Suffolk 5 Rivers

The journey to Ipswich was far from joyful, the M 25 was a misery with constant congested areas and it was a good 3 hours before I finally entered the showground to find a sea of caravans and poles denoting saved pitches, it was 3.40pm, so much for the 'no arrivals before 4pm'! Not a pleasant day, cold with showers and a gale force wind which was responsible for blowing over and wrecking the secretary's marquee!
I awoke to a cold and blustery morning when the wind was strong enough for the Dartford Bridge to be closed. The queue around the grade 3 rings was ridiculous, within 45 minutes they were calling up to 200 dogs in the agility ring and in the other 2 jumping rings they were taking anyone so there was absolutely no point in having a running order. Kai went clear in both his runs and Brigg stormed round the NBC Jumping and despite a hesitation thanks to me he came 10th. Strangely he missed his weave entry in his other runs which was very unusual, nevertheless he ran well. Chart, having done superb rounds in both the agility and jumping he back jumped the last jump in agility to be eliminated and in jumping pratted about refusing to do the final jump it until he knocked over the whole thing! You always have to be ready for the unexpected with Chart! Keets was a good boy but not quite clear. Tambi and Roli were treated to walks around the rings and best of all a long session in the exercise area running after the new frisbees I had purchased to replace those we had lost.
Sunday, such a cold wet morning but at least the wind had dropped somewhat. Once again the queues around the grade 3 rings were of nightmarish proportions, the Helter Skelter queue was almost as long and curvaceous as the course itself. At times the rain was torrential when people ran for cover, which was the only time the queues were of a reasonable proportion! Again Brigg had problems in the weaves but went clear in the Helter Skelter where there were no weaves, Chart played his usual game by refusing to do the last jump in another great round, he did however manage a clear round in the jumping when I won the battle of wills and he cleared the last jump, both Kai and Keets went clear in their runs. I did not wait to see if we had been placed as frankly I was cold, wet and thoroughly fed up! I was glad to pack up give the dogs a final run in the exercise area before hitting the motorway for a long congested and tedious journey home in pouring rain! Interestingly it had been dry all weekend here!!