Amy Longbottom qualified for the Richmond semi finals at her first show.

Amy practising her straight lines!

Amy - taking it all in!

Watch this space for more photos of the training weekend.

Photos kindly supplied by Edward Longbottom ©

A Report from the day:

I was lucky enough to attend the second training weekend held by Marina Scott and Helena Hutchings on 9th and 10 th of February at the New Haw community centre  Addlestone in Surrey.
The day started with a short introduction about the trainers and their many achievements with their dogs this was a great inspiration to us all.We also covered presentation of the handler, sportsmanship and etiquette. Once again we had fantastic weather  that enabled us to train outside giving us plenty of room to practise our patterns and turns.
Lunch was provided thanks to Jenny and Eric Hutchings. (Helena's mum and dad ), during our lunch break we had a quizz about the anatomy of the dog and a raffle with lots of prizes (with many thanks to June Caffel for supplying these ).
In the afternoon we went through the ring procedure and the show pose before a short break to get ready for a mini show where we could put all our new skills into practise.
The day ended with the handing out of results and rossettes . We all came away exhausted (especially our four legged friends) and keen to try out our new skills in the show ring with renewed confidence.
The one thing that I will remember is the advice to "Win with pride and lose with dignity" and to always congratulate other junior handlers and most of all to enjoy myself.
Lastly I would like to say a BIG THANKYOU on behalf of all the junior handlers to Marina and Helena for a enjoyable informative day and we all look forward to the sunshine and the next one.
I would like to wish everyone goodluck and happy showing,
 
Marcia Hutchin

Amy Balch, went on to CRUFTS 2008 to win YKC Gundog handling 12 - 16years, and YKC NATIONAL SHOW HANDLER OF THE YEAR - Congratulations AMY!