NCA wk 4 - combined

class last night was nerve-wracking and fun...

Twice during each series we combine the advanced and novice classes and run a full course as if we were at a show. we did the F.A.S.T. class and had a chance to run it twice.

That stands for Fifteen And Send To. The object is to accumulate points within a set time frame, 32 seconds for the 20 inchers. There are 15 obstacles of varying values and a 'send to' combination. The 'send to' is a distance challenge. For novice this means a line on the ground 5' away from 2 - 3 obstacles that I have to, literally, send her through from that set distance. There are 6 bar jumps (1 pt each) that can be taken up to a value of 6 points and 9 other obstacles (2-10 pts) can only be completed 1x for points. Weaves are mandatory - 6 for novice.

The first time thru I tried to do too many obstacles, and ran into a few glitches - so ran over time...
We ran the bonus first. That was a tunnel to the tire at a 5' distance. She aced that. The plan was to turn left to the square oxer and we made that - after jumping 1 extra jump (no harm), then on to the tunnel... well, she shot over to the chute - backwards - looking for the entrance, silly girl - didn't find it so went for the tunnel, then teeter. She stopped half way across the teeter and jumped off... not sure why, but she just spooked. Since this was for time, we continued on to the a-frame and weave poles - she missed her entrance, so those 10 pts did not count. We tried the teeter a second time with the same results :( and then finished the course... 44 secs and 43 points.

We tried a different course 2nd time around. The bonus send to was great and we stayed on a left pinwheel of 3 single jumps to the tunnel to the chute and on to the weaves... missed our entrance again. :( then up and over the a-frame to the finish. The only glitch was the weaves which gave us a score of 53 (50 for a q) and a time of 24 secs!! woo hoo!!!!!!!!

After everyone ran their second course, we had a chance to school the teeter and weaves with not very much success... looks like we'll have to do some remedial work on both!

Overall, tho, I am very happy with her... she was even VERY well behaved outside of the arena. I hope to get some of the video of it posted on my blog over the weekend.