A Saluki on the hunt. Speed, beauty, and power. Little else compares!!!
Lure Coursing
Salukis were bred to hunt with amazing amounts of speed, endurance and agility. The native hound displays high speed and sureness of foot over rough, rugged and sometimes mountainous terrain. American Salukis don’t have much opportunity to experience a chase like their native counterparts. There are a number “coursing” activities though that gives the saluki a chance to hone in on their natural instinct. For example, lure coursing, which was first started in California in the 1960’s.
Lure coursing is a humane sport, which imitates the chase of a hare or jackrabbit by the pursuing hound. The hounds in pursuit chase an artificial lure (usually a white plastic bag) pulled electrically in a predetermined and fixed pattern. The lure was developed to simulate the movement of a fast moving rabbit trying to escape its predator. The course is developed as a system of pulleys, zigzagging around a large field as the dog(s) are in pursuit. The dogs are judged on their enthusiasm, follow, speed, agility, and endurance.
The hounds run in groups of 2’s or 3’s over courses of various lengths. They may include a number of turns and changes in direction. Each hound wears a blanket for identification purposes, yellow, pink or blue. A slip lead is used to hold the hounds in places until the chase begins. A lure operator controls the speed of the lure. It is important to keep the hound far ahead enough so that they don’t catch the lure. The hunt master calls “Tallyho” and the hounds are slipped from their leads to begin the chase.
Salukis that haven’t earned their Field Champion title are entered in the Open class and run together. Then the Field Champions run against each other. This is done once until all the hounds have had a run. The course is then reversed and the hounds run a second time. The scores of the two runs are added together and the open stake winner runs with the Field Champion winner for Best of Breed. Each Best of Breed winner then runs for Best In Field.
The hounds eligible to lure course recognized by AKC are Salukis, Afghan Hounds, Basenjis, Borzois, Greyhounds, Ibizan Hounds, Irish Wolfhounds, Pharaoh Hounds, Rhodesian Ridgebacks, Scottish Deerhounds, and Whippets. All are sight hounds, meaning they hunt their prey by sight rather than by smell. The most competitive are usually the Greyhound, Saluki and Whippet. The Saluki does exceptionally well in the long-distance course; while the Greyhound and Whippets excel in the shorter course.
