Day 3 is in the books and wow what a weekend. I think this was the first weekend where I really clicked with Deuce. I have no clue what was different or what changed other than as he gets confidence, mine comes back and there are 0 nerves. I wasn't nervous, he wasn't nervous and we both performed like I know we can. Standard was a super fun course I was so close to my first MX leg!!!!! He came wide out of the chute and had a teeter/dog walk discrimination. I wanted him up the dog walk so I wasn't moving much to get him to come in. Well, little did i realize that I was in front of the dog walk entry and he just couldn't get around me (stupid handler). He tried but came off the side very low so not dangerous but scary and stupid of me to even encourage that stupid angle. Anyway, got him back on finished the course lovely with no bars, weave pole entry and NO REACTIVE HANDLING YIPEEEEE!!!!! Jumpers was a little tricky and I knew would be a challenge for us. Straight line of jumps after the weaves straight at the wrong end of the tunnel. Could do a FC after the first jump after the weaves if you could get lateral distance but that just set them up better for the wrong end as you had to push back out to the triple which was the next jump in the line. Could do a RC after the triple by pulling them to you and then turning them on the flat, thus changing their leads. Opted for the RC but didn't have faith. I kept trying to positively visualize him doing this sequence and kept seeing him go in the wrong end of the tunnel. Watched handlers do it all kinds of crazy ways with varying results. Walked to the line with no expectations. Got the weave poles on a turn on the flat and then straight line of jumps, right into the correct end of the tunnel. Holy crap, wasn't expecting to be right, had to handle the rest of the course reactively. Had a recessed 180 in which I should have done a FC on the landing side of the second part but didn't trust and sent him out way wide. DEUCE, HERE, back to the right jump, go tunnel but again flung him way out to the wrong tunnel so another DEUCE, HERE, this tunnel. Got him going again and what did i do, flung him back out and had to hold while he came back. Time was horrible, only got 8 MACH points but my first MXJ leg. It wasn't pretty but it was there. Probably worst run all weekend, figures.
A quick summary of positives and negatives:
Positives: Great weaves (6/8), only missed them in T2B. Great collection except for the JWW run today and one lead out I did after the teeter. No stress at ALL!!!! I was confident, he was confident which equals zero stress. Stella was a doll and only had one screaming fit all weekend. She played with lots of people and lots of dogs and got along great with everyone. I didn't get nervous at all, all weekend which helped.
Negatives: The only thing I can think of was that he was super loopy in the JWW run but that was totally on me. If i don't handle a course correctly, how do I expect him to run it correctly. He can't read the numbers so he has no clue. Bad, bad me!
Next weekend USDAA and FUN!!!!!
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