Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud, Nothing quite like it for……………flyball & camping??
We went from 15 dogs to 11, the week before the show, and from 8 camping units to 4, by the week end. So having entered 3 teams, we were now down to two teams.
Luckily (not really sure that's the right word!), Claire & I arrived Friday afternoon, and managed to put our tents up (on dryish ground) in the dry, and then walk the dogs, just before it started to rain. And rain, and rain…………..! By 9.00pm, we could hear the tractor pulling caravans onto the show ground. We knew Tina & Andy were coming up on Friday, but didn't know when they were due to arrive. By 9.30pm they phoned, to say they had eventually been pulled into a field, having been sent to every other gate, where they had to unhitch the caravan in order to turn around in the road!
By Saturday morning, and no let up in the rain, the agility show was cancelled. Tina & Andy were towed back onto hard standing on the show ground, and Pete and Wendy turned up, behind a tractor, who 'dumped' them in one of the many puddles in the flyball camping area. Their car was in the car park, as they couldn't tow it in! (And later in the day, they were towed back out to the hard standing, along side Tina & Andy). While sheltering in the tent, we saw Jan & Jim 'drive' past, when they started to get stuck, and ended up abandoning the car, and had to be pulled out! And finally Kevin & Judith were found wandering around, but they had the sense to stay with relatives locally!
So the Jelly Babies team had arrived!! And flyball was cancelled…………………..The teams were given the option to come back on Sunday, and the divisions would be re-arranged, whether and ground conditions permitting. We were now left with 8 dogs. As there was no guarantees that there would be any racing Sunday, we decided to pull Allsorts out, and just race with 6 dogs in Jelly Babies.
And so to Sunday. There had been very little rain since Saturday lunch time, and so it was decided to go ahead with racing, but should the conditions become dangerous, then it would be cancelled. There were just 3 divs, and everyone helped where possible.
The team dogs were Beano, Tosh, Beau, Meg, Ben & Angel. Bassett Jellie Babies seed time was 22.50, so we didn't want to go under 22.00, and with the ground conditions as they were, and with being the slowest team by far, we didn't worry about passes, just getting the dogs up and back. We only had 4 races, and lost every one! (Although we went 2-3 against Barkshire Bandidos!) Our best time was 22.12.
During the afternoon, the ground had started to get 'sticky' in places, and Claire & I had planned our escape routes. Unfortunately, for both of us, we got stuck! But with the help of Gwain, we finally left the show about 6.30pm…………………It was certainly an experience!! Just hope Broadlands is dry!!
All thanks go out to the Mad Mutts for doing their utmost to keep everything in order, despite the difficult conditions.