It’s that childhood locket dangling over the white lace, the
bride herself scented with a custom bridal perfume, with the groom carry grandfather’s pocket
watch, and the bride’s delicate fingers wrapped tightly around the fistful of
hydrangea, delphinium, and white lilies. That’s something old, something new,
something borrowed, something blue.
While that
wedding tradition rhyme is constantly used by zillions of brides, it is
something we agility folk are slowly losing our grip on, and I'm not quite sure we should be tossing away the bouquet so soon. We seem to be perfectly
fine with something new and something borrowed, the majority of handlers are
open to trying new moves, training more complex courses, and incorporating new training
methods into their routines. That’s part of the evolution of the sport. But we
are letting go of the old, which isn’t always ideal. I am the first one to say
I love all those newfangled, fancy agility moves we are all slowly
experimenting with, trying new things is never bad. And yet, similarly it doesn’t
hurt to K.I.S.S, keep it simple and stupid. I don’t think there will
ever be a combination of handling skills that could ever prove more useful to
me, for my dogs, than the basic front cross and rear cross. They are the foundations
for handling at a more complex level, they teach people how to read lines,
execute, and plan effectively for their own dog’s preferences. Personally I don’t think
one can progress as a handler until they understand the principles of good,
old-fashioned, basic handling. Really though it comes down to a balance of the new and old; applying the most effective skills we have to each course, whether it be a ketschker or a pull and flip rear cross. I just hope I can always keep the tradition going with my own handling...remembering the old, trying the new, and never being afraid to borrow.
And hey, if you have something new, something old, and something borrowed, something blue is bound to follow.
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