Fun is Good!

This past weekend, Jefferson and I traveled to Columbia, SC for the AKC trial at the horse center.  Being the first day of my spring break, I was both excited and relaxed for our runs.    I had entered us in all four events:  Standard, Jumpers with Weaves, FAST and Time to Beat.  A few major revelations that came to me while I was running Jefferson.  First off, we had a great run in Standard – even though we didn’t “Q.”  He was fast, focused and having a blast while he was running.  Really, our only missteps were those darn weave poles; albeit, we seem to mess up six weaves more than the twelve in USDAA!  But, I tried to re-start him twice and failed to give him a clear set-up for an entry so he did not get them.  It was my fault but rather than shut down, we kept going and finished off beautifully.  I was very proud of myself for front crossing him after the teeter.  While I walked the course without a front cross, I spoke with an agility newbie at her first trial about the best strategy to handle the course.  I told her that the front cross was best after the teeter but I would not do it because I was “afraid” that Jefferson would not “get it.”  What exactly was I “afraid” of?  Not “Q’ing”?  Looking stupid?  Falling face-down in the dirt?  It was then that I decided to handle the course in the best way and face my “fear” head on, even if it included the dreaded front cross at the teeter.  Well, guess what…nothing catastrophic happened.  In fact, we looked good! 

Jumpers with weaves was next and I seem to have some mental block for running JWW or any kind of strictly jumping course.  Ugh.  I (or we) enjoy the challenge of the contacts in Standard.  I was worried, rightfully so, about our running start – jump to weaves.  We had trouble getting those weaves.  I tried to restart him a few times without much success so I chose to continue on the course.  We did have a good pinwheel before J-Dawg darted off from the last few jumps.  Oh, well…he was running fast and having a good time.  More importantly, not shutting down despite our mistakes.  Yay!

Next, we ran Open FAST.  I really enjoy the gambler style courses like this because the handler gets to make up his or her own course in order to collect points.  In this case, we needed 55 points.  So, I made a flowing route on the right side of the course knowing how much Jefferson likes to run fast.  I was not even worried about us getting the joker – only a jump and tunnel taken either direction so it was pretty easy for our team.  I sat him down for our running start when I headed to the right and he headed to the left of the field.  Oh, crap!  I did not even pay attention to the points of the obstacles on that side except for the weave poles being 9 points.  So, I ran after him and had no choice but to modify my plan.  Got him through the weaves (12 of them) but he did pop out.  Next, I tried to re-direct him to the 10 point obstacle – tunnel and jump combo.  I knew that we had little time left for the joker so I better get him back over to the opposite side of the field!  The A-frame looked good so I got him on there and sent him to the joker.   He had a beautiful joker but the buzzer went off in the middle of the first obstacle so we didn’t get those points, the tunnel and jump points, or the 20 points for getting the joker.  But, a bigger victory was had by our team – I got him back on track in the middle of a run and got him to complete the obstacles that I chose.  Yay!  This was our nemesis at our last trial so I was thrilled that we finished strong!   Maybe Jefferson is learning to forgive me for my mess-ups!

Lastly, we were in Time to Beat.  In retrospect, this was probably the biggest eye-opening event of the day and it occurred to me during the walk-through.  In this event, there are Novice and Excellent handlers alike competing and running the course trying to earn the fast time, a.k.a. Time to Beat.   At first I was intimidated by the competition - national team competitors such as Dudley Fontaine – were out there with little ole me (Novice handler with a little over a year trial experience) walking this course!   But, as each of us walked the course, the agility handling stars were walking the course pretty much the same as me.   More importantly, I noticed their demeanor was calm, relaxed and centered.  They were even joking among themselves and talking about other topics rather than the course at hand.  It was at that moment that I realized how important being calm and relaxed is in being a successful handler.  They had a quiet confidence that almost made me want to run the course for them!  Rather than being worried about my run, I was actually the most relaxed when running Time to Beat.  The hardest part for us was the start – with a running start for jumps 1 and 2 – it was quite difficult for our Novice Team.  We were very successful on the opening line but did not complete the weaves.  I went on and then made-up my own course to complete.  J-Dawg did not know any different.  But, I feel like I learned my biggest lesson from this run. 

Have fun.  Face your fear.  Enjoy your dog.

"People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing."

-Dale Carnegie