First of all, congratulations to all the Final winners of the Champs at Maidstone – Nigel & Judy Booker with Time Keeper, who has been knocking on the door at all the major events this year and the Brion’s with Fine & Dandy, who were brave enough to take on in-form dogs like WCRCH Mahler and Cost A Bob – well done !
It was a pity that the weather wasn’t as hot as the competition.
The Maidstone club and its members have worked very hard to produce a track worthy of holding a Championship event. But, surprisingly it seems to have taken its toll with several injuries at the Maidstone Open as well as the Champs. Not least my own dogs – Guye’s Gwithian has strained two joints of an inside toe, Guye’s Gunner has exactly the same injury plus a dropped gracilis muscle! Guye’s Guinevere didn’t entirely escape incident – her back legs slipped out from under her as she came out of the trap in the 20lb Final. She was lucky only to suffer the indignity of falling on her nose !!
Whilst we cannot control the weather, I believe that the use of ribbed rubber matting to line the trap floors has definitely contributed to a loss of footing (it certainly did to my bitch) – the rain made the surface very slippery -- something that wouldn’t have occurred if carpet had been used. Guye’s Gwithian sustained a dropped gracilis from the same conditions, in the same traps at a Championship final held at Gloucester last year. I did try and dry the inside of the trap before putting my dogs inside but the ribbing and the amount of water made that impossible.
So, did anyone else’s dog sustain an injury at the Maidstone Champs ? And what do they think was the cause ? Is rubber matting the best surface to use ? Was the shape of the bend contributory ?
It was a pity that the weather wasn’t as hot as the competition.
The Maidstone club and its members have worked very hard to produce a track worthy of holding a Championship event. But, surprisingly it seems to have taken its toll with several injuries at the Maidstone Open as well as the Champs. Not least my own dogs – Guye’s Gwithian has strained two joints of an inside toe, Guye’s Gunner has exactly the same injury plus a dropped gracilis muscle! Guye’s Guinevere didn’t entirely escape incident – her back legs slipped out from under her as she came out of the trap in the 20lb Final. She was lucky only to suffer the indignity of falling on her nose !!
Whilst we cannot control the weather, I believe that the use of ribbed rubber matting to line the trap floors has definitely contributed to a loss of footing (it certainly did to my bitch) – the rain made the surface very slippery -- something that wouldn’t have occurred if carpet had been used. Guye’s Gwithian sustained a dropped gracilis from the same conditions, in the same traps at a Championship final held at Gloucester last year. I did try and dry the inside of the trap before putting my dogs inside but the ribbing and the amount of water made that impossible.
So, did anyone else’s dog sustain an injury at the Maidstone Champs ? And what do they think was the cause ? Is rubber matting the best surface to use ? Was the shape of the bend contributory ?
