Dream Fields trial

It was cool in the morning but warmed up to a sunny 11 degrees which qualifies as hot in Walter's books. Despite the cool morning, he wasn't as peppy as he usually is in cool weather and was definitely low energy by his last run. I'll limit next season's non-winter trials to four runs max. Probably doesn't help his energy level that we have a rousing session of fetch and tug after every run, but that's the best part so won't give that up of course.

Gamblers: Opening went as planned. Did the teeter mini once but went with him the second time since he was so hesitant the first time. Lucked out with perfect timing arriving at the main gamble - that was fun! As far as Masters gambles go, the main gamble was pretty darn easy, unless you have a fast and/or tunnel loving dog, so Walter did well and got a Q.

Snooker: Walter ran well. It was a nice unSnookery Snooker, so it was fun. Walter didn't slow down / demotivate in all those tunnels as much as I thought he might. Q despite the botched weaves at the end.

Gamblers and Snooker:


Jumpers: The first half felt good though slower than Lucy's run, but the second half turned quite slow. I had walked the last line of the course with a rear cross having never thought to use a front cross, but when I saw someone else use the front with great success I thought I'd give it a try. Weird wavey arm after that but Walter was very forgiving and knew what I meant. Q.

Jumpers:


Steeplechase: Walter was slowing down, but fortunately the course had two frames intead of two weaves. But it was a tough-for-us soft side entry so he got the wrong entry. Even on the restarts from a straight approach it took several times before he'd enter at the first pole. On the bright side, he didn't pop once he got the entry. 20 seconds over time, definitely no Q!

Team: I probably would have scratched this run if it weren't Team because Walter's energy level had definitely waned, but we had a go. He easily let me lead way out -- a sure sign that he's tired! Weave issues: twice he entered correctly but immediately popped, then finally he skipped a pole AND popped at the end so we ended up incomplete. Then I sent him over a wrong jump; I think he quite enjoyed our partner's 6" jump height. Heh. On the bright side, he did a great 2o2o on the dogwalk. Our partner is having a-frame issues so they incurred some faults as well.

Only one more trial for Walter this year, which will be his last time over 22" jumps. As of January he'll be a 16" vet. Woo hoo!