Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Trial Update: Stout Qualified!!!

 
 
Yes, Stout qualified!!
 
I made a slight tactical error and entered him in Novice JWW. At a one ring trial. That runs Excellent JWW, then Excellent Standard, Open Standard, Novice Standard, then Open JWW, and finally, freaking Novice JWW. What was I thinking??
 
We walked the course at 7:00pm. Porter had finished running at about 4. We could have been gone & done eating, with bellies full of beer...
 
I offered not to run him. Jodi (my ride) offered to call me a cab  :)  But in the end, my die-hard friends stayed (or came back) to watch the enigma that we call Stout.
 
There was a bet on the table. If he ran off after 2 jumps & we didn't finish the course, then I owed them all beers. Thankfully the little guy pulled one out for me!

 

 
It wasn't exactly pretty, though that ending was kind of nice...
 
He broke his first start line stay. He visited almost everyone in the ring. He ran around one jump. He missed his weaves the first time. But I was still thrilled!
 
When he visited, he didn't stay long. He only ran around the jump because I did a rear cross... I hadn't worked on his weaves as much lately...
 
So things I learned from this one run:
  • I already know that rear crosses aren't a good choice for him yet. Every time I've done one, he's reacted the exact same way. It's like I'm swinging him out into the wild, he's free to choose to do whatever he wants  :)  He's not experienced enough to look for the next obstacle when I do it...
  • When I ran & stayed ahead of him, he was happy to chase me. And he was fast! And he looked for the jumps to take.
  • In order to do that, I have to quit babysitting him. I have to give him a little trust. If I hadn't worried about where he was in the beginning & micro-managing him, I could have done a blind cross & eliminated the need for the rear cross.
 
So we will be incorporating these things this coming weekend at our next trial. I may need a gentle reminder...
 
Such a good Stouter-pup, I could just eat him up!  :)

10 comments:

  1. That was AWESOME! Only a couple drive by Hi's! Jumps well!

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  2. Hey, are you wearing yellow gloves?

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    1. Ha! No :) It was so cold in there that I had to buy that long sleeve tie-dye shirt. The cuffs were yellow, and I had to keep my hands inside to keep them warm :)

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  3. His social disease is getting better -- just the sniffles this run. That baby boy can really jump! Good job.

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  4. Yay, Stout! Congratulations! By the way, you look great.

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    1. Aww, thank you! 55 pounds lost :) I can almost keep up with him now!

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  5. A blue ribbon is a pretty good reward for a long day! Congrats!

    Stout looks so light on his feet!

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    1. He jumped from a flat-footed stand to the top of the picnic table the other day... Very light on his feet! :)

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  6. I'll gladly give you a gentle reminder. ;-) Sorry I missed the trial, but glad I didn't miss out on free beer!

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  7. That's great!!! So glad he's adjusting well and that you're getting some teamwork! I avoid rear crosses with Vito at all cost too. He can do them but he slows down dramatically as he just prefers chasing me.

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