Well - Nationals are 5 days away! Our first Nats! I'm so nervous, excited, stressed, happy - the list of adjectives is endless on how I feel! The Nats are at Spruce Meadows in Calgary this year - how could I not go???? Well - let me tell ya how I almost decided not to attend!
In June, we had the Alberta/NWT Regionals. Those who know me, know that my agility focus is with Trapper. I decided to run Hunter just so she'd be active that weekend - zero stress as far as I was concerned! Trapper did great on Friday in the Steeplechase and got into the finals on Sunday. On Saturday - the first day of official events, Trapper and I got off to a rocky start. His Standard didn't go great. We had 35 faults. Our Gamblers was great and he got the final Gamble - BUT - the buzzer went as he jumped for the final jump - and literally was about a second from getting the 35 point bonus!
Then - Disaster! Due to a bone-headed,embarassing Jumpers run/incident on my part - Trapper's quest for the Nationals was over, which was a shame because on Sunday - he ROCKED - we acheived over 240 points on Sunday - and just came up short for Qualifying for Nats (if he got that gamble - or got the points in Saturday's Jumper's - we would have qualified....woulda, coulda, shoulda, if, maybe...etc.....sigh....).
Now - Miss Hunter on the other hand - DID Qualify for Nationals!! wow!!!! - that's right - you heard me.
In past posts - I've talked about Miss Hunty - she's my happy go lucky Brittany Spaniel - when she's on - she's dynamite - and when she's not (which is often) - oh well - hold on to your hats and ride the wave of God knows what's about to happen!!!!!! lol!!!!!
I actually considered not entering Nats with her! She's not my competition dog any longer! I just trial her here and there in a few runs at trials. Should I put both her and I through the stress and pressure's of Nationals?
I took a long hard look at our situation! I finally realized that this is the Nationals - in Calgary, in my backyard for goodness sake! How can I not attend?? How can I NOT compete - run the same challenging courses as the "best of the best" from all accross Canada (and some from the U.S.A)?? Everything from the courses, to the opening ceremonies, to the banquet Saturday night? Gotta do it!!! Gotta enter!! Gotta compete!!
When I really thought about it - isn't it kind of right, fitting in a way, that my first agility dog - who got me hooked on agility in the first place - is my first Nationals dog???
So - I'm going to drink in everything about the AAC Nationals this weekend. I'm going to do the best I can with Hunter - have zero expectations and whatever happens....happens! She's my Hunty and I love her - she's my heart dog and SHE got us to our first Nationals!!
Trapper will still be part of Nats in a way though - I've entered him in the 2 Steeplechase runs on Friday! Trappy and I will have many more chances to Q for Nationals! This year is for Hunter and I!!!!!
Wish us luck!!!!!! :o)
Great post Jo.
ReplyDeleteGood luck and have Fun!!!