Mark started dog agility training when the sport was still quite young over 20 years ago with a rescue bearded collie cross called Jing. At that time he trained with Sandleford Agility club in Newbury.
“I can still recall my first agility show in Kent. I came 2nd in the starters agility. My trainer, Ian won the class, he told me that if I’d beaten him I’d be walking home!”
In the early 1990’s Mark & Karen set up their first agility training school at Goodworth Clatford.
“We were travelling over 70 miles a week to train our dogs. We needed somewhere closer with indoor
facilities”.
UpAndOver Agility club was born. Over the next few years they moved to a few different venues until settling at Hurstbourne Equestrian Centre at Hurstbourne Priors. This gave Mark the opportunity to really focus on top-level agility.
Since these early days Mark and his wife Karen have delivered seminars and training events in many places across the UK and The Netherlands and Portugal.
While all of Mark’s dogs have reached the top classes Kodi (Ag Ch Bekkis Carbon Copy) has been Mark’s most successful agility dog to date. Highlights of Kodi’s agility career include: