What a wonderful weekend - well, for me anyway. J took Bados & I for 3 days of lure coursing. I LOVE coursing. Just seeing those white bags fluttering gets me excited. I know that they are just bags, but the chase, planning, & capture are still fun.
J had talked about bringing Mintz, too; but then discovered that it was AKC + ASFA Silken specialty. She has not registered Mintz with AKC. Thank goodness. I think she would have made me stay home to keep Appley company; that would not have been FAIR. Maybe she would have decided to bring us all, but I doubt it. She thinks that's a lot of leashes when Rob is not going to be there to help; and Appley doesn't really course so he would have only been along for the ride.
Before continuing with the tale, I will apologize to my fans. J was lazy and did not video ANYTHING. Loser. What kind of publicist is that? She makes excuses (Rob's absence & few extra Silken owners to hold the camera), but I bet she could have managed something - maybe get someone else to release me or something. Anyway, I apologize to you all because I performed very well.
Friday the course was mostly on the upper field with a short foray down below. I ran most of the way in the prelims which made J very happy, but on the finals I lost it in the sun. I had stopped to stalk & missed it in the grass. I thought they had stopped it trying to draw me from my 'blind', but no. It had gotten past me. How embarrassing.
Bados had a good day friday & won the FCh Stakes. Unfortunately, in the BOB run, Ell's lead got tangled & stuck. Hearing Ella's Mom call out & not having Ella run confused Bados. He turned back, but they didn't stop the lure & Ella got free. That didn't look good. Even though the rest of his run was nice, Ella's was just as good. She won BOB. He should not have let himself get distracted.
On one run Saturday the course was long with big loops in both the upper & lower fields. I lost it for a while again, but this time I found it as it approached the finish and dashed back for a capture. While I was celebrating, though, the lure zoomed off again in reverse! (J shrieked, but I did not get any line burn). That really got my blood racing, & I tore after it. I think it reversed about 1/3 of the course before the operator got it to stop - some sort of malfunction. Perhaps the judges were impressed by that end run, because I got qualifying scores for both runs - well, at least from one judge, and those were high enough to make up for the other judges lower scores!!
Bados ran well on Saturday, but one judge really scored him oddly low on his prelim. One had scored him highest, but that judge scored him last by like 4 points. I have no idea what she saw or didn't see. The course was really long, maybe she thought he was lagging too much at the end. His 2nd run was nice & scored well, but so was his Dad's. Kam won the FCh Stakes. Bados was bummed, but what can you do.
Sunday was a similar course pattern to Saturday but not as long. Knowing the basic pattern, I rocked and easily got both qualifying scores on both runs from both judges even though I did a bit of stalking. More ribbons for me. J thinks I deserved a bigger prize, but she is biased. Yes, I won singles 2 days, but I was the only ASFA single.
Maybe Bados was upset about Saturday, but - whatever - on Sunday he sucked. He took huge short cuts & even tried a 'prediction' at the end of the last run, but he did not do it with my flare. He came in last & deserved it. J was bummed; she wanted a chair (the BOB & high point prizes).
I am sad to hear this is the last Thanksgiving event there. We always have fun at Hollister. The weather was beautiful & warm; the grass was soft; and the field is huge. Our friends Ella, Cayman, Kamiah, and Garis were there. It was a good weekend - at least for me. I just wish Appley or another single had been around to get my wins against competition.
No comments:
Post a Comment