RayGubernat wrote:
You get thrown in with the lions, so you had better believe you are gonna get chewed on some. That is the way that it is. It is not all that complex or complicated, but there are things you gotta learn. Until you do, you are not going to be able to show your dog to their best advantage.
One thing that separates the true amateur field trialer from those in most other sports that I know of is, their willingness to help someone beat them. I cannot tell you how many times I have run a dog without a scout and have had to ask for help from the gallery. I can't tell you how many times a fellow who ran in one of the braces preceding mine, and whose dog put down a great, possibly winning, performance, called out and said, "I'll go" and then rode off at a gallop to try and find my dog....and DID.
It is actually fairly common in my area for an amateur field trialer to put themselves out there for their fellow competitors and do what it takes to show the other fellows dog at its best...even if that means they and their dog get beat.
RayG
To expand on Ray's info..........There is a huge learning curve as a handler. The best advice I can give you in starting out is also to go to trials and ride. Go socialize with the people on the grounds. Go to the Dinners. Be a part of the whole weekend experience. Introduce yourself to the people there.
Now for the most important stuff.........Keep your mouth shut and your opinions to yourself. Be humble, don't talk about how great YOUR dog is or how bad someone else's dog is! Offer to help. Talk to people on the grounds, make friends with them, ride with them and let them know you're new. YOU need a MENTOR. YOU need someone to HELP you. YOU need to LEARN as much as you can. Then when you start runnning and handling your dog, these same people that Ray is talking about above will be there for you every week.
I have 1 training Mentor that doesn't trial anymore and a huge amount of Handling and Trialing Mentors because of all of the above. I started with my pants around my ankles and now they are probably about knee high. As everyone that trials will probably agree with me, almost EVERY time we run a dog a new situation arises either from the the dogs perspective or ours and each time we come back scrutinizing our perfomance and not the dogs. We are the weak link in the equation.
Once you have an idea what is going on, and feel comfortable, you'll blow that whistle to send your dog on its first stake and you'll get nervous, shake, vapor lock, and go back to the car wondering "What the heck just happened out there?". That is when you learn and you new found friends will help you. This is not to scare you, because even the pro's go back to the trailer thinging the same thing.
With the help of many you'll see that there are more good people out there willing to help you than hang you. BEWARE, it is addicting and you'll meet some the best people in the game. These are the ones that help you and you look forward to calling and seeing on the weekends. Again, a little off thread but to bring it home, that's how I have Trained, Handled and Titled my dogs by myself...."with a lot of help from my FRIENDS".