Merlin saves the day

labgirl

labgirl

Forums Sage
We haven't had a competition since May, when my friend persuaded me to come to one the other weekend. Merlin did pretty good, 10th in Jumping (he came in the top third) and 5th in Triple A Frame (0.3 secs off a 4th place rosette). We messed up Helter Skelter and got 5fs, think we would have been placed had we not. Never mind!

Here are two of the runs. Watch how Merlin saves us from Elimination in Jumping!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AaVAcjkKrU&feature=youtu.be
 
Good runs! Merlin looks more confident now - does he prefer running outdoors? That pull off was awesome - I can only do that by accident and get a refusal! :rolleyes2:

I'm running a Helter Skelter this weekend but they my least favourite type of course, I get disorientated and we tend to miss something with all the spiralling but you did great.

Lovely to see Merlin in action again :biggrin2:
 
Thank you:biggrin2:

don't know anything about helter skelter......
Click to expand...
Helter Skelter is either decreasing or increasing circles (sometimes both) and they are also my least favourite course! The only advantage is a lot of dogs go wrong, so if Merlin gets a clear he has a better chance of being placed.

does he prefer running outdoors?
Click to expand...
I haven't given it much thought, first time outdoors he was really worried, but overall his confidence has grown and my handling has improved immensely. I've been taking workshops trained at competition level and that has helped a lot. I can now do European turns and wing wraps, just not very prettily:lol:

He saves me a lot with his pull offs! He can stop on a sixpence, just have to be so careful because if he is heading for a jump and I say left or right for the next obstacle too soon, he will simply stop and turn before the jump. Can't fault him for listening!
 
labgirl said:
Thank you:biggrin2:


Helter Skelter is either decreasing or increasing circles (sometimes both) and they are also my least favourite course! The only advantage is a lot of dogs go wrong, so if Merlin gets a clear he has a better chance of being placed.
Click to expand...

that sounds kind of interesting- not sure if any of the venues here have anything similar......
 
labgirl said:
Helter Skelter is either decreasing or increasing circles (sometimes both) and they are also my least favourite course!
Click to expand...

Thanks for this explanation. I was going to ask if it was the same Helter Skelter I've played (and designed/judged) in TDAA. The premise of the game doesn't sound difficult, basically a spiral jumpers course, but can be surprisingly tricky to actually handle through.

From a course design perspective, I'd MUCH rather not design a Helter Skelter course. It's a surprisingly difficult course to design for because of the constant spiral.
 
Thank you:biggrin2:

I really hate the spirals, they make me dizzy!:lol: Luckily it was judged by a person I really like and she was very nice when we finished and said how well Merlin was running.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top