Feb
20
Louisiana is good to me…
Had a great time (and a great agility weekend), in New Iberia. I enjoyed visiting with my Baton Rouge peeps and seeing some competitors that I never see anymore since moving to Texas. I really enjoy this particular show–one judge, alternating rings, big field next to the arena, able to crate out of your car under cover. Love it. Wish they’d hold more shows like they used to, but it’s a small club and a lot of work.
My girls did great. Trip went 3/4, with a Double Q and another beautiful standard run, getting 2 1sts and a 2nd. She had two gorgeous dogwalks, and ran pretty well. Not to be outdone, Ticket went 4/4, getting her NA and NAJ titles. I knew it was theoretically possible she could get the titles this weekend, and she’s certainly capable of running novice courses, but I was also pretty sure SOMETHING would happen. She’s so green, it’s inevitable. And some things did happen, but just nothing that NQd her.
Her JWW runs were lovely. Both runs, she drove ahead of me much better then I expected (which was not much). Kept all her bars up. She didn’t much care for the pinwheel at the end of a course where I stood in the middle and called her around–not sure I’ve done much of that, I’m usually moving. Something to work on. 🙂
In Saturday Standard, I way overhandled the dogwalk. I was standing RIGHT next to it (which I never do), I didn’t really RUN it (which I always do), and she stopped way up on the ramp. I had to really work it to make her do her 2o2o, and she wasn’t having any of it. Sunday, her dogwalk was great. it came in flow, I ran, she stopped. Perfect.
She would not lie down on the table either day. Saturday she was very distracted, looking around, and gave me a kiss. Sunday I didn’t really try. BIG thing to work on for USDAA–I don’t train the table much since I don’t have one, and I want an automatic down, which we obviously don’t have.
Her running aframes were great. I was busy watching her aframe contact on Saturday, and when I looked up. plowed into the wing of a jump after she had cleared it. Caused a refusal at the finish, a little scraped up for me, but a Q. I’ll take it. I need to know when to watch her and when to run–took my eye off her on Sunday and she came around a jump and took a wrong course. It messed up her line for the teeter too, but she got on it and kept going like a good girl.
All in all, I’m very happy and proud. I’ll definitely have to do more “handling” in Open, but I’m happy to be done with 6 weave poles and huge spacing. 🙂
Here’s Ticket’s Runs:
And Trip’s:
