This was Olive's first time at this trial site, and you could tell that she didn't approve of the budget cutbacks at the Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation. The grass was mostly dead, with a lot of prickly things in it. I actually got a sticker in my finger when I was setting a jump bar.
Olive's movement wasn't good - it was obvious that the ground cover was hurting her paws - but she was a trooper and did everything required on the jumpers course. She was over time, but didn't have any other faults.
Between runs she was reacting the same way to the area around the practice jump and other parts of the grounds. She clearly wanted nothing to do with the standard course, even though she was excited to go into the ring. We left after four obstacles.
Next weekend she's running on nice groomed dirt. We're expecting a nice run in Novice Standard for her title, but unless we have a major training breakthrough I'm guessing she'll have trouble with the 12 weave poles in Open Jumpers.
-- John