An agility test
crossed with the Great British Bake-off...
 Moira
Bowden has been in the wonderful world of agility for so long that she can’t
actually remember life before setting off every Friday afternoon to set up home
in a field somewhere in the country. Since those early days of competing with
her whippet Folly, her involvement with the sport has grown by leaps and bounds
- excuse the pun - and it gave her and her sister Maddie Greening the idea of
running a Winter Series of agility shows for people with their beginner dogs and
those who want to consolidate training their more experienced dogs over the
winter months. This is tale of two sisters and how they set up the M & M shows.
I am now an
active member on the Committee of Chipping Norton DTS so I spend a lot of time
and energy co-ordinating weekly training, organising training days, encouraging
new members and running a successful Open show every year. This year I was
pleased that we managed to secure a brand new venue, Banbury Rugby Club, where
the ground is very well established, well drained and maintained. Thank goodness
the weather was fantastic and the sun shone, unlike last year's mud bath!
My sister Maddie
and I have ring managed for Bitz 'n Bobz at their winter series for several
years and that experience gave us the confidence to set up something similar,
albeit on a smaller scale, at The Dog Training Barn at at Middleton Cheney. It
is a wonderful indoor venue, right on our doorstep, with a full set of equipment
and a sand and silicon floor which is great to run on and perfect for a one ring
show.
 It
was an unknown quantity
We both felt that Limited shows are a great place
to teach others how a show runs including all the jobs that need doing on a ring
- scoring, scriming, pole picking, tickets etc. Our aim was to send all our
newbies out in to the real world of agility confident and well trained in the
art of helping at a show.
We really had no idea if it would take off
but, to our amazement, we had an incredible response and all the shows thus far,
have reached their limit well before the closing dates. Possibly
that is because we offer four runs per dog (with a limit of 480
runs per show.) For those who want to use the
opportunity to 'train in a competitive situation, it is a perfect opportunity to
practice those contacts, start line waits and European turns that we are all
learning in training but, if you’re like me, don’t always have the confidence to
actually carry out in the ring!
It is definitely
a popular concept as last year we were full pretty much as soon as the schedules
were released. It’s great as sometimes it’s the first show for people or they
have never helped before. We make a point of offering to walk courses with
newbies, if they are not sure, and ensure they know what to do when they come to
book in.
Happily we have
a regular team of helpers who make the show run like clockwork. We have
480 runs in just the one ring so we have to be
super-efficient on timing to ensure we are finished before it gets too dark! We
have two judges so the ring runs straight through, a system that really seems to
work, and we generally finish around 5.30/6.00. Without our wonderful helpers,
we would certainly struggle to get through that many dogs. We could not run
shows without them. We don’t even have to allocate jobs. Everyone just seems to
know where help is needed and they all do their bit to make sure we all get to
run our dogs.
 Show
highlights
A
successful show is not just about the Agility and the dogs!
Our Christmas
show was something to behold – from carol singing to festive hats to
Christmas-themed cakes and our trophies for this show were beautiful hand
painted glass tree decorations.
The main
highlight of the series however, was our March Charity Show. We used recycled
rosettes and trophies. The Dog Training Barn reduced the cost of the venue hire
and we had a mammoth raffle. The generosity of all the competitors was
incredible. All the proceeds from the entries and the raffle raised a staggering
sum in the region of £1400 for our nominated charity, Prostate Cancer UK.
Maddie’s husband, the lovely Tom, has been battling this cruel disease for the
last five years.
Both Maddie and
I are keen bakers and we always provide homemade cakes for all our helpers. Last
year we had a slow cooker bake off with some of the regulars. The super talented
Sally Walker and I were neck and neck until she pulled it out of the bag with
her pretty Easter lamb cupcakes. I retired gracefully to the position of runner
up!
This lead to the
M & M’s Bake Off. It started off with just Maddie, myself and Sally Walker but
gradually more and more people joined in. We are planning on repeating it again
this year, possibly with a monthly theme. The challenge will be open to all!
Running the M &
M Winter Series has been so much fun. We really do have some of the nicest
people in Agility who come along each month to enjoy competing and training
their dogs.
 Jump
& Twist Pairs
One of my favourite classes is Pairs. Up until last year, there was a distinct
lack of 'fun Pairs' at Kennel Club shows until Miranda Frankham and I came up
with the idea of a class with a difference. We were at the TAG Summer show in
2013 and we were eating cake (again!) in our motorhome. Within an hour we had
it! And so the Just So Jump and Twist Pairs was born.
For those people
who haven’t seen the class, it is a Combined G1-7 where all heights compete
against each other. Each pair consists of two dogs of the
same height -One completes an Agility course, the other completes a Jumping
course. It’s fast, furious and great fun to watch. Following 10 heats at shows
up and down the country, there was an exciting Final at TAG Summer Show. With
the continued support of our sponsors Sandra and Owen of Just So Rosettes and
Nick and Julie Ross from Jewlnick, we are now into our second year of heats.
This year the
Final will be at Letchworth Show on the Saturday evening, after the show has
finished, and will be judged by Gary Bowles who designs the beautiful trophies
sponsored by Jewlnick. The winners this year will win the incredible sum of £200
generously put up by Jewlnick. We have a
Facebook
page which is regularly updated with results. photos and hopefully this year
some videos.
I’d be a liar if
I said doing the shows and Pairs competition it isn’t hard work. It all takes a
great deal of time, effort and organisation, but I think it is worth it. I am
lucky enough to compete most weekends at shows which others have given up their
time and energy to organise. If we all do our bit, be it organising and running
shows, helping at shows, teaching others, supporting each other on the rings, we
will all be able to continue enjoying our amazing sport with our equally amazing
dogs. The rewards of running such successful and popular events make it all
worthwhile.
 About
the author
Moira Bowden has competed in agility for about 16 years. She started out
with her beautiful whippet Folly who only did it because she loved Moira and
only wanted to please! Since then, Moira has probably best been known for the
incredible Dash, her German Shorthaired Pointer who was the most difficult and
naughty dog in the world but who took her to the equivalent of the moon and back
when we were part of the winning Crufts Team 2010.
And now she has the equally
awesome Blink, her fast, super talented and delightful, a cheeky little scruffy
black poodle X. There is certainly nothing little about her personality!
There is talk that sometime
soon Moira may well be crossing to the dark side... a collie in the Bowden
household. Watch this space!
Moira lives in a village just
outside Banbury in Oxfordshire, right opposite Maddie!
She works a a Learning
Assistant in a secondary school, reaping the rewards of both working with pupils
with varying degrees of special needs as well as long school holidays! A perfect
job for an agility addict.
First published 10 July
2015 | 