The late Thomas Honecker was an avid outdoorsman who won more than 60 bird dog field trial titles—including the 1998 national championship—and judged more than 50 major field trials from 1976-2009. Honecker, who participated in his first field trial at age 9, served as a longtime regional trustee and as president of Amateur Field Trial Clubs of America. He also worked with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to preserve field trials at the Killdeer Plains area near Harpster. Honecker established both Cedar Oak Plantation in Holy Springs, Miss., where he hosted several trials, and the LaRue Horse Sale, which is held once a month at the Cedar Oak Equestrian Center in LaRue, Ohio. He also enjoyed open-wheel sprint car racing and was a co-sponsor of a motorsports team. The owner and operator of K-T Equipment Rental, Honecker graduated from Arlington High School in 1966 and from Ohio State University in 1970 with a bachelor’s degree in animal science.