Lexi's Second Agility Trial

Yesterday was Lexi's second trial and...

...it was a learning experience.

Had I had the same trial yesterday when I was 12 years old, I would be in a VERY bad mood today. I was extremely competitive as a kid and when my horse didn't do exactly what I wanted him to do I'd get really upset.

Fortunately I've come a long way in the last ten years or so.

The trial was way down in Flordia, so Lexi and I got up at 3:45 am to drive down there. Lexi looked at me like I was crazy when I started getting up that early! But we hopped in the car and made it in time for her to be measured by the judge.

The day actually got off to a really good start. They had a raffle for all the contestents and I won! We got about 25 tennis balls, some toys, and about a million dog treats.

Side note: if you have any questions about agility I've made a short post here that has simple definitions.

In her first class, she did great except she missed the third jump and jumped it backwards, which disqualified us. We were only competing against one other person and she didn't qualify either, so we won first, basically making us the best of the losers. Ha ha! But it really wasn't that bad.

In her second class, she missed the first jump, jumped the second (non-qualifying us again), then ran to greet the ring stewards, and then ran out of the ring (getting us eliminated). Had she not run out of the ring, we could have finished the course anyway to practice. That was VERY frustrating. And, unfortunately, the only "run" I have on tape. Also it would have been the only run we'd be able to do weave poles in, and we've been practicing them so hard!

In her third class, it was a pairs relay, which we did with our mini aussie friend, Lucy, and her owner Hope. In that class, Lexi did pretty well but she missed her contact and greeted all the ring crew around the ring. I am not quite sure where her brain was. We got 3rd out of 3 pairs, which was a bummer.

Lexi and her pairs partner Lucy chill out between classes

However, it wasn't a total waste. In Lexi's last class of the day, which was called Snooker (I guess it's based off of a billiards game?), she was abosolutely fabulous. She listened to everything I told her to do. Unfortunately, she missed her contact on the A-frame so it was a non-qualifying run, but we still won, just like in the first class.

Lexi with her ribbons that she probably doesn't actually deserve

Lexi set the bar pretty high on her first trial which was probably why I was so surprised that she didn't just knock them dead yesterday. But she is a baby, and I have to remember that.

I'm glad we ended the day on a good note. We have another trial in a couple weeks and again a few weeks after that, so we'll have a couple more chances to get it right. I still love you, Lexi pup!