Brave prepares for the year at BAC ABC (Jan 26)
Will and Brave travelled once again up to Warwickshire for the British Agility ABC (Anything But Collies) Challenge.
The event consisted of three classes – steeplechase, agility and jumping rounds – with the overall winner being decided by combining all three runs.
After a disappointing elimination in the steeplechase round, Brave really upped his game in his agility run:
This speedy clear was enough to give the RAW pair a 3rd place finish. The slight deviation to the see-saw cost the time that would have seen them finish even higher given how close the timings were:
Will took heart from this – Brave is consistently showing he has the speed and skills to compete at the highest level.
The team’s last run was also up with the quickest, but just 5 faults due to a refusal meant Will & Brave finished just outside the top 10.
A great opening to the year – many thanks to the team and the judges at BAC!
Brave flies at Iconix (Jan 26)
Will and Brave headed to the Dog Sports Derby arena for the Iconix Zero Degrees weekend. They wanted to test themselves on high quality courses from top European judges to see if they were ready to have a go at the Team GB Showcase in two weeks.
The tryouts will be at the same venue, same astro surface on similar courses. There was only one way to run these courses – attack at speed at the highest level!
The first day consisted of three runs – an agility, a jumping and a final. Every pairing got to run in the final, but their final run would only be marked as a competitive run if they had avoided an elimination in at least one of the first two.
Will and Brave picked up two eliminations so their final run could not be a winning run, but the point of the weekend was to see how well they could compete at this level so they absolutely went for it:
A leap on the dog walk denied our pair a clear round, but just 5 faults was enough to be the best run of the final. The only other pair to get round this extremely challenging course had more faults and a slower time, but had one qualifying run earlier in the day meaning they took the title.
In recognition of their final run, Will and Brave were awarded 2nd place – many thanks to Neil Ellis and the team for this kind gesture!
Day 2 worked differently. The first run, a jumping round, was to be used as a warm up run. They were followed by a second jumping run and an agility run that would be combined to give the overall placings.
The best run of the weekend was this stunning clear round:
Incredibly, given the quality of the field, Will and Brave were the only pair to get around the course, and they were fast and clear!
With more than half an eye on the tryouts in a fortnight, clear rounds are great, but they also have to be achieved at a good speed. Brave completed the course at an average speed of 6.2 metres per second.
Winning this round meant two things; Will and Brave would run last in the final round as it would be run in reverse order of placings from the first run and they were the only pair that could win the medium height competition if they could get round the last course without an elimination.
The challenging agility course could only be attacked at speed. Trying to play it safe was not an option!:
The RAW pair showed no sign of nerves despite having to wait to the very end and they sped through the first three-quarters of the course in control. The slight mistake put an end to their hopes of a clear round as Brave took the wrong side of 17 and was eliminated.
You can see from Will’s reaction that despite the ‘E’, he is so happy with Brave’s performance this weekend. As for Brave, he always looks happy doing agility!
The outcome of the weekend is that Will and Brave are able to compete at this level of difficulty with more than enough speed to at least give the Team GB tryouts a go. Brave is still very young, so the experience of the tryouts, without expectations, means it is worth having a go.
Many thanks to Neil, judges and the support team for a fantastic weekend on some the best courses!
Continental Chaos at Agility Base (Jan 26)
Will and Brave took part in a Run Continental! event at Agility Base to get the chance to experience international style course running judged under FCI rules as more preparation for the Team GB showcase event – the first stage of tryouts – next week.
The courses were designed by 2026 AWC judge Cedric Bargoin and judged by Ian Law.
The pair’s first two runs showed they are up for the challenge of fast flowing courses. Starting with a clear jumping round that remained faultless despite Will’s laces coming undone as he reached top speed around the course:
The pair then took on an agility course without any dramas and absolutely nailed it!:
Despite picking up an elimination in their third and final run, the purpose of the day had been served – a super experience to try out World Championship level and style of courses and with some level of success.
Thanks to the team, judges and helpers at Agility Base for a really useful, enjoyable day!
Brave wins at KST (Jan 26)
The day after their exploits at Agility Base, Will and Brave were competing much closer to home at the January KST show. The pair managed to rack up a win with a nice steady clear in the jumping round:
As always, a big thank you to the judges and the ring party at this lovely, friendly local show.
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