I judged for this club about 8-9 years ago and have fond memories of their outdoor location. As time has gone on, they've moved to an indoor soccer arena like most parts of the country. It seems the outdoor trials are becoming a thing of the past and I'm a little sad about that.
Yeah, I understand inconsistent weather makes for some worries and that setting up equipment and rings is time consuming. But there's nothing like a beautiful sunny day outdoors and a lush grass field to run on. These types of trials always afforded me a cozy nap under a tree or canopy with a soft breeze and birds singing in the background. I know my dogs prefer the outdoors and miss those cool grass naps too.
But back to the trial at hand and the beautiful indoor facility...
On Friday and Sunday I judged Standard. The courses were pretty straight forward and are attached.
However, on Saturday I judged Jumpers in a narrow ring that more than challenged my creative and design flow capabilities!
The ring size was 60 x 135 and the challenge is the width, or lack of width. Since there is a minimum distance a jump must be from a ring barrier, we're often left with less than 60 across to design with. For example, if a jump is facing a wall (so the dog is jumping toward the wall) we must have a minimum of 15' so now the 60' wide ring is narrowed to 45' of usable running space. Each time you add a piece of equipment, the spacing becomes smaller and smaller.
Given the above, it's no surprise that courses turn into a 'run up and down' type of design with a small circular something in them to facilitate the necessary change of directions or side-switches. Regardless, of the spacing, I thought my course made the best of a challenging situation and below is my Excellent Jumpers course.
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