Jumping Bean!

Today was the first time I have 'jumped' in 10 years and the first time I had done anything with Bean.  It was the first time he also progressed to more than just trotting poles.  Am so pleased with his progress :)  Though he's already costing me money having broken a headcollar and lost a shoe!!  But everyone who meets him totally falls for him.

Introducing Bean

I know it's not dog related but I would like to introduce you to Bean!  He arrived on Saturday.

Since the weather has been better and we have had lighter nights I have found myself itching to do something. I used to ride from the age of about 7 till I had Diz when I was 15. The dogs have taken up my time and money so I haven't ridden since. Without agility I have time and money for something else. So what else but get a horse! Although so much for saving for a house!!

Bean is a 14.1h welsh section D and is almost 4 years old. I have found the most amazing livery yard just a couple of minutes down the road with 110acres I can ride over without touching roads, so Rum can come out with me which will be lovely.

I must admit the minute I got back on a horse (we looked at three on Good Friday) I felt back where I belonged and that I have 'come home' so to speak. Bean stole my heart, he has the most lovely nature, so kind and gentle. I hope to start jumping him and do some shows late summer so I will keep you up to date with our progress!

I couldn't resist buying him some bling - diamante browband :)

That's All Folks

Well the van has gone, the sports car has gone and am back to one vehicle - a 2006 reg Honda Civic 1.8 VTEC - my new toy.  I totally adore this car!!

The caravan is going to be sold too (shame as it's such a fab little van), thanks to my lovely bf who is doing that for me :)  And I will prob put my contact equipment on ebay.

I have decided it's time to settle down and save up for a house, agility just uses up virtually all of my salary and I need to start being sensible.  I also want to travel more.

Rum just isn't happy doing agility and he was my hopes and dreams so without him being my partner I am not interested any more.

I am also not sure I like the way agility is going, classes are won by hardly any difference in time, it's down to the wire virtually all the time and it has become far too mathmatical for me.  The enjoyment and fun just seems to have gone.

Also my skin infection returned after setting foot in Kingswood and 3 weeks later the scar still hasn't gone completely.  So local training is out anyway.  I think everything was telling me it's time.

The dogs don't seem to miss it, well okay I think Emz does a bit as she seems to have got a bit stroppy these days.

I will really miss all the great friends I have made during my 9 years competing and thank you everyone who has helped me along the way.  I am not saying never, more like an au revoir.

Here's Rum on one of our morning runs:

Think he was getting a bit fed up of me taking pics!

Another Year Over

2009 - What a year!

My aim for the year was to get Rum into a Novice Final but that wasn't meant to be as he won up to grade 6 in July. Another aim was to get Emz into Grade 7, she is just one agility win away. For Cas it was to stay healthy and she has done that even had some high Grade 6 placings along the way.

Agilitywise I am not sure how I feel anymore, I haven't done a show since the end of October and haven't trainined since before my gastro - mid September. And to be honest I have not missed it. I decided to retire Rum from indoor shows when he just wasn't able to cope with the stress of the UKA show in Cheltenham, there really isn't any point putting him through it. And so I didn't think it was worth doing any with just Emz.

So 2010, am not sure what I am doing. Rum has got as far as he can as I struggle with training him - our only group lesson available is indoors and he doesn't cope well, when in a private lesson outdoors he switches off and plods round, so neither benefits us and we struggled in Grade 6 as he just isn't getting any training. Ember will be 7 this year and is never going to be the most consistent dog in the world. Cas will be 10 and it's only a matter of time before she starts to struggle. So I really don't know whether agility is for me anymore, I just don't have any motivation, nothing to aim for. Plus Rum is a lot nicer to live with when he isn't doing agility, he is so much calmer, he really struggles with the stress of agility shows.

So we shall see, I may see you around, I may not. If I no longer do agility I will really miss all the friends I have made during my time competing.

Happy New Year!

Happy Xmas

Catch Up

Again it's been a while, Ember won up to Senior Steeplechase at Cheltenham UKA. It's my birthday this week so am out a bit though have got a cold and feel dreadful!! I have heard a song I would quite like to do a new HTM routine to and hopefully enter Rugby in January, I haven't done much this year as was concentrating on agility with Rum but I want to get going again next year.

The Jeremy Edwards video has now been finished, am really pleased with how it looks:


Also here's a pic of Lee and I in Castletown, Isle of Man from our training weekend, was a great weekend everyone was lovely:

Don't forget the LGT Workshop DVD is still available and will make an excellent Christmas present!!

www.leegibsontraining.com

RIP Kali

I know it's not a dog related post but Kali really was one of the pack, she was just like a dog and even did some media work, if only I had thought about it earlier she could have done more as she loved going out in the car and meeting everyone on set. She was a real star and a one in a million cat, there will never be another like her. Before the dogs came I had trained her to sit, spin, jump a jump and also fetch a stick as I was desperate to have a dog I treated her like one and I think she thought she was one. She had a massive cancerous growth and had to be put down today, she was in pain and they couldn't make her comfortable.

It's been a while....

I hadn't realised it had been so long to be honest. We haven't done much since KC Festival really and work has been quite manic, personal life has been busy so I haven't stopped really!

We competed for a day at Dordale and Cas picked up a 4th in Grade 6 Jumping which I was dead chuffed with as she is almost 10 now so she's still going strong, Ember had a win in Combined 1-7 Jumping. Then the show at High Peak was cancelled and I was so looking forward to it. We did a day at Bromsgrove and Rum had a place in a blast of a Combined 1-7 Jumping course however this was the beginning of my illness and I got worse that week only to find I had gastroenteritis after a trip to the Doc on the Thursday. I was totally gutted to have to pull out of judging at Dashin on the Saturday but had to spend the day in bed, on Sunday I felt better until I got up and felt horrendous again, I lived on toast for a week which was a great way to lose weight (1/2 a stone!) but that's soon gone back on!

I was just about up to fitness for UKA Top Barn where Cas won Senior Steeplechase 1, Senior Steeplechase 2 and Novice Jumping, Ember won Novice Steeplechase 1 and Novice Steeplechase 2, Rum had a 2nd in Novice Agility and a 4th in Novice Steeplechase - they were flying that day!

I have just got back from a training weekend with Lee to the Isle of Man, take a look at his blog as he has uploaded some piccies. It was a short stop and we didn't get to see much as our flight was soooo late on Friday (thank goodness for Weatherspoons in the airport!). But it was a great weekend, fantastic company and everyone was really receptive to our ideas and I hope everyone has gone away inspired! Well done everyone and good luck for the future. And thanks to Christine for looking after us so well despite her not being well!!

This week am doing something for Burgess involving training a celeb's dog to do agility! Will post more when we are done.

Ember's win @ Dordale:

Cassie's 4th @ Dordale:

Blog

Haven't had much time to blog, went to Spain instead of DIN (had an amazing time :))) )and did my packing instead of all of KC Festival lol. Rum had a 2nd in G5 Agility at Lincoln and Ember and Cas both had places in Comb 4-7 Jumping too. On the Friday at KC Festival Rum had his first G6 classes and coped REALLY well (apart from a bit of an all over the place run in G6 Jumping) so I was really chuffed.

I want to say well done to Chris Hickman and Fiddle who is my fav black and white collie ever, she's a stunner for winning this g3 jumping class and KC Festival and since winning another at DIN:

3 Down 1 to Go

I was so pleased with Rum at Derby he went clear in pairs with Carol and Calca and they came 3rd. He had a bit of a hesitant clear in Combined 4-5 Jumping and came 3rd (0.05s of his brother lol!) and 2nd in Grade 5 Agility with a gorgeous run round a tough course and held contacts - I was dead chuffed with that run round Mavis Sherwin's course. Sunday wasn't so good he skipped a weave in Jumping, missed his entry in Chum (I rushed him) and dropped a pole in 1-7 Jumping with another lovely run.

Cas was all over the place this weekend or I was! We had poles here and there as I was pushing her too much.

Ember had a bad Saturday which resulted in me taking her out of both agility classes and knocked a pole in C6-7 Jumping which she would have won by 2secs. No matter though as she won G6 Jumping on Sunday so just an agility to go now! And also had a 2nd in Comb 1-7 Jumping. Her other agility was a bit better but she's started flying her other two contacts now and before it was just her a-frame so am getting rather fed up of her pushing me all the time!