UKA: At last a clear in Agility!

labgirl

labgirl

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On Saturday 13 Feb, I was at UKA for the second to last comp of the winter series. I had a lot to get my head around since Merlin was now running Novice Steeplechase, but remained Beginner for agility, games and Jumping. And then I had Sparrow in Beginners Steeplechase. So 7 different courses to learn and run, lol.

Merlin
Beginners Games (Snakes and Ladders)
We started the day with an awful Snakes and Ladders course. In Snakes and Ladders the contacts and weaves count as 'ladders' and must be completed in the 'up' direction (away from the start gates). The tunnels count as snakes and must be completed in a 'down' direction (towards the start/finish gates). To get a qualifying score you have to complete all the snakes, ladders and six jumps.

This course was a real pig for beginners, almost impossible to do. The weaves seesaw and dogwalk were squashed side by side, with the chute tunnel behind and two tunnels under the dogwalk. I managed to get a plan in my head of how I would do it, but it meant some tricky pull ins and crowding Merlin's space. In short, we only completed 9 obstacles before we went wrong and it was 'game over'. However, we still won that class with an NQ score! Goes to show how awful it was, so many people could not get round it.

Novice Steeplechase II
I felt the need to redeem myself after the shoddy games course. I always feel bad when the route I try to take around a course doesn't work for Merlin. Anyway, the steeplechase was nice, but I didn't let Merlin commit to a couple of jumps before I moved my arm and I pulled him off. Naughty mum! So we ended up with 10 faults and came 4th.

https://youtu.be/XdKlLV0Ns44

Beginners Agility
I sooo did not want to be going into agility with two faulty runs behind us. Agility has been my nemesis at UKA. I have been going to these comps since October 2014 and not once have I gone clear in agility!!! I have nearly 60 odd points in the Performance Programme, but without 12 agility points I can't progress!:gaah

Talk about pressure. Again the course was smooth and straightforward. There was one trap where you had to push the dog out to the opposite tunnel entrance to the one they could see. Ideally I would have swapped sides at the weaves to pull Merlin into the tunnel, but his right hand weaves have been hit and miss lately, so I didn't want to risk it. Well, Merlin nearly took the wrong end of the tunnel! I pulled him off and the the rest was clear, though he did hesitate on the dogwalk which I never noticed at the time.

Anyway we went clear and broke the back of our agility demon! More importantly we won! More importantly we got our 12 points and are now Novice level in Performance!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rGeFD2mx3E

Beginners Jumping
Feeling a lot happier and extremely relieved, we rushed over to do Jumping. The class (as usual) had clashed with agility so I didn't even bother to put Merlin back in the car. We ran our hearts out, but I failed to pull Merlin off the start jump and we were eliminated:rolleyes2:

https://youtu.be/ifwXAlhhcWA

Novice Steeplechase I
We ended the day with a steeplechase, and, let's just say I am glad there was no one around to film it, because it was awful:lol: I think Merlin had his own course in mind, because it certainly wasn't the same course I was on. But overall we had a great day and I couldn't believe we came home Novice Performance dogs.

Sparrow
Now the bit you have all been waiting for, what did the calamity cocker do? Well, her Steeplechase II was pretty much chaos. Brain definitely wasn't in gear. Then I saw the Steeplechase I course (first on vid) and my heart sank because it was four lots of straight jumps and if you watched the video from last month you will know how she crashed a jump. Straight lines of jumps freak me out with Sparrow! I was so nervous setting her up, I told myself to take it calmly and not rush, and actually she was a star. She got a little distracted and ran past a jump, but her pacing was lovely and her tunnel drive awesome. I was so pleased with her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icKJvdVUJQE
 
I loved all of your runs :) I've just watched them all for the second time. Merlins agility round was brilliant. I love how you where able to call him away from the wrong side of the tunnel. Sparrow looks like she is having the tike of her life and she is so fast :biggrin2:
 
can't blame Sparrow for wanting to check out that other ring:winkgrin:

you had some really good runs especially with that dirt.....:ick
it looks very loose and crumbly.

Congrats on Merlin`s win:yes:
 
Thank you:smile2:

I was lucky with the tunnel pull-off, it doesn't always work! We have been promised a new surface in this arena by next season. The new owners are gradually making improvements, but it needs a lot of work as the previous owners had let it almost fall to pieces. I don't know what the surface is, its very fluffy and dusty normally, but they had watered it in an effort to make it better. Unfortunately the person in charge of the sprinklers fell asleep and left them on too long, so there was a bit of a quagmire in one ring!! This is the least pleasant, in terms of surface and appearance, venue we go to. I keep attending because it is the only venue near me that does UKA over the winter. Hopefully next year will be a lot better - they may even improve the toilets so we actually get paper hand towels!!! Oh, the things I do for agility!
 
I like that it's indoors but seems like it would be very easy to slip on that dirt.

the arena that we're in most of the time has roof issues now- some leaks along the support beams that made some areas muddy and slippy. I should look at the videos to see if I can tell if it affected us and I didn't notice at the time....
 
I suppose the venues are expensive to maintain unless they are making a lot of money. The surface at UKA is actually not bad to run on, just a bit tired. I don't know how it is over in the US, but over here the equestrian centres have been struggling due to the recession and people not having the money to keep their horses. They are now realising the advantages of encouraging dog clubs and competitions to use their venues.
 
Our arena is doing well. There are 7-9 dog events there and the arena manager went to dirt school so they can prepare the surface however people request. It is kind of nice:smile2:
 
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