This post is authored by someone who has never experienced any of the EGC classes in a trial setting. I've just seen sample courses and have set some things up in our yard for our kids and us to play with . . .
EG Barrelers (barrel racing) is unique . . .
EG Gaters has elements of Tunnelers . . .
EG Chances has elements of Chances, Hoopers and Tunnelers . . .
EG Hoopers has elements of Chances and numbered Hoopers . . .
As I've experinced things at home, EG Barrelers is FAST, FURRY-OUS, and FUN, even when we screw up the pattern . . . BADLY! In that regard, I think Barrelers should stand alone as a barrel class . . .
I see the potential for a second class . . . perhaps called "Simply Extreme" . . . that combines elements from the other 3 EG classes . . .
Easy enough to incorporate a Chances restriction line somewhere on the course . . . with a Chances-like distance challenge, it might be possible to make the hoop & gate "corral" a bit smaller . . . more along the lines of a "Hobday Square" of hoop with 4 gates completing the octagon "corral" . . .
"Non-test" (Chances restriction line & Hoop "corral") hoops, gates and tunnels could be strategically placed to keep the challenges diverse and appropriate for the various levels.
Personally, I could see the following benefits to this two class system . . .
One, for clubs willing to try adding EGC to their trials, it eliminates the frustration of picking which 2 EG classes to add to a traditional trial . . .
Points earned in EG Gaters, Chances and Hoopers could be combined into the new "Simply Extreme" class, which I think/hope may minimize the paperwork . . .
For clubs offering "Non-Jumping Weekend Trials", those Trials could be expanded to 8 runs per day, with no more than 2 daily runs or 4 weekend runs each of Tunnelers, Touch N Go, Weavers, Hoopers, Barrelers or "Simply Extreme" . . .
IMHO, it also makes investing in EG equipment a bit more viable for very small clubs . . . 55 gallon drums are relatively easy to find . . . not sure if 32 gallon round trash cans would be acceptable (turned upside down with their handles secured in the ground with "hook shaped" stakes with no exposed points) . . . and needing fewer gates . . .
I would personally find it extremely difficult to put together a slate of classes, even with 8 runs available, from a list of 11 choices/day . . . and provide sufficient options for the "consuming public" . . .
With the numbers of hoops that are showing up in other classes, Hoopers as a class may be losing some of it's challenge . . .
At some future point in time, I could envision "Simply Extreme" evolving into the replacement for Chances because it would be testing a new set of skills at a distance . . .
I believe that the EG classes represent the future of agility training . . . THE PATH, don'cha know???
. . . but many will only come on-board kicking and screaming at first, so it needs to be introduced and incorporated in a way that encourages folks to TRY IT . . . rather than to fight it . . .
Sharon has already floated several ideas when it comes to the paths that EGC could take . . . it's really up to us to THINK OUTSIDE OF THE BOX ABOUT THE FUTURE the way that Sharon does . . . and to avoid "critiquing" that which may change or be eliminated . . .
Change is merely OPPORTUNITY KNOCKING . . . I fractured a couple of vertabrae in 2011 . . . there's a lot of things that I used to do that I can't do very well anymore . . . but I've found MANY new things to do!!!
Our Dred is "legally blind" in most states; but he functions quite well . . . at one point in his life, he was a very talented, highly "decorated", agility "star" . . . there's A LOT in agility that he can no longer do; but he does REALLY WELL with many aspects of EGC!!!
IMHO, if a club offers 6 traditional classes on Saturday and Sunday and 2 EGC classes, they'll maintain the entries that they would normally have with just 6 traditional classes . . . any entries in the EGC classes are a "bonus" for paying the bills/profit . . .
I and mine don't trial much anymore . . . "old fart" humans and two "DD" dogs with issues . . . and one "soon to be veteran" young dog with issues . . . but we don't want to see NADAC "stagnate" the way that I feel that many venues have, because they seem to fear change . . .
The more that we do as individuals to push our sport where it has not been before, the better it will be for those that follow behind us . . .
"To boldly go where no one has gone before" applies to agility as well . . .
Live long & prosper . . .
Al, Barb, Dred, Gael & Pelli
