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The organiser's reports...
 This was the 33rd year
that the Agility finals have been held at the London International Horse Show at Olympia. With the
exception of the Crufts team, it is probably the longest running series of competitions and,
without a doubt, it is still one of the most exciting dog agility events in the world.
And now it is over for another year. Dave Ray says thank you.
It
really did start back in 1979 as a fun event. It had just been a year since agility had been
invented at Crufts and a member of the General Committee of the Kennel Club spoke to Raymond
Brooks-Ward, who was the Show Director of the Olympia Horse Show, to ask him if he would like
something a little different in his programme. And that was how it started with a singles
Jumping-type class. At the time it was just fun and something to have a laugh at, but boy, how
that has changed.
It is
now called the Kennel Club Agility Stakes and has progressed to five finals - one each day.
It's treated with the utmost respect due to the fact that it has evolved into one of the most
competitive dog agility competitions in the world. Only Crufts could really equal it!
The
show has its own unique atmosphere. Each performance is a sell-out with around 10,000 cheering
spectators. It's best live but, if you have seen it on television or caught a glimpse on
You-Tube, you will perhaps understand the excitement it generates amongst the audience when you
have some of the best top ten agility dogs of whatever breed in one of the finals.
I am
very lucky at Olympia to have the best ring party in the world (probably), but then I am not
surprises as most of them are Championship Agility Judges themselves. They need to be good and
they need to be quick. Two or three times a day, we have to build a course, have it
walked, run ten dogs, present the awards and clear the course in just 15 minutes. It may sound
an incredible feat but that is exactly what happens. So my sincere thanks to Gwyn and Ann
Roberts, Rob and Elaine Hunter, Arthur Rodgers, Dave Jolly, Shaun Young and Liz Morgan.
One of
the critical choices to be made is that of the judge, and this year the invitation was extended
to Ian Mallabar, who not only is a Championship judge with an excellent reputation, but also
Vice-Chairman of the Kennel Club Agility Council. I have to say, Ian did an excellent job. I
could not have wished for a better judge to work with or perhaps I had better say for the
stewards to work with. As a bonus, he was really good company to be with for five days as
was his wife Susan.
The
tradition is that we invite the following year's judge to Olympia to make a guest appearance as
a steward. This year we were very pleased to welcome a very popular judge, Amanda Rodgers, to
our ring party after having been appointed Olympia Judge 2012. It would be extremely difficult for
anyone to actually judge the finals at Olympia without the hands-on knowledge of working the
arena prior to the event. Not impossible, of course, as that is what used to happen, but it is
an extremely big help.
My
final thank you is to the Kennel Club and Joint Aid for Dogs for their continued support of
these unique agility finals.
Published 24/01/12
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