My parents bought a Welsh pony for me when I was six years old. Except for a few years while living in Raleigh, North Carolina, I have owned a horse all my life.

One of my horses that will always be remembered was Graylyn. Graylyn was a Connomara/Thoroughbred cross gray mare who was truly a horse for all seasons. She could do it all! She was a regional team competition winner in novice eventing, a winner at first level dressage, could give a clean round in the hunter ring and was an excellent driving horse. With all her talents, I will most remember her in the hunt field. She was one of the finest field hunters I have ever ridden. She was very fast and agile and loved the chase. She was one of a kind! 

I was first introduced to Labradors through duck hunting. I did quite of bit of duck hunting while in Raleigh and had a few hunting friends with some well trained labs. I had bred and shown Dobermans for a number of years and later lost interest in showing primarily because of my heavy interest in horses. I was without a dog for several years and decided I needed another one. I decided on a Labrador.

Bobby Barlow, the well known professional handler and a long time friend, suggested I contact Beverly Shavlick and Sally Sasser of Teracroft Kennels. Sally brought a six weeks old, black male puppy to the Piedmont Kennel Club Show in September, 1994. I really wanted a companion dog to do some field and obedience work with, but I did tell Sally I would show the puppy if he looked OK . I entered Ben at the same show the next spring in the 6-9 Puppy Class This was his first show at six and half months. Ben went Winners Dog, and I was hooked! Ben became Ch. Teracroft's Devil His Due and finished owner handled with three majors, three Best of Breeds over Specials and a Group II. He was a show dog!

Ben and I started going to shows primarily on the weekends and did well. In 1998 and 1999 Ben was ranked as one of the top five Labradors in the country by the AKC. In 2000 he ranked sixth. He was Best of Breed at the first American Kennel Club Dog Show Classic in 2001, a winner of over 150 Best of Breed wins and twenty Group wins and placements. He is nine years old now and is working towards the Junior Hunter Title of which he has two legs. I originally intended for him to do field work but became side tracked. He did his first hunt test last fall at the age of eight and received two qualifying scores in one weekend. Leave it to Ben - he rarely disappoints you. I spent a lot of money showing him but had a lot of fun and met a lot of nice people along the way.

With the start of Graylyn Labradors, a small, hobby kennel in Charlotte, North Carolina, I hope to continue with my goals of having sound Labradors capable of excelling in the show ring and as companions.