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Finding Space To Train

If you've been doing agility for a little while and all you've got is a small back garden I bet you've wondered where on earth you can find a bit of land to train.  I know some people have a field where six collies can run and they have a full set of agility equipment. The rest of us dream on. Land isn't cheap and it usually belongs to someone else.   Nevertheless you might be lucky and find a bit that you can use for nothing.   We did that.  We found a scrap of unused overgrown land.  We  made extensive enquiries before we fenced it in and used it.  We checked with the Land Registry to make sure it wasn't registered and we checked with the county council to see if it was common land.  We've used it now for twenty two years.

Our plot isn't very big but it's still useful for training.  Jamie has six jumps, a mini dogwalk, a six pole weave, a tyre and a flexible tunnel.  I can't use all of the equipment at the same time as there wouldn't be enough room but it's still big enough to be useful.  We've even got a small shed on there which you can't see in the photo.

In the next village to ours someone has bought some wasteland from three different companies and turned it into fields for stabling and grazing horses.  I imagine the land was cheap but it must have cost a fortune to clear.   It's always possible that someone near you has a bit of overgrown land that they might be willing to sell.  If they're worried about development or think you're just out to make money discuss whether they would sell the land on condition that you don't develop it.  Another possibility is to agree that if development is allowed in the future you will give a part of the profit to the vendor.  In our village we've done this with the redundant chapel. The village has bought the chapel to use as a village hall but if we sell it we have to give some of the profit to the church.   

Sometimes landowners will split a field and sell it in plots of around 0.2 acres. A search of the internet might prove fruitful in finding something like this near you.  The plots can cost from around £3000 upwards and they're usually sold for investment along with the land owner's dreams of future devlopment and a fortune to be made.  I suspect that if this was true they wouldn't sell the land in the first place. 

I have seen a plot like this for sale on ebay.  In the photo there was a complete set of agility equipment.  The seller had bought the land but had to give up agility.   Needless to say the questions asked of the seller included "Are you selling the equipment?"

So what if you don't have three or four thousand stashed away?  Is there someone who might be willing to rent out a corner of a field or a bit of land that they don't use?   If you don't ask you don't get and you might be lucky.  Beware the person who says "You can use my land or garden for nothing if you clear it." I got caught twice like this.  Once I'd slogged over the clearance bit the owners wanted the land back again.  So much for kindly neighbours.

If you've searched high and low and still can't find anything how big is your back garden?

I've been into a back garden that was completely devoid of anything except grass.  A back garden can really seem quite big once you've chucked out the flowers and the patio and the gardener.

If all else fails and you really haven't got anywhere to train you'll just have to make yourself some portable jumps.  Electric fence posts will do as weave poles and you can take the whole lot to the local park.  It will be fun for you, fun for the dogs and it will entertain the local children.  Good luck.