Handling Aggressively

I meant to post these runs from the last trial but puppy has been keeping me busy. Both these runs are from Sunday. A double Q and both 3rd place.  I am a bit disappointed with my handling in the Jumpers run in the afternoon. See, the story is...  I wanted a double Q. So that meant being careful and conservative and not handling as aggressively as I should  and not executing a strategy that would have set the best line and given my dog the earliest information. I played it safe because I had a QQ on the line.

Summit is long past qualified for AKC Nationals 2011 (if we decide to attend), he will certainly earn a MACH someday but it's not an immediate goal. So really, I didn't *need* the double Q. But I sacrificed my handling in order to ensure a clean Jumpers run to get it.

Hmmm...

Here is the Jumpers run

Notice how much SPACE I give him to land after the #3 jump. I could have tightened that turn up so much more. My FC was placed to give him room and avoid a dropped bar. Look how much time that cost us. Then after the weave poles, I stay with him in the weaves and I am on his right and then execute a RC (in order to stay out of his way). He hesitates at the finish jump (does a quick head check) and then takes the finish jump. I originally had walked the course with the plan of leaving him in the weaves and FCing the next jump in order to be on my dog's left and then run down the line to the finish. On Saturday's Standard run I did leave him in the weaves and FC'd a similar jump and he dropped the bar. So I gave up my original strategy and played it safe and RC'd knowing it did not set the most efficient line.

This is my goal; to handle as aggressively as I do in practice and trust the training. The goal is not the "Q" but to test our skills as a team. A failure of part of that test is simply information to bring back to the training field.