions . We are not hunters ourselves and neither do we shoot ; we just have her run , point and hunt on the farmland around our property .
BB : Weren ’ t you involved in breed clubs before you were active in The Kennel Club ? SL : Yes , I was Chairman of the Siberian Husky Club of Great Britain from 1986 to 1990 . I then spent 16 years running various Siberian Husky working organizations . I helped establish
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