Crufts 2007

After a very long journey and 2 days, where I enjoyed the English HTM and Freestyle Finals, came the day I had waited for with a mix of fear and excitement… The day of the International Freestyle at Crufts 2007.

Originally it was my Border Collie Whisper that was qualified to represent Denmark, but he got injured and in the beginning of February - 1 month before Crufts - it was decided, that the Danish reserve Biscuit (The Charmed Ones' Biscuit in Blue) should dance for Denmark.
We didn't have much time to get his routine ready to compete against some of Europe's best handlers. A big THANK YOU to Kath Hardman for all your help and support!

10 days before Crufts we had a Danish competition, where I tested the new routine. We were so not ready to perform it! Biscuit worked slowly and missed lots of moves. Not what I had hoped for!!! I already found it hard to feel confident about working Biscuit at such an important event. He is only 2 years old and most of the other dogs that had qualified for Crufts, competed in advanced class already when he was born! A bad dress rehearsal did not help!!!!

We arrived at NEC early Saturday morning. We walked the dogs and found our benches. We were drowning in Good Luck cards and Danish flags. I don't think anybody could miss the Danish team :-).

The ring was open for training between 8 and 9 am. I took Biscuit to do a few moves and play a bit. No more than 5 minutes. I just wanted him to have a good time in the ring, so he would be excited about getting back there. He looked happy and ready for work, which calmed me a bit. I put Biscuit back in his crate and then trained my routine again and again without him, until I knew exactly where to perform which move so that both judges and the audience would be able to see us.

Kath Hardman and her working sheepdog Tipp performed a beautiful HTM routine at 9 am. They danced to The Champagne Gallop by the Danish composer Lumbye - a touch of Denmark before the International Competition :-). Kath is one of my favourite handlers. She is very good at interpreting the music and her routines are always well performed and very moving. It was a good way to start the day and nice to think of something else than my own routine for a little while.

Briefing by Gina Pink at 9.50 and shortly after that, we were supposed to be in the warm up area. They wanted us there about 30 minutes before the competition was to start. Biscuit is best if he doesn't have to wait too long before his performance, so I brought his crate and left him there until it was time for us to enter the ring.

We did test a few moves though and Biscuit refused to walk around the stick… So we changed the routine less than an hour before our big Crufts performance!!!!! Yiks!!!!

We could follow the competition on a small TV behind the ring. Not exactly the same as watching it "live", but still exciting and better than to miss the other handler's performances completely.

From left:
David Hardman (timekeeper), Judge Karen Sykes, Judge Richard Curtis and Judge Annie Clayton

Christiaan De Jong from Holland got to "open" the show with a nice routine to "I'm an Englishman in New York".

2nd in the ring was Lesley Neville - representing England. She looked relaxed and as if she enjoyed her time in the ring. She danced her way into first place and stayed there throughout the competition.

New Zealand was represented by a Gordon Setter dancing to "Pirates of the Caribbean". It was nice to see so many different breeds in the ring.

After New Zealand came Wales. I had to leave the TV to get ready and warm up.
Mary Muxworthy and her Border Collie Harry was one of the teams I had expected to do very well. I have seen them work before and I like their routines and I had heard a lot about their new Crufts routine - it should be very good. And it was, but it didn't really work for them on the day. Even the best team need a bit of luck to make the WOW performance we all dream of and unfortunately Mary and Harry didn't have much luck that day!

Finally it was our turn to walk into the ring! I was nervous, but also very excited. Biscuit was happy and he didn't seem worried about the huge audience or the very big ring.
I am always running when I enter the ring with Biscuit. He likes running and it makes him excited.
A quick nod to the judges - up into the corner where I had decided to start - getting ready in our start pose - signal to the DJ - and wait for the music to start…
The first part of the routine went very well. I didn't feel too nervous, but when Biscuit jumped up on my shoulder to do "the violin", my arm was shaking so much that it was hard for him to stay there.
New goal: get that arm much more steady before the finish pose!!!! :-).

Then we came to the corner where the agility dogs had had their finish area… I think there must have been a bit of food or something left on the floor. Biscuit started sniffing around. Argh!!!!!
It felt horrible and we missed a jump. I have seen it on video and it didn't look too bad, but I felt that he was sniffing through half of the routine.
We managed to get away from the corner and Biscuit got focused again. Our finish went very well. Perfect timed to the music (for the first time ever!!!! - we are always a bit too early or a bit too late).

Phew! It was all over! The Danish supporters were great - their cheer almost blew Biscuit off my shoulder! Thank you so much for coming to England and be there for us! You made Crufts an unforgettable experience for me.

Back behind the ring to wait for the judges to give their marks. I didn't feel that we had done very well, so I was surprised when the judges placed us 2nd with a very good score. WOW - but still some of Europe's top handlers to come…

Helle was waiting for us behind the ring - she had Biscuit's treats and ball ready. Thank you Helle! Big play for Biscuit, so I missed the next team Claudia Moser and Border Collie Darjeeling's Jewel.
They did a routine to Scooby Doo. I have seen it on DVD and it was an entertaining and fast routine.

Scotland next! I had seen their routine before and was not impressed, but WOW!!!! They had trained and improved their choreography! A very impressive performance!

Belguim and Marleen Van Hees. She is a well-known name and her experience showed. She was calm and performed a good routine. I am glad I wasn't judging - it cannot have been an easy job!

Sweden in the ring! They did a moving routine to the music from Titanic. They had a high degree of difficulty. The dog barked a lot, but besides from that a good performance and they danced their way into 3rd place. Well done Sweden!

Last but not least - Italy and Corinne Champagna's Parson Russel Terrier CWM Cadno Tenderness. They had been in the English Freestyle Finals the day before and performed well, which they did again.

Time to get ready for presentation. Into the ring again and this time did I actually notice how big the audience was. It was amazing to be there - when it was all over and I could enjoy it. Biscuit finished 4th and I was happy - I was when I had had time to take it all in… It had been an overwhelming day!

The results were:
1st - England, Lesley Neville
2nd - Jersey, Donelda Guy
3rd - Sweden, Frida Binette
4th - Denmark, Emmy Marie Simonsen
5th - Switzerland, Claudia Moser
6th - Scotland, Heather Smith
7th - Belgium, Marleen Van Hees
8th - Italy, Corinne Campagna
9th - New Zealand, Karen McCarthy
10th - The Netherlands, Christiaan De Jong
11th - Wales, Mary Muxworthy

The competition was well organized. Everything went as planned and Gina Pink and her crew were great. They made us feel like stars for a day!

Helle, who had been "back-stage" with me all day, helped me get my stuff packed so we could return to the benches. All the Danish supporters met us at the door and now I know how the Danish handball team feels when they return to Denmark after winning the world championships!!!! I don't think we deserved that much cheering, but it felt great :-)

We celebrated our placing with the Champagne my friend Johanna sent. Jo, I am sorry that you couldn't be there to celebrate with us. I missed you!

The rest of the day was spent relaxing. For the first time in a month, I didn't feel guilty about not training :-).
Thank you to all of you who travelled to England to cheer for us and support us. You were WOW! It was so so great to have you there! Especially a big THANK YOU to Helle and Carina, who helped me through sleepless nights. Carina via texts (her phone kept her roommates awake too - whoops!) and Helle by listening to my Sway music half the night when I panicked about not remembering the routine and by talking the rest of the night, when I didn't feel like sleeping.
Helle missed seeing the competition and haveing fun with the rest of the Danes to stay behind the ring with me. I am very grateful!

And thank you to Gina Pink, who was in charge of the HTM at Crufts. Both her and her crew were fantastic. They did a great job!!!
And thank you to all the judges, who gave up competing with their own dogs to judge for the rest of us. I always find judges at competitions scary, but this year's Crufts judges were so relaxed and smiling. They seemed almost human :-).

I stayed with a friend in England another 5 days. It was great to relax a bit and have time to talk and do nothing. We needed that!

And now it is time to choreograph a new routine for Biscuit to perform. Sway has been playing one time too many in my house!!!!!! :-)

Ud over den Internationale Freestyle om lørdagen, så blev den engelske HTM og Freestyle finale afholdt henholdsvis torsdag og fredag.
Resultatern

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26,7 points Gina Pink (left) and Kath Hardman (right)

3. - Nicky Joyce, 26.40

4.- Marleen Van Hees, 26.37

5. - Kath Hardman, 25.33

6. - Lesley Brocklehurst, 24.93

7. - Lynda Edmondson, 24.80

8. - Carol Dodson, 24.70

9. - Ann De Rizzio, 24.63

10. - Carol Wallace, 24.53

4. - Jackie Clarke, 26.80

5.- Nicky Joyce, 26.57

6. - Lesley Neville, 25.87

7. - Jackie Clarke, 25.43

8. - Jill Davis, 25.40

9. - Corrine Campagna, 25.17

10. - Carol Mortimer, 23.83

Kath Hardman and Ginnie.
Ginnie is 14 years old but she proved that she is still fit for fight! She was joint 1st in the English HTM Finals.