So the arab entourage gathered for a third year running at the David Broome Event Centre in Chepstow for their annual National Championship Show.
My main observation is that there were very few people there.
It’s not completely clear why it is so quiet these days. This was a busy and popular show when it was at Malvern, with a very loud and long party on the Saturday night. The classes we were in were mostly in-hand and would have regularly featured entries in double figures.
Then disaster struck. One Sunday morning we woke to news that one of the much-loved handlers had died overnight. The show was cancelled. We all met and prayed and went out separate ways.
it was never really the same after that. A change was needed and the surfaces at David Broome’s probably seemed like a good option but, despite it being built, very few people came. Our classes are now often only ones and twos.
They try really hard. This year there was a capri tent up in front of the Pavilion which was decked out with tables and chairs, and benches adorned with fur rugs. Drinks were available in here which reduced the slightly long-winded process of ordering from the Pickled Pumpkin setup indoors.
Every class has a start time, which actually makes things very predictable, albeit with the inevitable gaps when fewer people turn up than the entered ones expected.
Stewarding was generally good, though we still have the one steward who treats everyone like they have never shown before, insists on perfectly straight lines and drags each class out as a result.
My biggest gripe is with the Crabbett classes. Everything else has been scheduled and runs to time, then we arrive on Sunday morning to watch these classes and find that half of them have already happened. We checked our printed schedule, released just before the show for