Les Grands Finales
 When
ex-pat Theresa Lawrence heard that the 2007 French Agility Championships were being hosted by
Brittany this year and that all the local clubs were being asked for volunteers, she wrote her
name down on the piece of paper. It was not until the week before the Championships that she
was informed that she would be the official in charge of interpreting and would be looking
after the Norwegian Judge Yngve Sommer who, later in the year, would be judging the FCI World
Agility Championships.
My
judge Yngve (pronounced Ingva) would be judging on the Saturday and the Sunday for the Level 3
dogs (Senior) for the championships. In the French Agility Championships, there is a
title for the Level 2 (Novice) and Level 3 (Senior) handlers. This would consist of an Agility
and a Jumping course on the Saturday with the second Agility course on the Sunday.
Yngve
arrived on the Friday afternoon after flying via Paris to arrive in Rennes – a long day for
Ingve. I was introduced to him and then accompanied him to his ring to check the
equipment etc. The ring had a new set of equipment which was made in Brittany, excellent
quality and the contact equipment was made of a new material which I can only describe as
cork-like, which worked really well. Ingve decided that we would not set out the course
until the Saturday thus not giving anyone an unfair advantage of seeing the course in advance.
By this
time, around 55 camping cars had arrived, and the venue was very busy with officials and
competitors wandering around the site. People from all the regions of France were there,
some of who had as much as an 8-11 hour journey to get to this competition. There may not be so
many people competing in France at the moment but the ones that do take their sport very
seriously.
The
venue was absolutely great. It was a top class equestrian centre with very large seating
stadiums. Just two minutes walk down the road, and you were on Dinard beach and the Dinard/St
Malo cove which was absolutely beautiful. The weather the previous weekend had been really bad
weather so no-one knew what to expect weather wise for the weekend. At around 8pm the judges
left for their hotels and I left with the helpers for an evening meal and, of course, lots of
aperitifs and flowing red wine.
For the first time
at the French Agility Championships it was decided to have two contact judges for each agility
course, in line with the decision for two judges at the World Championships this year. The
second contact judge for our ring was the French Team coach, Guy (pronounced Gee).
Saturday morning
arrived with a little bit of mist. It looked as though it was going to be good weather. Ingve
arrived, and we put up the first agility course. The course which he erected was challenging
for the finalists. The course time was tight but not impossible but it kept the handlers on
their toes. One section of the course was a 3-jump parallel which quite a few handlers
found difficult as in France I have only seen this once or twice. There were no major
problems and there was some very good clear rounds. During the morning, the temperature
rose and by lunchtime it was very hot indeed. We broke for lunch with the Jumping to
commence after lunch. Lunch was very nice indeed with a traditional moules ét frits
(French muscles and chips.)
Sunday arrived and
proved to be just as hot - in fact, hotter - than the Saturday. We set up Ingve's second
agility course. I thought it was a very good course with a very challenging weave entry, but
French weave entries are very good so it did not cause a problem for most people. The one
obstacle which did cause a problem for many was the spread. The reason being, I think, that not
many courses have spreads in France so it is not well practised. There were many different
breeds competing in the French Championships but I feel that a large Golden Retriever must be
mentioned as it worked so well. It worked at the same speed as many of the border collies
and was a pleasure to watch.
The Sunday afternoon
the French World Agility Team were officially presented to everyone. Ingve was asked to set an
Agility course and judge the Team. This year for the first time at the French Agility
Championships, there were two contact judges for each agility course, in line with the decision
to have two judges this year at the World Agility Championships.
I was very honoured
when Ingve asked if I could be the second contact judge for the French World Team. Well, I was
very honoured but also very nervous. I must admit that I was very impressed with the French
Team. They have definitely improved on their contact points this year. Their speed has never
been a problem. The crowd loved watching the French World Team, and it was an honour to
participate in the judging.
Ingve was approached
by many of the competitors and complemented on his courses and also his judging which, in my
opinion, was very good.
We were now ready
for the presentations. There were all the top officials of the SCC and the CNEA for the
presentations and, of course, all the judges. I stood with all my club members in the crowd,
waiting for the presentations. The equivalent of the Vice President of the Kennel club then
announced that he would like me to join him and the judges for the presentations and thanked me
for my help. I was shocked, embarrassed but at the same time very honoured. I have now been
accepted in agility here in France and it is a good feeling.
About
a judge
Yngve is a very down to earth international judge and is very easy to talk to. Both
he and his wife have competed in agility for many years and have both been Norwegian
Champions. Nowadays his one remaining dog lives on their large farm in Norway with his two
children, two horses, birds and fish. He doesn’t get time to train his dog much but has shown
his dog, a beautiful Belgium Terv which has done very well in the breed ring and has just had
her first litter of puppies. His spare time – as well as running his own business in
Norway – is taken up judging all over the world. In the coming weeks, he is booked to judge in
Italy, then Belgium and then Japan. As a judge he believes that you should not make a
course that is so difficult that it is not fun for the handler or the dog. He believes in
putting in subtle distance chances, angle changes and he definitely likes challenging weave
entries. I watched his contact judging, and he was very good, watching both the front and back
legs which isn't always done in Europe.
It was a pleasure
and honour to meet Ingve and we are definitely keeping in touch.
 About
the author...
Theresa Lawrence
likes the life in
Brittany especially for her daughter Sam and the dogs. She says you
don't have to worry about children when they are out of your sight like you do in the UK, but
work is very difficult to come by. The French government seems to be against people setting up
small businesses and taxes them to the hilt i.e., 40% social charges out of your income and
then 45% tax of what is left!
Nevertheless, Theresa has just passed
her French examination allowing her to board, breed and privately train dogs in France which
she will be doing in the near future. She and her family will be moving house soon and intend
to offer caravan facilities for those who want to bring their own caravan to Brittany and plan
to enter a show or two in the area - or just want to have a holiday with their dogs. When she
has new new house renovated, she will be offering B & B facilities, too.
She has just picked up a new WSD puppy
from Chris Bolton. Quinn (Lunarlite X Factor) will be starting his sheepdog career in France.
Maybe Theresa will write another article on his progress in la belle France!
First posted
16/07/07
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