The Weekend Report - A Table for the 4th Time in a Row!

Yesterday was another fun day of agility. This trial was an outdoor trial held at a farm over on Eastern Shore, Maryland. I was worried the place would be a muddy mess after the passing of Hurricane Sandy, but it was really quite dry. The forecast was for a chilly, but sunny day. Well, the weatherman was right about the chilly, but there was very little sun. It came out for the last run of the day.

The first run was Standard. It was a tight course (the judge runs Corgis!) but not too difficult. It was Aframe to the Table, which seems to be working for Jimmy recently. I front-crossed in between and he hopped right on! Good boy! We ran the rest cleanly and it was a Q! We weren't quite fast enough to place in the ribbons, coming in 5th.

Next, Jumpers. Again, not too tough. A big circle that eventually led to a triple in a corner. Unfortunately Jimmy took this jump out, knocking the top bar. Being an outdoor trial, the ground is not level everywhere, and this jump caused the dogs to jump slightly uphill. It was just enough that a lot of dogs didn't get over cleanly. There was lots of grumbling :-) This was our only mistake but as such no Q and no Double-Q for the day. While I was a bit disappointed, I was stilled thrilled at getting the table yet again in my first run. Success on the table is much more important in the long run!

This trial offered the optional course called Time to Beat (T2B). It was a nice flowing course (as they should be, but some judges seem to forget that) and Jimmy cruised around cleanly and quickly. Now with T2B only the fastest dog get a placement ribbon, and our butt was kicked by a very speedy King Charles Cavalier. Jimmy was the next speediest so he did get 9 points toward his title and of course another leg.

I forgot my video camera so I am afraid there's no agility clips to share. This trial was about an hour and a half ride from home. To get there, I needed to cross the huge Chesapeake Bay Bridge . Well, as it usually is with agility trials, you are driving at the crack of dawn in order to arrive in plenty of time to settle in. Fortunately the clocks going back an hour eased the pain of getting up so early.  I got to the bridge just as the sun was beginning to color the sky. I didn't catch quite the picture I wanted but it gives a hint of how pretty it was to cross the bridge so early. Another reward for arising early!

And at mid-span, I liked the abstract quality of the support structure.....

I've got more pictures from the farm, but I will save them for later. I've got to conserve my blog fodder, don't cha know :-)


Tracking Jimmy's MACH progress:
Excellent B JWW legs: 24  Now he's working on his MXJ3!
Excellent B STD legs: 11 We earned our MX and are working on MX2 now.
Double Q's: 8 (out of 20 double-Q's needed for a MACH.... 40 Percent!)
MACH Points: 520 (out of 750 speed points needed for a MACH...... 69 Percent!)

Time 2 Beat legs: 5 (out of 15 needed for his T2B) 41 points (out of 100 needed)