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Your chance to represent your country | |||||||||||
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IMCA X & PAWC VIII 2009This year the UK will be represented at PAWC in Gyula (Hungary) by Sue Drew, a gutsy lady in a wheelchair from Jersey and her Border Collie Harry. She is a self-proclaimed agility nut! Her son Simon has made a video of how she trained for this event which can be viewed on YouTube - Sue & Harry
Altogether there will be teams from 18 countries competing this year. Teams & Number of Participants |
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The whole event is live on the computer at http://imca-pawc-2009.fw.hu/ .
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As the caffeine from our first cups of coffee reached the vital parts, we came to realise that at last it was here! Today we are going to Voghera in Italy to take part in the 9th IMCA & 7th PAWC Agility Competition. As neither of the 'girls' had travelled on the Continent before, they were both excited to see the scenery as it unfolded, especially when we travelled through the Alps on the French/Italian border. We were naturally rather concerned about how the dogs would travel these distances - the first day 500 miles, 300 on the second. Amazingly they all settled down and did not murmur, although for their comfort and our own, we didn't drive more than two hours at a stretch and got them all out for a break. Upon arrival we were shown our camping spot, just opposite the Swiss Team who proved to be excellent neighbours, We set up camp and then explored the Cowboys Guest Ranch which would be our home and competition venue for the next four days.
We then found the bar, which was comfortable, offered reasonably priced refreshments and was air conditioned. It also welcomed dogs so, if only for their welfare, we found that frequent visits were necessary! Thursday was taken up with training and vet checks. Luckily all of the dogs passed the check and the training went well. In the evening we attended the Gala which was held in the restaurant on-site. There was no need to drive there or back for most of us, and it proved to be a very enjoyable way to get to know each other. Since the wine and beer were delivered to our tables by the jug full, it takes little imagination to see that the evening became fairly noisy, laughter filled and robust. Our excuse is that we were next to the Dutch team who seemed hell bent on leading us astray! In the spirit of comradeship, we only partially resisted. |
9th IMCA & 7th PAWC 2008 Report The 7th ParAgility World Cup (PAWC) took place, along side the 9th International Mix & Breed Championship Agility (IMCA) on 28-31 August 2008 in Vogera in Northern Italy. IMCA is a championship Agility competition for able bodied handlers and dogs of all breeds (pedigree and non-pedigree) while PAWC is for handlers with a disability. More than 150 competitors and their dogs came from 14 countries to take part in the IMCA competition including Austria, Belgium, Czech republic, Denmark, Germany, Finland, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain and United Kingdom. This year there was even a competitor of the Republic of San Marino( Italy). For PAWC, there were 29 handlers with 35 participating dogs from the countries such as Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland. At this moment, there are five groups of disability for the competition, but we hope to extension in future! For Susan Rekveld's own report and more pictures, go to www.para-agility.nl Next year the 10th IMCA & 8th PAWC will be held in Hungary. More information on : http://imca-pawc-2009.fw.hu or www.imcapawc2009.vilaga.hu |
IMCA
Friday dawned bright. After the opening ceremony the competition started. Arnaldo Benini from
Italy and Arpád Tóth from Hungary, two expert judges, have judged very enthusiastically.
First up was Small Dog Jumping. First dog in the ring was yours truly with Smokey. Fortunately we completed the course clear, and finished in 17th place. Sue followed soon with Lexie, also getting a clear.
PAWC
Following this was the Paragility. This, I believe, is the great strength of this competition.
If we able-bodied handlers think we have it tough, just to watch most of these people is a
reality check. Most disabled handlers have additional problems, for example, users of electric
wheelchairs need their right hand to control the chair, so only the left can be used to control
the dog; manual chair users have none. Try not to be overcome with emotion seeing a completely
paraplegic teenage girl carried by her father around the course, but controlling the dog with
minute hand movements and tiny sounds. We were asked for total silence during this run which
added to the emotion. Even the judge wiped his eyes after this.
There is a Frenchman named Bruno Menoncelle who was active in agility when an accident robbed him of his sight. Not to be thwarted, he now has a friend run (literally) holding and guiding him while he instructs his dog Sun. Our admiration for these people is boundless, and at this competition they have an opportunity to compete with their peers, a truly remarkable event. To see Bruno's run, click here. It was impressive!
Friday
afternoon saw the large Jumping. Suffice to say that Annette ran both her dogs, I ran my one
all with enthusiasm, but without distinction.
Saturday was for the teams. As we did not have an entry in this we had a day off. Cowboys, unsurprisingly, offers horse riding. As Annette and Sue are keen equestrians they had a merry afternoon riding, while I took it upon myself to keep the dog's temperatures down in the afore-mentioned air conditioned space. I did, however, go to watch some of the team competition. The atmosphere was electric, and the Agility was of the highest standard, naturally the best handler/ dog combinations were selected for the teams.
On Sunday there was the Agility. First up small dogs, where I got a silly E with Smokey (he saw a tunnel which was toooo tempting and I failed to call him off in time. Sue had a nice run with Lexie, but picked up a five. After the Paragility we had the large dog agility. Unfortunately Annette and I both got E’d, although at the end of our run I really felt we had done well bearing in mind the complexity of the course. (Our E was because they use a tyre like our old ones, a motor-cycle tyre suspended on chains, which Murphy did not recognize and showed his contempt by running under it; then straight on and over the last jump)
The
running order for the agility is based on the score in the jumping, with the highest scoring
runner going last. This means that as the competition progresses so does the skill and
expertise of the handlers. The cheering gets louder and the excitement grows as competitors
from each country have their runs because the final scores are not settled until the end of
this competition.
All in all it was an excellent show. We were speaking to one of the Dutch team who has entered most of the Internationals and he is definite in his opinion that IMCA – PAWC is the friendliest of all, but is just as competitive.
IMCA is a genuine International Championship of the highest order. Some of the Continental competitors have achieved high placings at our own prestigious events such as Crufts and Olympia as well as other major Internationals. The courses very challenging with lots of traps, twists and turns and very few straight runs. I’m told these are typically Continental. Course plans and results can be found at http://www.nazionaleitalianameticci.it/RISULTATI_IMCA_E_PERCORSI.html
PAWC is a unique opportunity for disabled people who are keen on Agility to compete on specially designed courses against their peers. It is also an opportunity for people with a common interest from all countries to meet and exchange views in a relaxed atmosphere except, of course, when we are in the ring.
We are keen to promote this competition, especially among the higher level competitors who could give the other countries some serious competition, but also to maintain the relaxed entry requirements to allow non-pedigree dogs and less experienced but adventurous handlers to experience the special thrill of high level International Agility. And naturally it is our aim to increase the entry of Disabled Handlers.
Next
year the event is in Hungary, which is, admittedly, a daunting prospect with a journey of 1200
miles each way, but in 2010 it will be in Switzerland, a much more reachable country.
I understand that in Hungary there will be an English judge of high standing, and this will be the fourth time in ten years that a judge from this country has officiated. This, to me, makes it even more surprising that the event receives so little support from the Agility Establishment, the Organisers obviously hold this country in high regard, yet on the whole we ignore them.
We will be please to hear from anybody who is keen to take up the challenge in the future, email me on perdixcott@uwclub.net. More details of the 2009 competition is at http://imca-pawc-2009.fw.hu/
Show Photos: Susan Rekveld
Planning is well under way for the UK entry for this IMCA and PAWC competition on 28-31 August 2008. However, there are still places on the team available. The competition is open to all dogs, pedigree and cross-breeds, all sizes and all grade, so if you are interested contact Richard or Sheila Partridge. The final entry has to be in at the end of June.
We will be Ricahrd said, 'We will be especially ally pleased to hear from disabled handlers who have their own events within the main competition (PAWC).'
The
venue is in Northern Italy, close to Milan, on a holiday camp called Cowboys Guest Ranch.
Information about this is on their website
www.cowboys.it . They are offering free camping, just a charge for electricity. Hotel
accommodation can be arranged close by.
Further information about the event is on http://www.nazionaleitalianameticci.it/imca-pawc_home_eng.html. If you want further information on the UK entry, email perdixcott@uwclub.net.
Please note, if you do not have a passport for your dog it is too late now to enter this year, but the competition is held annually in a different country so there is always next year.
Source: Richard Partridge (28/05/08)
There
are still some places available for this International competition. Entry is open to all breeds
and cross breeds, and to handlers of all classes. The competition is what we in the good old
days called an Open. There are separate classes for Small, Medium and Large dogs.
This is an wonderful opportunity to experience International Competition and to meet new agility friends as well as having a Spanish holiday with something more than just sitting on the beach! We will be especially pleased to hear from disabled handlers.
The closing date for entries is 30 June 2007. The entry fee is 40 euros per dog. Dogs must already have Pet Passports.
If you want more details please email Richard Partridge , email perdixcott@uwclub.net.
The website for the 2007 VIII IMCA and VI PAWC in Girona, Spain is now up and running on http://www.imca-pawc.net/. There you will find all the information regarding venue, classes, rules etc.
The competition will take place at the Complex Esportiu de Palau (Girona- Spain), in a closed pavilion with a carpeted surface.
One of the judges has been named as Relinde Peschier from Holland.
Reading the
correspondence on Agilitynet regarding selection of non-rescue pedigree dogs for agility with
some interest, particularly when the topic came to International Competitions, Richard
Partridge was reminded of the IMCA and PAWC competitions later this year in Spain. Anyone
wanting to be part of a British team needs to get a move on as it can take an age to do the
necessary paperwork to compete abroad.I won’t grind my axe on this except to say that eight years ago an Italian lady decided that it was patently unjust that only 'posh' dogs could enter Internationals, so, unlike others, she did something about it. She went off and invented IMCA, or to give it it’s full name, International Mixed Breeds Championship Agility which was only for mixed breeds.
After a couple of successful years, the competition was opened to pedigree dogs and the name cleverly changed by adding a simple little ampersand to International Mixed & Breeds Championship Agility.
At the same time the Para
Agility World Cup (PAWC) was launched, allowing disabled persons also to enjoy the challenges
and fun of International competition.
To the amazement of its organisers, this event has been almost completely
overlooked by the inventors of Agility, namely us lot in the UK.
Last year my wife Sheila and I took part in both IMCA and PAWC which were held at Amerfoort, Holland. We had a wonderful time.
IMCA 2006
I entered our collie-ish in the large class in IMCA. The competition was effectively
an Open. For example, in our class we competed against some 120 other dogs and handlers ranging
in ability and experience from us (Elementary) and three youngsters from Rumania where there
are very few clubs and only a couple of competitions each year to the larger teams from
counties where the popularity is such that they have qualifying competitions. This pitted us
against the top flight handlers from Holland, Germany, Austria, Italy etc. In fact, some of
these were at FCI in Basle, Switzerland.
The set up is similar to FCI in that each country can enter up to four dogs per class - Small, Medium and Large - with three plus a reserve in the Team event. All dogs run one Agility course and one Jumping course plus, if they are entered, the same in the Team Competition. It is not necessary to enter a full team, as I have said. Last year I was the sole UK entrant in IMCA!
PAWC 2006
Sheila entered our Papillon, Smokey, in the Para-agility competition on account that
she has arthritis in her knees and is quite disadvantaged in her own agility. The Para-agility
entrants have two Agility and one Jumping competition, with different categories according to
the individual disability. All of this is run over four days, which obviously leaves plenty of
time for meeting people, chatting, sightseeing and perhaps even a little sampling of local
brewing and cuisine!
Join us
This year the competition
is to be held in Girona, Spain from 6-9 September 2007. We are planning to go and would be very
interested to hear from anybody else who would care to join us and make up a team.
More information at www.para-agility.nl. This may seem a strange link, but the explanation is that in 2006 Susan Rekveld, a disabled Dutch handler, organised the whole event and all the information is on her web site.
If you
are interested, please contact me soon and I will try to help as much as possible. Don't forget
however, that even though it is only early February and September seems a long way off, it can
take a long time to set your dog up with the proper pet passports etc. so there is some
immediate urgency.
For more information, email Richard Patrick on perdixcott@uwclub.net
From Sandra
Barker...
I have just had a look at the agenda for
the Liaison Council meeting and have notice an item regarding sending a team to the
International Mixed & Breed Championships for Agility.
I remember reading an article a little back regarding cross/mixed breeds/rescue dogs and pedigrees where it said that only pedigrees could take part in International competitions. I followed up the articles in Speak Out regarding this issue and am a little confused. Are competing dogs supposed to be pedigrees only or can non pedigrees be entered. It is not likely that I will ever be elevated to International Competition but as I prefer non pedigree dogs it would be nice to know that if ever it did come about then I would not be penalised for not having a pedigree dog.
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Sue
won't be the only Brit there. John Gilbert, known around the world as one of 'the fathers of
agility', is judging.
Tuesday,
26 August had not yet dawned when we loaded ourselves -Sue Drakely, Annette Foulkes and
me together with our dogs, Murphy, Smokey, Lexie, Tammy and Tanya - into the car and set
off. Sheila could not make Italy this year due to family commitments, so I took her dog.
We
checked the arena where the competition would take place. It was a covered sand floored
area with the surface very well prepared, well watered, levelled and rolled to a firm
surface. Due to the high level natural ventilation, it was surprisingly cool, a great
relief to us northern Europeans. A short distance away was another covered area with
equipment set up as an informal training site and the tents for the other competitors.
Generally it was all well thought out and executed.