Bars!!!

So after having such a great weekend in USDAA, we were back to dropping bars again this past weekend. Three days of AKC and one Q out of six runs. Four NQs because of bars and one refusal (I slipped in the loose dirt and almost fell and pushed Summit off his wp entry). We won Standard on Friday and would have won again on Sunday but for one bar.

Very frustrating but we'll continue to train and condition and practice jump grids and work on my handling and timing and and and .....

.... continue to be one bar short of the QQ's we need for Nationals.

Summit jumps very flat at 20". His jumping is much rounder at 22". Could this be the cause of the bars in AKC? On the other hand, he has had two months off for rehab and perhaps he is not in top condition yet? Does he respect the bars at 22" more than 20"?

I posted on the APHS Forum about considering moving him up to 24" because of his dropping bars at 20". The suggestion was that it was the obstacle spacing in AKC vs. USDAA that was more than likely the cause. So I've incorporated some variance in spacing between jumps in our training. I have also started training him at 24" (nothing new, I used to jump him that height last year in training). I think training at a higher jump height will make him think about jumping (using his rear) as welll as improve his conditioning. He looks really good at 24" and I can tell he is really making the effort to jump rather than just pulling himself over the bars.

Today he had his chiropractic appointment and he was in great shape. Only needing a minor adjustment.

Meanwhile....
Soleil is beginning DJS at 16". She is not totally confident at 16" yet so we are still at the offering stage. She also started 2x2's class. It is great to have her in a class again. We worked on sit stays inbetween our turn on the poles. She continues to challenge me with her lack of food drive. She is bored now with the bison lung so off to find something new and better.

This weekend at the trial I had her measured by two VMO's (non official measurement). She measured OVER 14"! She may drop down some when her shoulders lay back but it may not be enough to get her under 14". Luckily she is athletic and has some long legs that will make jumping 16" very doable.

I ran Crook (her half brother) in Jumpers on Sunday. We had a bar but he was only one second slower than the winning 20" time. Don did video us and I will post the video of Crook and I as soon as I get it.

Friday Jumpers with weaves - nice run but two bars. Ok so the story about the long start is 1. Summit does not like to face away from the course. He thinks I am placing him in the wrong direction. 2. the jump steward couldn't figure out how to replace the bars on the triple so there was this long delay while waiting for the triple to be reset and argue with my dog about which direction he needed to face.


Friday Standard - 1st place
The judges table count was really fast and I ran out of time to get into position. I should have not released him until I was ready. We had a wide turn to the weaves.