I have been training and trialing Gusto at 26 inches. We are still trying to work out the difference in timing and space needed to run at 26. I confess that I am getting a bit frustrated by the lack of qualifying runs. But the good news is that he looks like he is starting to figure the new height out. He actually is powering over the jumps and his confidence seems to be growing - which is what happened after he got used to showing at 22. He is covering ground faster so now I need to get used to that too. He ran pretty well for me at Flexible Flyers trial this past weekend. Qualified in Gamblers, took 2nd place behind his brother, Whip. He had a great Standard run but dropped the last bar because I opened my big mouth.
Rosanne and Drifter had a drop dead gorgeous Standard run and won the class by 3 seconds. Gusto didn't even come close to Drifter's time (Gusto had one of the next fastest times but had 5 faults). Rosanne tells me to chill - I'm holding my contacts which I actually did this weekend to make sure I don't lose my criteria. I'm also not pushing Gusto because we are still figuring out how to run together at 26. I sort of feel like I am starting all over again with him after finally getting our teamwork down at 22.
Ivy ran with Katie Leisey this weekend and had some beautiful runs. Katie qualified in Performance Speed Jumping - her first time ever running a Steeplechase type course. My goal for Ivy down the road, after Nationals is to qualify her in Performance for Nationals in 2009. She'll have a lot of fun.
The Reality:
I am feeling a bit of pressure with Nationals looming large in 6 weeks or so. Rosanne and I leave at the end of October and we have about 5 more shows before we leave. My last shows have not been fruitful so I am lacking confidence about running him on those tough courses. This is precisely why Rosanne wants to get together and practice on really nasty stuff - the weather has not been cooperating though. We will try for at least one session this week.
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2 comments:
The weather is suppose to be beautiful all week so you will have lots of practice time.
Believe me, Drifter knocked plenty of bars at 26 when he was 2 and I first moved him up. And it was just like Gusto - he was jumping well overall, just hit one or two in most runs. It IS really annoying but you can work through it.
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