PAC trial (Ridgefield March 17-19)
Our first foray into Preferred this past weekend in Ridgefield! It was not a glorious start. The weather was cold, even windy, and RAIN with much mud everywhere.
Friday opened with Standard Premiere and it was a mess. We have a turning problem that I thought was clear but apparently not - we got a backjump that ended our hopes. Then I caused an off course with a sloppy pushback and we ended with the wrong tunnel entry and a crazy wide turn with a tight one indicated. Hmmmmmm. Standard run was my fault again: I got too cautious and verbally pulled him off the A-frame halfway up.
Jumpers was interesting, Lisa and I mapped out on paper how we'd run it and NO ONE ran it that way, ZERO. We were perplexed but I figured it's one of those things that once you walk the course it's obvious why that wouldn't work... but when I walked it I was still perplexed. I honestly would have played it safe and changed my plan if I had a QQ on the line, but since I didn't... Ha! Pretty run and our only Q for the day! I almost went home after looking at the premiere JWW course though - and turned out I was right. Too much shit going on. Failed to connect at 4, released too soon at 7.
Saturday is a new day, right? Except maybe not so much. Prem Std was a wash. Std was great until I forgot my plan at the end and drew a line straight into the wrong end of the tunnel. All me. Dumb tiny thing in JWW too: I stepped on his line and inadvertently caused a wobble where I needed a straight line and the wobble finally broke. Me again! We finally got our shit together and ran a pretty Prem JWW course.
Sunday had no premiere runs. We finally were able to put together a QQ day though Std still felt a bit wonky to me. We'll get there, I think my confidence just broke a little. I knew there would be crappy weekends in the mix, but it sucks to get them straight out of the box.
All in all not a total wash though. I just put together my points and we're about 15% of the way qualified for Nationals based on this trial alone. That's not too bad! I had planned not to trial until June though... but I'm thinking adding an Auburn trial next month is a good idea. Although I wasn't keen on doing any travelling, I can stay with my folks for that one, this will minimize the time off of trialing (which is probably a factor) and people up north don't know me as well so maybe I can get over the fact that people are watching/judging our runs.
Still jumping 20 inches!
So grateful for Lisa coming Friday even though she was needed in Longview right as our runs finished. Her support was so helpful on a crazy day where conflicting information regarding Tashi's health was a major distraction for me. We also picked up a playpen for New Dog someday. And especially to all the folks I pawned off my camera to throughout the weekend who so kindly took video for us! I can't believe I remembered to bring my MACH bar to the trial AND remembered to take it back at the end of the day. This show definitely could have been a lot worse. :)
Friday opened with Standard Premiere and it was a mess. We have a turning problem that I thought was clear but apparently not - we got a backjump that ended our hopes. Then I caused an off course with a sloppy pushback and we ended with the wrong tunnel entry and a crazy wide turn with a tight one indicated. Hmmmmmm. Standard run was my fault again: I got too cautious and verbally pulled him off the A-frame halfway up.
Jumpers was interesting, Lisa and I mapped out on paper how we'd run it and NO ONE ran it that way, ZERO. We were perplexed but I figured it's one of those things that once you walk the course it's obvious why that wouldn't work... but when I walked it I was still perplexed. I honestly would have played it safe and changed my plan if I had a QQ on the line, but since I didn't... Ha! Pretty run and our only Q for the day! I almost went home after looking at the premiere JWW course though - and turned out I was right. Too much shit going on. Failed to connect at 4, released too soon at 7.
Saturday is a new day, right? Except maybe not so much. Prem Std was a wash. Std was great until I forgot my plan at the end and drew a line straight into the wrong end of the tunnel. All me. Dumb tiny thing in JWW too: I stepped on his line and inadvertently caused a wobble where I needed a straight line and the wobble finally broke. Me again! We finally got our shit together and ran a pretty Prem JWW course.
Sunday had no premiere runs. We finally were able to put together a QQ day though Std still felt a bit wonky to me. We'll get there, I think my confidence just broke a little. I knew there would be crappy weekends in the mix, but it sucks to get them straight out of the box.
Click to viewAll in all not a total wash though. I just put together my points and we're about 15% of the way qualified for Nationals based on this trial alone. That's not too bad! I had planned not to trial until June though... but I'm thinking adding an Auburn trial next month is a good idea. Although I wasn't keen on doing any travelling, I can stay with my folks for that one, this will minimize the time off of trialing (which is probably a factor) and people up north don't know me as well so maybe I can get over the fact that people are watching/judging our runs.
Still jumping 20 inches!
So grateful for Lisa coming Friday even though she was needed in Longview right as our runs finished. Her support was so helpful on a crazy day where conflicting information regarding Tashi's health was a major distraction for me. We also picked up a playpen for New Dog someday. And especially to all the folks I pawned off my camera to throughout the weekend who so kindly took video for us! I can't believe I remembered to bring my MACH bar to the trial AND remembered to take it back at the end of the day. This show definitely could have been a lot worse. :)