Before and after
her first appointment...
 In
2023, Laura Richardson took over the Crufts Main Arena, as Ring Manager for the
Kennel Club, a role which was previously held by Dave Jolly for 15 years. The
ring party does everything except judge, and they usually work from 7.00am to
6.00pm depending when the events are on. It's a big job, but she was up for it.
For those that don't
know me -and I can't believe that you don't - I am the Kennel Club Agility
Stakes Manager, EO2024 Event Manager, Empingham Dog Training Club Show
Secretary, agility competitor, previous Team GB Medium handler, and I work for
Mars Petcare at Waltham Pet Science Institution. My most important role,
however, is being a mom!
Before Crufts 2023
This role is a new one
for me. It's full of exciting opportunities. Working with an established Ring
Party of 25ish people who have volunteered for this event for year on year on
year is a challenge. What most people don't realise is the ring party are all
volunteers. They give up their time to help set up and run the Main arena for
not only the Agility events but all the other events. The
bonus of this is that they get to watch the best agility on the green carpet
from front row seats.
 So, here I am, a newbie
to the group, charged with delivering the best performance time after time.
Having
managed the Kennel Club Agility Stakes Finals held at the London International
Horse Show since 2018, I understand the pressures of timings, course design and
equipment placement, judges, TV crews, competitors and dogs all in one
place. Juggling the different aspects of the pressures that come from several
different areas is something that I am used to and I know that I can bring this
knowledge and experience to the green carpet.
I look forward to
seeing some of you as competitors, grooms, friends and family this year at
Crufts
Watch this
space...
After Crufts 2023
 Wow,
what an enormous high adrenaline rush!
Having spent four days shadowing Dave Jolly
in 2022, I can safely say the being the Ring Manager for the Main Arena at
Crufts flying solo was somewhat different to shadowing. The responsibility
lying fully on my shoulders was now real.
What I don't think most visitors and Crufts
Competitors realise is that all of the Ring Party are volunteers. They work
tirelessly from the Wednesday of rehearsal all the way to the Best In Show event
that finishes at 9pm on Sunday night. They start from 7am in the morning and
work pretty much all day, lugging equipment in and out of the arena, making what
the visitors see as a slick, smooth professional change over. Without this team
of ring party this event would not be able to function as a competition arena,
so my thanks and applause goes to them.
Crufts as an event starts way before March
for me and the Prestige Events Committee. I am responsible for selecting the
courses for the judges to judge. They need to submit their courses by
January for approval by the Prestige Events Committee. This process can be
lengthy as the Committee and I look at a list of logistics for the courses.
It is not just a
course design
The courses have to take into consideration a number
of different things such as, for example, the LED boards. They are three-foot high boards that
are very solid and secure. The first and last jump must be over 5 metres away
from this boarding to ensure safe start and finishes for the dogs competing in
the ring.
There are often cameras which film the live
stream mounted on the floor besides jumps and tunnels, placed there by
production teams for the large 'cube' that is above the arena. The production
team wants to hear the noise of the dog running over a contact or through a
tunnel, so this is juggled at course set up.
The sponsor panel jumps have to be in the
arena, and it is up to the judges to design courses that make the use of these
panel jumps safe to negotiate and traverse. It takes a lot of time and
effort to incorporate them into the course design so they are challenging enough
for the dogs and handlers at any grade.
 The 'Daily Instructions' are followed as best
as possible with the timings of events, displays and competitions all having
allotted times in the arena. The
Ring Party team is often seen pulling leaves, brashings and HTM equipment in
and out of the arena as and when required.
The Ring Party and I
predominantly take care of the agility events in the main arena. The team is
organised into four sets of four people and each has an area of the arena that
they are responsible for
setting up and maintaining while the agility events take place.
My role is to pull these four sets together
and build an agility course in what can sometimes be very short time frames. I
think we did this in seven minutes on the Saturday this year.
I also have to make sure that the finalist
get into the right area of the arena for presentations and stay out of the way
while they are being filmed. I didn't quite get right on the first day when I
slowly - and what I thought was quite smoothly - backed away from the camera
crew only to find myself impaling my derriere on the 10th weave pole
and needing to quickly rebalance, not fall over and check no-one saw me do
it. I quickly learnt to check my surroundings before backing off.
I can honestly say that this was an
incredible role to have taken on and I am grateful to all the other teams at
Crufts that pull together to deliver this Arena programme. We may all have
different responsibilities, but our goal is to produce and execute dog
competitions for all sports within the dog world to the highest standard and I
believe this is what we all do.
Here is to 2024 Crufts and making great
events for the future.
Photos: Linda
Gore Photography
First published 6th March 2023.
Updated 8th April 2023.
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