As far as agility training goes, we have not got much done recently as the weather has been so vile and muddy! While I was in Spain, Matthew went to the Agility club AGM to receive Braxs trophy for winning the small Grade 3 league. The piece of crystal that she got is enormous!! Clever Matthew and Bracken. To show she is not always posing and looking stunning, I thought I'd include a typical Brax photo as well!!

I've just got back from a wonderful few days in Spain with my friends Kate and Claire. We went out to Seville to a HUGE horse show only for Spanish bred horses. It was so big that even after walking around the show for two days, we still probably hadn't seen everything! Its a bit like Crufts but for one breed of dog only and much bigger. We saw everything from in-hand and ridden show classes, masses of shops, grand prix dressage, in hand work and an evening performance show. Unlike UK shows, we could wander round the mares and stallions stabling areas and the breeders had their own exhibition area with copious amounts of sherry!! The evening performance show was really unique, I can honestly say I've never seen anything like it before. One of the acts that bought tears to my eyes was a single horse being long reined and the harmony between handler and stallion was breathtaking. It was great to meet different people and it was lovely to have the chance to meet Kates mares breeder. Both him and his wife were so welcoming and you could tell they really care about their horses. It was lovely to go out to Spain with my friends and share such an awesome experience. I can't really do the trip justice in words or photos but here are some I took on my phone.

We have had a lovely lazy weekend even if it was a little bit wet! The dogs had some very soggy walks and I seem to be doing a lot of washing at the moment as my work clothes get soooo muddy. I decided it was time to get their coats out as Brax feels the cold and both of them take so long to dry out when they are wet. Here is a pic of Brax looking smug in her coat!

A big well done to Jane Emmett and her dog Millie who won the Starters Cup at Discover Dogs on saturday!! Wow what an achievement and having watched her run on you tube Millie didn't seem fazed by the atmosphere at all. Also well done to Sam Lane and her lovely cocker spaniel who won the medium starters cup on his 2nd birthday! I wish I could have been there to watch but I was at work getting wet and muddy again!

I did a really fun Trec competition yesterday with Max and my friend Kate on her horse Speedi (who also happens to be Max's girlfriend!) Its basically an obstacle course with points awarded or penalties deducted for how you tackle each obstacle. The lovely thing is it is soooo relaxed, nobody gets dressed up for it and every shape and size of horse can have a go. Some of the obstacles include a narrow corridor of poles to ride through (without touching the poles), going under simulated low tree branches, riding over a bridge, going over a ditch, bending in and out and immobility. There is also a control of paces section where you have to canter as slowly as possible and walk back as fast as possible. Max absolutely loved going out with Speedi and they got a 5th in their pairs (mainly because Speedi can canter beautifully slowly!!) and Max and I got 5th in the indivdual competition. Wow didn't expect that!! He was a superstar though as nothing fazes him (apart from the scary people in the hedge outside the school!)

Here is the pair of them sharing hay-it has to be said that Max doesn't normally share ANY food!! The other picture was after they had finished and they look shattered!!

Bracken can fall asleep anywhere. She sat on Nicola's lap at breaktime and dozed off-crazy dog! She fell asleep on Matthew last night and just look at the grin on her face! They competed at Barking Mad agility at Keysoe and she did very well getting a 2nd in jumping and a 3rd in power and speed. Brodie got a clear but as usual was out of the placings!
We have been practising hold it with different objects and one of the hardest so far has been a rawhide chew! I did manage to get them to hold it for long enough to take a picture!

We have had lots of gorgeous puppies to play with at work recently! The handsome young Springer puppy is Sykes who belongs to my friend Eve. This was the first time he met Bracken and decided to stay right next to Eve! His 'big brother' Flint has qualified for Crufts in the breed ring again and I'm sure Sykes will do very well once he's old enough to go to parties!!

The Bull Terrier puppy was staying in the kennels and we decided to have her visit us in the staff room for some lunchtime cuddles!