Barn Hunt Association Games: Hurdles & Team
Zuko, a Border Collie/Rat Terrier mix owned by Kathy Nieves, 2021 BHA 1st Place & Rat Grand National Champion, and 2nd Place in Versatility, an award combining performance in the Grand National event and Games competition.
Barn Hunt Association (BHA) trials include regular classes with increasing levels of difficulty from Instinct to Master. As the sport has grown, additional classes such as Crazy 8s and Line Drive were developed to expand opportunities to trial.
And beyond that, BHA created special games—Hurdles and Team—that are offered only at Regional and National events.
If competing at a BHA Regional or Nationals is on your radar, now is a great time to learn more about these exciting challenges.
Hurdles
In Hurdles, the dog must jump over a series of five 4”-tall hurdles made of PVC pipe or another safe material to reach 3 tubes openly secured on the ground in front of a straw bale “stop.” Two tubes will have litter and one will have a live rat. All tubes will have litter visible in the front grate and be covered loosely with straw. The racing lane will be a completely fenced area that is 4 feet high by 4 feet wide by 80 feet long.
Click here to view a hurdles run.
Team
In Team, two dogs hunt for six rats hidden on a 32’ x 32’ course, with no Distance Challenges. There are four litter tubes in addition to the six rat tubes. Team pairs are chosen by the owners/handlers; no forced pairings are allowed in Team. Dogs making up teams must be able to hunt together.
Click here to watch the 1st Place Team from the 2025 Northeast Regional.
If these games sound like fun, ask your barn hunt coach how you can start practicing them . . . and may the rats be ever in your favor!
