DRAT was established in April 2007 when Susan Smith suggested the idea to Christina Williams. We decided to name the club after our currently competing dogs as finding another name was proving very difficult.
From small beginnings, running a couple of classes each on a Thursday evening, the club grew to around 80 working dogs training on four evenings a week, three at World Horse Welfare Hall Farm and a fourth at a livery yard near Aylsham.
In 2010, Susan had to have knee replacement surgery and after her recovery she returned to teach two classes a week on Thursday evenings. In May 2014 Susan sadly decided that she would like to retire from DRAT to prolong the use of her knee.
In 2016, with the closure of Bure Valley Agility (established in 2011 with Christine Haynes) near Aylsham, I decided to carry on with classes at Hall Farm, Oxnead (Lorna Crook Equestrian) under the DRAT title.
After Covid-19 hit, The Trustees at WHW decided to close the farm to protect the staff and I was lucky enough to be offered alternative venues near Swaffham and another near Mildenhall, so I relocated to these. I carried on over the summer of 2020, before everything came to a stop for a second time. After a lot of soul searching and after 13 years of training at WHW, I decided not to return but to continue at the two new venues.
Beginners are very welcome, and although there is usually a waiting list it may be worth getting in touch to see what is available.
Whilst we are not a competition club in the strictest sense, nearly half of our members now regularly, and successfully, compete at KC, UKA and local independent shows, we have even had a YKC winner at Crufts. (We have dogs competing up to and including KC Grade 7 and Championship classes in Small, Medium, Intermediate and Large.)
From small beginnings, running a couple of classes each on a Thursday evening, the club grew to around 80 working dogs training on four evenings a week, three at World Horse Welfare Hall Farm and a fourth at a livery yard near Aylsham.
In 2010, Susan had to have knee replacement surgery and after her recovery she returned to teach two classes a week on Thursday evenings. In May 2014 Susan sadly decided that she would like to retire from DRAT to prolong the use of her knee.
In 2016, with the closure of Bure Valley Agility (established in 2011 with Christine Haynes) near Aylsham, I decided to carry on with classes at Hall Farm, Oxnead (Lorna Crook Equestrian) under the DRAT title.
After Covid-19 hit, The Trustees at WHW decided to close the farm to protect the staff and I was lucky enough to be offered alternative venues near Swaffham and another near Mildenhall, so I relocated to these. I carried on over the summer of 2020, before everything came to a stop for a second time. After a lot of soul searching and after 13 years of training at WHW, I decided not to return but to continue at the two new venues.
Beginners are very welcome, and although there is usually a waiting list it may be worth getting in touch to see what is available.
Whilst we are not a competition club in the strictest sense, nearly half of our members now regularly, and successfully, compete at KC, UKA and local independent shows, we have even had a YKC winner at Crufts. (We have dogs competing up to and including KC Grade 7 and Championship classes in Small, Medium, Intermediate and Large.)