This wasnt taken at the UKI nationals but I liked it and didnt have any good pictures to post. I took it this weekend in Ga at a seminar I went to.
Anyway, went to the UKI nationals that was being held in Perry, Ga. The weather was great. It was sunny and warm most of the time. It was chilly in the morning on Saturday but then warmed up. But Thursday and Friday, when we had to also use the outdoor rings, it was nice and warm. Unlike last year, when we froze our butts off!! So much nicer!!
We started Thursday morning. We were divided into 5 groups and there were 4 rings. We walked all 4 course first thing in the morning and then spent the rest of the day running courses. The idea was that which ever group wasnt in a ring, since there were 4 rings and 5 groups, the group that wasnt running , would work the rings. Yea, a great idea as long as the group will work. It didnt work out that way. What is wrong with people?? There were times when I ran both my dogs and then put them up and went and helped in the ring, still during my groups ring rotation. Why, because people wouldn't step up and the rings needed help. I know other people did this too. I was helping in a ring and after this lady ran her dog, her friend ask her if she would mind coming back and helping in the ring. She came back .
So we ran Power and Speed first. I used this for training in the ring time. Java broke her stay and I was able to put her back. She flew off the teeter and I was able to fix that too. Miley had a very nice run going, but she has trouble getting to back sides sometimes. But still a nice run. I thought using this first run as training, for Java, would help us. No, she broke her stay all weekend. It was really bad. I probably should have started pulling her from the ring when this happened. Im going to have to fix this. It caused us to go off course multiple times. If she had just stayed, we would have had a chance.
Next up was Last chance Master Heat.
Next was National Championship Rd1 jumping.
I really thought we could get through this.
Last for Thurday was Snooker. You needed 25 points to advance to the finals. So I had my plan and figured we needed to get at least to #5 in the close.
Again, she was jumping everything with extension. I kept having to call her back. At #5 she back jumped and we heard the whistle. Ugh!!
Well that was disappointing. But then that night the posted the results and we had 25 points. I forgot about the red jumps being 1 point. So we had enough points to make it in. We were in last place but thats ok. LOL
The next day was a long day. We walked the four courses again in the morning. Then started running.
Last chance Master heat jumping.
We almost made it through. We got to #18 and I thought I had her to the back side. Her nose was to the backside and all of a sudden, she twisted her neck and took the front side. I dont even know how she did it. LOl I was so disappointed.
Next up was a really tough course. Biathlon jumping. I worked this course too. Lots of E's.
Next was SpeedStakes. This was a hard course for me to remember.
Yea, we got to go to the finals!!! And this time we werent in last place. We were 11th.
For some reason, I was really nervous. I think its because everyone is watching and they have the course in one big ring.
We made it through without Eing. I know it was a pretty straight forward course but people did make mistakes. I was most worried that I would push Java off # 8, and pull her off #15. Multiple dogs missed 15. We did pretty good but I didnt give her any turning cues coming out of the # 7 tunnel. She saw all my forward motion when going into the tunnel and she continued that when she came out. So then I had to call her back and she was wide again after taking # 8. Time goes so slow when you are fixing something like that. I just kept hearing the seconds tic away. I tried really hard to make sure all the rest of the turns were as tight as they could be The rest was beautiful. We ended up being 7th. I cant saw I wasnt disappointed. If I had just let her know the turn was coming out of the tunnel, we might have placed. She was fast enough. The best part was hearing people cheer for you as you came down the last line. So exciting!!.
I have no idea what I ran on Saturday. I do know we ran in the finals for the games, Gamblers. It was again in a big ring. We were in last place, so I didnt think we had much chance here.
So after my run, when I went back into the stands to watch, thats when I saw what was happening with the tunnel. The tunnel was really long. It was staked down with these tunnel wraps. But they couldnt seem to get tight enough. Dogs that were really driving, the tunnel would accordion, under the dogs feet. So then the dog didnt come out when expected. After the dog would leave the run, a ring crew would go out and spread the tunnel back out again. It was crazy. I know the person next to me saw this happening too. Not sure if anyone else saw this. I was hoping it would show up on video, but I cant really see it. But I know it happened.
Still if was fun to run.
Sunday they let everyone run the challenger round, to try to get into the finals. (If you were already in). Again, she broke her startline, and it was a mess for a little while. Then we got it back together. LOL
Miley had a tough time. She was stressing. On Friday, by the end of the day, she was just stress running around the ring. So I pulled her. I dont think she ran much after that.
