From: Vickie Shields
Date: Thu Oct 28, 2004 8:16 am
Subject: Syracuse - winners
Hello ICATers,
ICAT's debut in the east went very well! The Cats of the Finger Lakes was hosting the On Safari congresses, symposium and dinner, so there were many Bengals (134?), and many of them tried the agility ring. On the sign-in sheet there are 68 total cats who tried ICAT, of all breeds and ages.
During the weekend, two new Agility Officials were also apprenticed and are ready to run their own ICAT event. Welcome to the new Agility Officials, Sandy Adler and Julia Jennings!
I was at the agility ring both days, and got to see how much some of the cats improve over the weekend, once they are comfortable in the ring, feel safe and want to start playing with their owner. And I also saw some of the most spectacular cat athletes I've seen at any ICAT event anywhere.
Here are the results of the Syracuse show -- including a new world record Adult run! I'm hoping to start a Records page on the website soon, because there are lots of new accomplishments to report as ICAT grows. I've listed the top 5 winners below, and think we should start going five deep when the next ICAT season starts, because some cats are separated by only hundredths of a second, and more cats are doing timed runs at each show now.
CATS:
Basic course:
1st Place: Packer, Bengal, owned/handled by Ree Hertzson, clean run, 14:50 seconds, New World Record for an adult cat! (The Kitten record is still held by Ciniron, a Bengal who ran the Basic course in 15:00 seconds.)
2nd Place: Kodiak, a Bengal owned/handled by Joy Peel, clean run, 20 seconds
3rd Place: Kurosawi, a Japanese Bobtail owned/handled by Jeanne Johnson, clean run, 28:64 seconds
4th Place: Ria, a Bengal, owned/handled by Athena Thickston, clean run, 51:10 seconds
5th Place: Basara, an Egyptian Mau, owned/handled by Evelyn Grado-Wolynies,
clean run, 1:52:02 seconds
I have to tell you that I got goose bumps watching Packer run the course!
And just after his record timed run, Ree took him around again -- even
faster! No hesitation at the weave poles, just a clean wavy line through
them.
KITTENS:
1st Place: Darrius, a Bengal kitten owned/handled by Sara Grace Hastings, Junior Handler, clean run, 16:51 seconds
2nd Place: Cinder, an Abyssinian, owned by Sheila Dentico, handled by James Garcia, Junior Handler, clean run, 24:56 seconds
3rd Place: Selina, an Abyssinian owned/handled by Kim Monkhouse, clean run, 35:02 seconds
4th Place: Phoenix Rising, a Bengal, owned/handled by Meredith Bird, clean run, 35:74 seconds
5th Place: DiVinci, an Abyssinian, owned/handled by Karen Vance, clean run,
41:00 seconds
JUNIOR HANDLERS:
1st Place: Sara Grace Hastings, with Darrius, a Bengal kitten, clean run,
16:51 seconds
2nd Place: James Garcia, with Cinder, an Abyssinian kitten, clean run,
1:12:13 seconds
Several cats tried out the Advanced level course, and did very well, including clean runs, although none were timed. With the higher and longer jumps, the Advanced course is even more exciting to watch.
Once again, I was surprised at how fast cats learn -- all the ones who tried it were new to cat agility that same weekend! And they went around the course with enthusiasm, it was great to see the cats having so much fun. Even a couple of them who hesitated at the open space when the hoop jump is between the ramps, when they finally took the plunge, everyone applauded and it was a piece of cake the next time the cat tried it.
We hadn't set up the Advanced course at any of the shows before, but clearly Packer, Kodiak and some of the others were ready, they had the Basic course mastered already. I hope more cats will try it at future shows. (Same obstacles, just reconfigured to make the course challenging.)
After seeing how successfully the cats who "get it" can make the transition to the Advanced level course, and bypass Intermediate, we are thinking maybe the Intermediate level isn't needed. However, it might be for some cats, so at future shows we'll set it up at the Intermediate level and see if it's useful and interesting.
Thank you to everyone who participated in Syracuse, and to Cats of the Finger lakes for inviting ICAT to be there!
Vickie
From: Sheila Dentico
Date: Thu Oct 28, 2004 11:30 am
Subject: Re: [ICAT] Syracuse - winners!
Speaking as a participant, I had a GREAT time, both running the course and watching others.
It seemed my 6 month old girl Cinder really enjoyed it too. She took right to the course immediately. When we came back for the 2nd run and were waiting our turn, she watched the cat in the ring intently, quivering all over from anticipation. (Definitely not from fear, because if I turned us away, she stopped the quivering.)
She even ran the Advanced course with only 1 fault ... she did not get the idea to jump from one stay table to the other but instead jumped down from the first and up to the second. Maybe next time!
And let me assure others, this was with NO training at home!
I am really looking forward to doing this again at the Westchester Feline Club show (White Plains, NY). I'm hoping that a couple of my grandchildren will come and try ut the course with Cinder. :-)
Sheila Dentico
Abyroad Abys & Somalis - http://www.abyroad.com
Westchester Feline Club - http://www.westchester-feline.org
Associate of Eos Development - http://www.eosdev.com
