Braddock Frederick MD trial 10 29 17

Braddock's STD run was extremely fast, namely because I chose techniques to stay ahead.  I did a lateral send to the tire and got the blind cross before the tunnel.  I chose a front cross at the tunnel exit because the first thing I wanted for him to see was my body turning.  This put him on the line to the aframe.  Those who went for a blind, if they weren't fast enough, had the dogs seeing their feet facing the off course jump beside the aframe and the dog would exit on a line to the handler's right and miss the cross. At jump 8, the better line to the dogwalk was to turn the dog to the left.  8 was a panel and leads to extension.  So when turning the dog to the right, people were delayed in supporting the turn to make sure the dog didn't back jump (due to handler position).  And then the handler was stuck with the dogwalk on the right and had to beat the dog to the end to push to the correct tunnel entry. Because I could leave 8 early after cueing the rear cross, I was able to get a blind in before the walk. However, I did not call Braddock at the end for fear of pulling him off the contact, which he barely got, and thus I got the wrong end of the tunnel.  I think my favorite moment was his wicked fast teeter and how he slammed it down with confidence.

In JWW, Braddock beat a wicked fast Terv just because he ran so efficiently.  He placed 1st by 10 seconds (he was 5.84 YPS).  I did a blind cross at the landing of 4, got out ahead and did a reverse spin at 7 to line up for the rear at 8.  He had no doubt where we were going and he was tight.  Then I did a strong collection front cross at 12 which he read beautifully and a pull to the weaves (careful not to step beyond the plane of the jump).  It felt smooth and it felt good to run with such precision together.