THE BIG DAY - part 1

DAY 55 (Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009): THIS IS THE BIG DAY!

This first photo is of the Speed exercise. The dog must keep up with a galloping horse. Obviously, even at AGE TEN, Crosby has no problem with speed!

We got up early to be at the barn by 7:30 AM. Vet checks were to start then, with my team start time at 9:20. We didn’t get vetted in until about 8:45. Crosby’s resting temperature was 99, which is great. There was really no place to ride and warm Crosby up before our judging, so I was just hoping the training would hold!

We started toward the judging area at 9:20. Crosby was full of it! Unlike yesterday, when he was glued to the horse, today he was all over the place with excitement! I don’t know if it was all the other dogs, or all the people, or what, but Crosby acted like a kid in the candy shop! Racing from smell to smell, nearly bouncing off of the trees! We had about ¼ mile of trail between the barn and meeting the judge, and although Crosby was responding to my commands, he just could barely contain himself!

When we got to the judging area, another team and escort rider were circling the “waiting” area, so we had nowhere to go. I put Crosby in a sit-stay to wait for the judge. This worked well, but I was afraid I was “wasting” his one good response! When the judge came, we did the recall first. I needn’t have worried that Crosby wouldn’t leave for the recall – on this day he took off as soon as I released him! The judge gave us the “Call your dog” order before he got very far, and Crosby came smartly back to hock! Whew!

The next exercise was the Hock for 200 yards. Crosby was so excited, he just couldn’t stay back. He hocked beautifully, but he was at the horse’s shoulder or ahead the whole time. With praise and verbal corrections, he didn’t forge too much. It was a good performance, but I knew we would lose points for forging. He was just so excited!

Then we did a U-turn for the distraction exercise. The distraction dog was an Irish Wolfhound (I think) walking beside a hiker. Crosby looked like he was going to drift behind the horse and change sides, perhaps to get a better look at the Wolfhound, but a little growl from me and he stayed in his designated spot. Excellent distraction exercise!

The stay was next. Crosby sat smartly on command, and stayed quietly (no whining!) and alert for the entire 1 minute. I did not chance moving the horse away, because Molly (horse) had not been that responsive to my leg cues. So I took the chance that Molly might move (distracting the dog), and let her stand as we were, crossing my fingers the whole time! Molly stood stock-still, and our stay exercise was picture perfect!

We then turned back for the speed. Molly did not have a “slow” button, so I feared there was a chance we would leave Crosby in the dust. Not a chance! Both Molly and Crosby took off like a shot out of a cannon. Crosby kept up so well, I was able to put Molly into a real gallop. Wind in your hair sort of thing. We came up over the rise at full speed, Crosby keeping up like a racehorse himself. Boy, that was fun!

We had qualified! Then it was off to the trails for 12 more miles of fun.