EO Day 3 continued

Here is a photo of the three tri-colour OBay shelties competing at the EO. L to right: Hex, Chi and Unique



Once I knew that we were in the finals I was a happy bunny and so thrilled that we were running 3rd from the end! What an advantage that is!

If I remember correctly; the medium final was first. The heavens opened up during the final which was a shame. This is what it looked like around the final ring at one point. Lots of umbrellas!



Johanna and One made it into the medium final. One was looking pretty good until Johanna tried a flicky arm turn and One turned when she said to... which was kind of before the jump. Ooops! Poor Johanna; when One gets something in his head that is it! He kept turning before the jump over and over! I bet Johanna re-lived that moment a few times in her head. He has such potential; I know he will get his act together soon. He is such a beautiful boy; let's hope that him and Hob-b produce me a beautiful sable girl with all of One's attitude!

Here is a gorgeous photo of One that Dennis took. Dennis CAN get action photos of sable shelties but struggles to get good action photos of my tri shelties. Arghhh!



Out of the 4 OBay shelties competing at the EO; three of them made it into the finals. Lisa and Chi had some nearly-runs that although weren't clear they were really lovely, fast and smooth.

Anyway onto the finals. In the medium Team GB had four dogs running. Andy and his medium BC Ten made it in as a result of winning the individual jumping. In addition we had Gary and his Patterdale, Louise and her Schnauzer and Tricia and her poodle. Gary had the best result with a clear and ended up in 22nd place. He had a good weekend and I believe had almost 100% clear runs! Tricia and Andy were both eliminated and Louise had really nice run but 5 faults. Her little schnauzer struggled all weekend with the spreads and tyre which they were not used to seeing; but they started to get it together in the end.

Now it was our turn! Luckily the rain stopped and the course was changed slightly for the smalls. It still had the dogwalk and across the face of the aframe combination. And after the Aframe was a combination that I was not sure how to run. I decided to go for the front cross (not my favorite move!) and was actually unsure up until I entered the ring if I could get there. I walked the course humming to myself "we can do this!" and I really tried to enjoy the moment. Sharon and Ruby put in a nice clear and ended up 23rd overall. Wendy and Scout were having a good run until a bar dropped. I watched a few runs and then sat on the side with Hex. It is best that I sit far away with her and just try and concentrate on remembering the course!

Here is a link to the course: Small EO Final

And here is Hex's video again! hehe




I remember going to the line with her and then it was over! I don't remember much in between other than hearing the GB crowd cheer at the end. That is the best feeling; having a crowd of supporters there cheering you on.

Hex ended up in 3rd (Bronze) and was out of 2nd place by only 8/100ths of a second. How great is that! We were over 1 second behind Suzanne and Unique and I am ridiculously pleased with that! Although being beaten by another one of my own puppies is getting old now! All crap handlers please line up for puppies! hahahaha

All I could think of after knowing that Hex had won the Bronze was "I am ridiculously happy!" It was so nice knowing that she had the speed in her to compete against some of the best dogs. It was a very nice boost to my confidence and I am so looking forward to running with her again either in the EO next year or the World Champs next year (or both!) We still have lots to work on but that is the fun part!

Here is a great photo of Unique with his special good luck slip lead made by Marianne in Denmark. She does fantastic stuff.



It seems to be getting old that I complain about the coach company and organization....but one more complaint! After the small and medium finals; the tour organizer said that the coach drivers were running out of driving time (???) so one of the coaches had to get back to the hotel immediately. This meant that they wanted all the small and medium dogs and handlers to leave before the Large dogs ran in their final! What a blow to team spirit! Everyone was enjoying sitting on the hill cheering on their fellow team-mates no matter what SIZE dog. Now they ruin that by making the small/medium handlers leave! Arghhhh! I was lucky in that Dennis had his car; so I stayed on to cheer on the large dogs (no one can say I am anti-large dog!) I know Andy was really disappointed as he had to miss Leah's run with Herbie in the final.

The large dog final was exciting and it was so great to see Leah run and win silver with Herbie. Rescue dogs rule! Leah looked relaxed and she ran in her usual smooth effortless manner. Marc put in a great round and ended up in 6th place overall; only 3/10 second separated 3rd thru 6th place. Nigel and Zico's time was great but had 10 faults on the contacts. Overall a good final!

Here is a photo of the British Supporter "hill".



So while we had good results that day; it was still back to the hotel for a late dinner and up again the next day at 4:30. Yawn!