15th April – Lecture & Group Mentoring Class
Ashorne Village Hall

On Saturday 15 April the AHA held their AGM at Ashorne and, as is traditional, they held an event afterwards. This year the title was “LETS TALK ABOUT AFGHAN HOUNDS”. The audience was limited in number and was sold out very quickly. The first part of the day was expertly led by Roberta Hall (Saxonmill) and no-one could say there was not enough time for lots of discussion. Many thanks go to Roberta for an excellent start to what proved to be an excellent day; a really good experience for Afghan and Non-Afghan folk alike with plenty of lively talk and lots of food for thought. Speaking of food this was followed with the usual very well received Bistro lunch and then we used the rest of the day for a Group Mentoring session designed especially for those working their way through the Judges Education Programme and a few thinking of starting. I was so grateful to the AHA committee for producing a good team of hounds who were very patient as they were examined and assessed by 15 mentees.

I also owe thanks to our team of mentors, Monica Booth-Thomson, Ross Gilbert, Emma James, Richard Thompson and John Bloor who gave their day to this event. It is an exercise which is at the heart of the JEP scheme and gives mentees a chance to look in depth at our breed with their breed mentors and to allow them to gain in confidence as they go forward. It is the chance for our breed to ensure that all those aspiring to judge have been mentored by people experienced in the breed. This was a relaxed and happy day and I thank personally all the committee who did so much to make it happen. Not sure what next year will bring but, for sure, there will be an event after the AGM in 2024 hopefully as pleasant as this one.

Susan Rhodes (BEC)