Saturday Results

SUMMARY: Not the way I had expected the day to go, exactly--

Boost started the weekend by earning that 3rd elusive Masters Standard Q! It wasn't the most beautiful run in the world, and we HAVE to fix that thing where she lifts her elbows off the table, but it wasn't particularly ugly, either, felt pretty nice, and made me very happy. Woo! Seemed like the weekend would be great!

However.

All the rest of Boost's runs--Gamblers, Steeplechase, Pairs, and Jumpers--were cacophonies of runouts, refusals, bars knocked, leaving contacts early and turning back to me, and even a bonus pop-out-of-the-weaves for good measure. A mess altogether.

Tika seemed quite happy to be out doing agility again, after our 5-weekend break, so she ran fast and pretty smoothly. Except.

Standard: Knocked a bar. Steeplechase: Popped the Aframe. Jumpers: Knocked a bar. Pairs: Knocked a bar AND popped the Aframe. Gamblers: In the opening, knocked a bar and popped the dogwalk, so a fairly low opening points of 40 instead of a nearing-top-range opening of 46 points. And then she took just a step! Just one! past the tunnel opening in the gamble, negating it, although she then completed the rest of the hard part with complete perfection.

So Tika, whom I can count on to get about 50% Qs at USDAA trials, got zilch, nada, zip, zero, none.

Still, she runs so nicely, and when she's so fast and excited, I do love running her.

But Boost's herky jerky not-doing-obstacles and nearly tripping me trying to get around her and such are NOT fun. She's not moving around the course fast because she's not moving around the course; I'm herky jerky to make up for what she's doing; it just feels ugly and stumpy and uncoordinated. It is not fun. I even picked what I thought was a pretty smooth gambler's course and she knocked the first 3 bars and ran past a couple of tunnel entrances and like that. Not smooth. Not fun.

So.

Hope tomorrow's a little better in the Q department.