| ATV
Polaris
judged best in show
The goal at the Kennel Club’s Emblehope and Burngrange estate in Northumberland is to create a Centre of Excellence
for gundog training.
t’s a long term
project but when
you look around it’s
easy to see why the
area has so much
potential. Bracken
filled gullies, rough pasture,
expansive wetlands and heather all
contribute to offering training
opportunities for gundogs of any
age or stage. The estate has
recently invested in two Polaris off-
road vehicles, a Ranger 6 x 6 and
Sportsman 570 ATV, supplied by
authorised Polaris dealer Davies
Tractors of Riding Mill, to help
manage the beautiful moorland
which stretches to around 7,550
acres. Emblehope is a busy,
working hill farm with sheep and
cattle. It is also a site of Special
Scientific Interest so it is important
to minimise damage to the ground
in maintaining the estate. A
gamekeeper for over thirty years on
I
a number of estates across
Scotland, Raymond Holt, as full-
time gamekeeper at Emblehope,
has the task of ensuring this.
“We needed a vehicle to carry loads
across the estate without tracking
and causing erosion,” he says.
“Crates of partridges for release
pens, pen sections, bags of feeding,
water, people and dogs during
training and competitive events – it’s
all in the day’s work and we judged
the Polaris Ranger 6 x 6 to be the
best for what we do.”
The Ranger fulfils a lot of roles.
It’s out at night on predator control,
negotiating difficult terrain and
going places even the quad can’t
go, taking on steep gradients in the
knowledge there is the comfort and
safety of the cab. It boasts a
powerful 40HP 800 twin engine with
EFI for fast starts, 907 kg of towing
capacity and a rear dump box
capacity of 567kg. The Polaris
50 | Farming Monthly | December 2017
Sportsman 570 on the other hand is
used as an all-purpose vehicle for
carrying smaller loads on quicker
journeys around the estate.
“The Polaris is a brilliant quad,”
says Raymond, “very capable with a
big wide platform and very stable.
We use it for feeding the pheasants
– we have fitted a spinner on the
back for broadcast feeding – and as
a general patrol vehicle.”
As a Centre of Excellence for
Working Dogs, Emblehope
welcomes the full range of working
dog activities such as Field Trials
including Pointer and Setter Spring
Stakes, gundog working tests and
training days, live game training
days and working trials through to
shooting and gundog activities. The
shooting estate offers pheasant and
partridge shooting while the varied
terrain and woodland cover offer
opportunities for all breeds of
gundog to demonstrate their natural
working abilities.
www.farmingmonthly.co.uk