| Helen's Bio |
 | |  | |  | |  |
Born in Gloucester, Massachusetts, Helen King was being led
around on a horse long before she could walk. Dogs and horses
have been a major part of her entire life. Her mother raised Boxers in
the ‘50s and ‘60s so Helen’s education of canine structure began at
a very early age.
Helen grew up on a horse, riding every day after school and
spending nearly every Saturday fox hunting and Sundays competing
at hunter/jumper shows around New England.
In 1966, Helen spent the summer in Ireland at a school for equestrian
studies. While there, she learned the importance of structure and
how it relates to performance. She attended many horse shows in
Ireland as well as sales and fairs and this exposure to hundreds of
performance animals helped develop her eye for what it takes for an
animal to excel in performance. She also rode some open jumpers
while there and that taught her that structure is crucial not only to
winning but to safety and soundness as well.
In the 1970s, Helen raised and showed harlequin Great Danes and
Basset Hounds as well a few other breeds. She owned and/or bred
many AKC champions including the breed winner at a Great Dane
Club of America National specialty as well as multiple Group and all
breed Best in Show winning Basset Hounds. One of her Basset
Hound bitches produced 8 AKC breed champions from only two
litters and was awarded the Register of Merit title from the BHCA as
a top producer of champions. Helen also bred one of the first dual
champion Basset Hounds (field and breed champion) and to this day
there are very few dual champions in the breed.
As an award winning sculptor, Helen has studied structure in depth
to enhance her understanding of conformation and how it relates to
movement.
She and her husband, Mel, bred successful race and performance
horses for many years. One of the Connemara stallions Helen bred
and owned was immortalized as a limited edition Breyer model.
“Rocky” was well known for his many championships in hand and
over fences as well as great successes in dressage and eventing.
Recently, the American Connemara Pony Society awarded the first
ever prestigious Premium Stallion Certificates. Two of only three
awards given went to Rocky sons. Standing just 14.1 1/2h tall,
Rocky often won open jumper classes over horses that towered over
him.
Helen has been an Inspector for the American Connemara Pony
Society for many years as well as a Connemara judge and seminar
presenter. She attends seminars and lectures with the leaders in the
field to continually sharpen her eye and hone her skills.
Into agility since 2001, she and Mel compete successfully with their
six dogs in USDAA and AKC. Helen’s lifelong passion has been the
study of structure and how it relates to performance. She has
observed hundreds of dogs in agility to compare conformation and
performance as well as tracking the puppies to maturity from the litter
evaluations she has done.
With her extensive, hands-on knowledge of structure and
performance, Helen’s evaluation techniques and insight into effects
of structure on performance will teach you how to look at dogs in a
simple, easy to understand way that will help you evaluate your
current or future agility dog.
around on a horse long before she could walk. Dogs and horses
have been a major part of her entire life. Her mother raised Boxers in
the ‘50s and ‘60s so Helen’s education of canine structure began at
a very early age.
Helen grew up on a horse, riding every day after school and
spending nearly every Saturday fox hunting and Sundays competing
at hunter/jumper shows around New England.
In 1966, Helen spent the summer in Ireland at a school for equestrian
studies. While there, she learned the importance of structure and
how it relates to performance. She attended many horse shows in
Ireland as well as sales and fairs and this exposure to hundreds of
performance animals helped develop her eye for what it takes for an
animal to excel in performance. She also rode some open jumpers
while there and that taught her that structure is crucial not only to
winning but to safety and soundness as well.
In the 1970s, Helen raised and showed harlequin Great Danes and
Basset Hounds as well a few other breeds. She owned and/or bred
many AKC champions including the breed winner at a Great Dane
Club of America National specialty as well as multiple Group and all
breed Best in Show winning Basset Hounds. One of her Basset
Hound bitches produced 8 AKC breed champions from only two
litters and was awarded the Register of Merit title from the BHCA as
a top producer of champions. Helen also bred one of the first dual
champion Basset Hounds (field and breed champion) and to this day
there are very few dual champions in the breed.
As an award winning sculptor, Helen has studied structure in depth
to enhance her understanding of conformation and how it relates to
movement.
She and her husband, Mel, bred successful race and performance
horses for many years. One of the Connemara stallions Helen bred
and owned was immortalized as a limited edition Breyer model.
“Rocky” was well known for his many championships in hand and
over fences as well as great successes in dressage and eventing.
Recently, the American Connemara Pony Society awarded the first
ever prestigious Premium Stallion Certificates. Two of only three
awards given went to Rocky sons. Standing just 14.1 1/2h tall,
Rocky often won open jumper classes over horses that towered over
him.
Helen has been an Inspector for the American Connemara Pony
Society for many years as well as a Connemara judge and seminar
presenter. She attends seminars and lectures with the leaders in the
field to continually sharpen her eye and hone her skills.
Into agility since 2001, she and Mel compete successfully with their
six dogs in USDAA and AKC. Helen’s lifelong passion has been the
study of structure and how it relates to performance. She has
observed hundreds of dogs in agility to compare conformation and
performance as well as tracking the puppies to maturity from the litter
evaluations she has done.
With her extensive, hands-on knowledge of structure and
performance, Helen’s evaluation techniques and insight into effects
of structure on performance will teach you how to look at dogs in a
simple, easy to understand way that will help you evaluate your
current or future agility dog.
 |  |  |  |