One Down, Four to Go

We ended on a high note at this week's trial, getting a Masters Snooker Q. Now we need one more Q for Beckett's Master Snooker title and only four more Q's for his Agility Trial Champion title.

Those four Q's may take a while as three are Gamblers and again this weekend Beckett wouldn't go out from the line to do the Gamble. Both main gambles this weekend were five obstacles of just jumps and tunnels, one with a flip away to a tunnel and a send to a jump and the other with two sends to a tunnel. We have our work cut out for us as I try to train get-outs, flips and sends.

Our first run was a Masters Standard. A friend was kind enough to video. I thought we had this one until the whirling dervish showed up.  I thought perhaps I had flung my arm up way too high but you'll see in the video that my arm stayed pretty low and was quite steady.

Beckett - Masters Standard

The second Masters Standard had a pretty similar layout but you started on the other side doing the two jumps and the tire going into the tunnel. In this Standard, Beckett decided to go under the dog walk instead of doing the tunnel. Don't know was in his mind there.

We also ran two Gambles, our openings were nice. We got 34 points in one and 37 points in the other so we had enough to Q if Beckett would only get-out to do those main gambles.

Next up was the team event, Beckett ran the white course. I sat him in front of the chute and led out on the right side in order to block the tunnel and push him a little to the dog walk if need be. Well he came around the chute, a Starter mistake that he hasn't done in ages.  We get to obstacle 5 without other incident but at obstacle 5, I tried to support him to get him around the the back of obstacle six and I was going to front cross on the landing side of six. Well, he back jumped 5, then once I got him over six and was telling him to tunnel, he took off and did obstacle 5 again.  

I was very discouraged at the end of this run. We didn't get any Q's at the last trial but he was running well; at this trial he seemed to be all over the map and I knew it wasn't all my handling. My team mate told me to put it behind me and that the next run was a clean slate. 

Next up was Snooker. I took some advice from another friend and simplified my course somewhat. I usually do four reds with Beckett but she told me to just do the three and I would have enough points as soon as I finished obstacle 6.  

So we did the red (they are the jumps marked as one) near the timekeeper's box, followed by obstacle 7, the other red on the start finish line, then the dog walk, then it was the red at the other end of the dog walk, followed by tunnel 4 and then the close.  I did a front cross to get him in both tunnel 2 and 4 of the close but a blind cross at the other tunnel mouth. Wish I had video of our run but as it was the last run of the day there weren't that many people still around and most were also starting to pack up. Any way we finished the run in 50.16 seconds and with 47 points; you need 40 for a Q. The run was good enough for third place.

So if we were only going to get one Q, it was a good one to get. I sure hope things dry out soon so we can practice our gamble work in the backyard. And I can get to teaching Keltic how to teeter and weave.