I’m so proud of how all my girls did at Nationals!!! We had a great time, and it was definitely a success. Trip didn’t make the Finals, but she ran her heart out. Unfortunately, she picked that weekend for her dogwalk to go to crap. She didn’t hit a DW contact all weekend. If she had hit the one in Round 1, she’d have been in the Finals. Sigh. I am super proud of how we rallied back in Rounds 2 and 3 to run clean, and 9th or 10th place, and were fast enough to make the Challengers Round. And she ran clean with me pushing! There were many positives to take away–she was turning great, no bars, and her teeter was fantastic. She had a great run in ISC JWW on a very tricky course, so hopefully that will carry over to World Team Tryouts.
Lyly had a great first Nationals. She struggled with her teeter contact, but she kept EVERY bar up. I’m super proud of that. She ran great in ISC JWW (5th place), and had a SMOKING JWW run in Round 2. I committed to running the course differently then most, and it worked perfectly–she couldn’t have done better. Unfortunately, she has to run against a bunch of BCs, so there’s NO room for error.
Mardi ran better then she has in months. She weaved well, and she had a great time. Her jumping showed me that her front is still bothering her, but I think it’s better. I was happy with this for her last Nationals–it was better then I could have hoped for. I’ll be holding her out of competition for awhile now, just to give her a break. Not sure when she’ll be back in action–we’ll have to see.
I did learn at Nationals that Trip is still not as in shape as I’d like. She’s better, but still not where she was. So, I’m committing to really improving her fitness before Tryouts. I think it will help her ground speed, where she seems a half step slow.
Here are some of Lyly and Mardi’s runs–I will get Trip’s on Youtube soon…
Well, 3 days until we leave for AKC Nationals! Trip and I are running really well, and I believe we’re as ready as we can be. She’s so honest, and she seems to be reading my mind. We had a good tuneup doing USDAA this weekend. She got her Masters Pairs, Jumpers, and Snooker titles, as well as a standard leg. All she needs for her ADCH is a standard leg, a DAM team, and two Grand Prix. I have a feeling it will be Grand Prix that comes last–we seem to be cursed. 🙂
We had some excellent teeter practice this weekend–I did it every chance I got. She self released a couple of times, but luckily both were in Gamblers and I was able to correct it. Her last two she held them solid until released as I ran past. She did a great job reading my leadouts and collecting for turns at the beginning of courses. A year ago, she’d be blasting past me at the start because she was ready to GO. Her jumping was great, and she had a lot more power then at our last USDAA trial a month ago–definitely in better condition now.
So, I’ll be heading up to Tulsa early Thursday morning. Fingers crossed for a great weekend! 🙂
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