How agility
affected my mental health...
 Four
years ago, if someone had Jasmine 'Jas' Gedny that she'd be spending
most of her weekends travelling around the country with two spaniels, she would
never have believed them. Before agility, she didn't really have a hobby that
she was passionate about. Like many of us, she had slipped into the routine of
going to work and going home. She was shy and lacked confidence in herself which
also affected her at work as she was never able to speak in front of a large
group of people. She would also find some situations too stressful to deal with.
Looking back now, she didn't how much something was missing from
her life until she discovered agility.
It all started
when my mum suggested we try a local agility club. My then four year old
Springer Spaniel Fern (Fern Up the Heat) was lacking a bit of mental
stimulation, so I thought it sounded fun. I didn't expect it to become such a
huge part of my life. What started out as weekly one hour group lessons became
something I looked forward to every week.
Like many people, I
started with very little experience and made plenty of mistakes. I still do.
Thankfully, Fern was
always willing to give everything a go and tried her very best in all her runs.
Together we learnt the sport, built a partnership and gained confidence as a
team. She is the dog that owes me nothing but has taught me everything!
In our first year
competing we qualified for the YKC Graduate Agility at Crufts, something I never
thought id be able to do in front of so many people but, with such a good
community of agility people around me supporting and encouraging me, we went and
it was the best experience of my life.
My Dad then got a Cocker
Spaniel called Lily (Purple Blossom Jasmine.) I was able to convince him
to let me do agility with her. She went from Grade 2 to Grade 5 in just one
year. My biggest and proudest achievement with her is making the Starters Cup
final and placing 3rd in the final at KCI 2025.
The more I did agility,
the more I learnt about the importance of canine fitness and wellbeing.
Making sure dogs are in the right mindset and head space is so vital, as is
making sure they see a good physio. Looking after the dogs properly is
incredibly important to me as they give me so much when we step out on the
course together.
Life can be stressful
One of the biggest surprises was how agility affected my mental
health. I think everyone experiences work pressure and personal challenges and can
just find life overwhelming sometimes. Agility was able to give me something
positive to focus on when things got too difficult. When running courses, I am
not thinking about projects meetings, their deadlines or other things that make
life so worrying. My mind is completely focused on the dog in front of me. For
those few minutes in the ring, the only thing that matters is Fern or Lily.
Training has a similar
effect. Spending time working with my dogs, celebrating with my trainer Beth
when we finally get a difficult sequence right and building our partnerships,
helps me to switch off from the pressures of day-to-day life.
 What
I have learned from agility
I think agility has taught me resilience. Anyone who is completing
knows that not every run is going to go to plan. We have all missed contacts,
weave entries, taken the wrong jump and picked up many eliminations. When I
first started competing, I would really dwell on a bad run and be pretty hard on
myself.
Over time, agility has taught me to accept that sometimes you just have
bad runs, and it's so important to leave them and move on. The dogs are
still having a great time, and it's important we do as well. Some of my best
runs have been eliminations.
Another thing that has
made a huge difference is the agility community. Before starting agility, I
never imagined that joining a dog sport could introduce me to so many different
people. Some of my closest friendship have now come from the sport. It nice
having someone to celebrate with you or encourage you regardless of how your run
has gone. Every show we attend we speak to and meet new people. Everyone
understand both the highs and the lows.
Something else I love is
that I am able to share agility with my mum. We have spent so many hours
training together, travelling and competing. We always celebrate our wins and
laugh about our mistakes and support each other on difficult days.
I'm not going to pretend
that agility is a magical solution to all of life's problems, but having
something you are truly passionate about, spending time with friends and being
part of a close-knit community like ours makes a huge difference.
Agility has provided me
with an escape from when life has felt too challenging. It's helped me grow as a
person in more ways than I realised. Most importantly it's given me a reason to
look forward to the future - the next training session, the next show and/or
the next adventure with my dogs.
I could not imagine my
life without agility now.
 Author
credit...
Jasmine 'Jas' Gedny is a Technical Support Officer. She lives in Suffolk.
First published 18th August 2026
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