He Jumps Big



 

It's great when my husband brings his pro camera out to the practice field.  The pictures show how Riff is moving - which never ceases to amaze me.  Bubula pupster!

    

 



 

Below are six pictures of Riff going through a serp.  This is the end of a sequence of several obstacles.  In the first photo, I'd 'sent' him to the red jump.  I'm hustling to get into position for the serp (at the orange jump), so you can't see me.  But you can see how Riff jumps.  I've always known that he's a long-striding runner, and a big jumper.   

 

But I'm repeatedly surprised by just how big he jumps. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary during our practice today.  No bars down, no "ticks," no rubs, no approaches that looked scary to me.   It was all business as usual.  And yet....when I look at some of these photos, I think "How can he possibly make that jump from that far back?"

 

And I understand, better, why it's taken me a while to get in sync with him.  He needs his cue to the next obstacle at the point he commits to the current obstacle...and...well, you can see how early I have to be with my cues.  Although - if I'm too early, he pulls off the jump.  His reactions are pretty darn fast.  Then...I'm late.  Argh!   It's a fine line, but we're finding it.  (Yay!!)

 

Take-off

Preparing to turn

Turning back to "serp"

Two strides to next jump and take-off...

Serp

Landing...nice and tight to the stanchion
(then he took the next jump handily)

Here are a couple of other "take off" photos from today:

Running a long, fast line that included a tire. 
Riff likes SPEED...

 

He looks pretty happy...

....running!

He also has a nice extended trot

Today was one of those days I think "maybe we should enter a trial."  He made everything look easy, and fun.

However, my competitive fire has been burning at "ember" stage.  It's just a tiny flicker, now and then.  What will it take for me to compete at trials again?  I wish I knew. 

In the meantime, we enjoy just practicing agility. 

Tomorrow we head down to Novato for some nose-work training at the old Hamilton AFB. 

Although...honestly....a part of me wishes we were going to the agility trial in Dixon, instead....