Unfortunately while the weather was wonderful over the weekend (although I heard comments about it being too hot) whilst I was there, there were huge storms sunday night which I believe caused the grounds to flood and meant the rest of the week had to be cancelled. A huge dissapointment for all involved.
The field where 4 of the rings & parking were the day before
Despite many similarities, the British KC agility program is quite different to what we are used to in Australia. So where to start?...
The classes are divided into 7 grades. New dogs and handlers start in grade 1, new dogs with experienced handlers (that have been in G3 or above) start in grade 3. To progress into the next grade you must win either 1 agility round or 3 jumping rounds. Now that may sound all well and good, until you realise just how many dogs you have to beat to get those 1st places. For example, I was working on the grade 3 large jumping ring on saturday. Due to numbers, the class was divided into 2 parts..which meant you were only competing against 200 other dogs instead of 400!!!! And the fastest 20 runs were only divided by about 2 seconds. You can also progress through on points, but that is apparently more difficult than getting the 1st places. Forget aiming for qualies and titles!!!
The classes are divided into 7 grades. New dogs and handlers start in grade 1, new dogs with experienced handlers (that have been in G3 or above) start in grade 3. To progress into the next grade you must win either 1 agility round or 3 jumping rounds. Now that may sound all well and good, until you realise just how many dogs you have to beat to get those 1st places. For example, I was working on the grade 3 large jumping ring on saturday. Due to numbers, the class was divided into 2 parts..which meant you were only competing against 200 other dogs instead of 400!!!! And the fastest 20 runs were only divided by about 2 seconds. You can also progress through on points, but that is apparently more difficult than getting the 1st places. Forget aiming for qualies and titles!!!
As I'm sure many are aware, the jump heights here are higher as well. There are 3 jump heights - small,med & large. Small is for dogs under 350mm with jump heights of 350mm, medium is dogs 350-430mm and jump 450mm, large is for any dog over 430mm and they jump 650mm. Each height is judged seperately, often with different judges on different courses.
If rings are short, numbers are low etc then rather than lumping all heights together, they will combine several grades into the one class eg Grades 1-3.
I think thats the basics of everything. The courses obviously increase in difficulty throughout the grades, with box work sequences, pull throughs and the like being very common on course. From what I could see grade 1&2 courses are simillar difficulty to novice courses, grade 3 simillar to a hard novice/easy excellent with a pull through or some such challenge, while grade 6&7 were quite tight and technical courses.
I cant leave this without mentioning camping. Forget day travel to trials, or staying at a hotel! The grounds were set up with huge numbers of camping units and it seemed just about everyone came with caravan or tent in tow, all having fenced of "gardens" around their camp site. And this apparently is the 'norm' for most trials. I have to thank Lisa & her wonderful gang for providing me with a bed saturday night.
Finally, due to the large number of rings being run and the large number of competitors, help for running the rings (ring party) is sort after. Unlike what is often seen at home, club volunteers will nowhere near cover the work force that is required for the running of the rings. The clubs are relient on the competitors giving part of their day to help out. And if you're a visitor to a trial, all I can say is help out and they will love you forever!! It is worth it! And you may even get some goodies to thank you for your time :-) . I came away with a nice t-shirt, and a huge lunch. Thanks SupaDogs!
If rings are short, numbers are low etc then rather than lumping all heights together, they will combine several grades into the one class eg Grades 1-3.
I think thats the basics of everything. The courses obviously increase in difficulty throughout the grades, with box work sequences, pull throughs and the like being very common on course. From what I could see grade 1&2 courses are simillar difficulty to novice courses, grade 3 simillar to a hard novice/easy excellent with a pull through or some such challenge, while grade 6&7 were quite tight and technical courses.
I cant leave this without mentioning camping. Forget day travel to trials, or staying at a hotel! The grounds were set up with huge numbers of camping units and it seemed just about everyone came with caravan or tent in tow, all having fenced of "gardens" around their camp site. And this apparently is the 'norm' for most trials. I have to thank Lisa & her wonderful gang for providing me with a bed saturday night.
Finally, due to the large number of rings being run and the large number of competitors, help for running the rings (ring party) is sort after. Unlike what is often seen at home, club volunteers will nowhere near cover the work force that is required for the running of the rings. The clubs are relient on the competitors giving part of their day to help out. And if you're a visitor to a trial, all I can say is help out and they will love you forever!! It is worth it! And you may even get some goodies to thank you for your time :-) . I came away with a nice t-shirt, and a huge lunch. Thanks SupaDogs!
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