Many Firsts The short version is that we did MUCH better in our second set of trials. This was a two-day meet held in the building where we take many of our classes and attend practice drills, which was less distracting than the Expo Center’s horse arena with its alluring livestock aromas. We had worked a lot on getting him to pay more attention to me, and on me handling him more smoothly. It went better than I had dared…
Chama and I competed in Rally Obedience trials that were held Friday-Sunday, Sept 29 – Oct 1 at the New Mexico State Fairgrounds in Albuquerque. The location is convenient for us: 15 minutes from our house and right in the city. For Obedience and Rally Obedience, they haul about 6″ of dirt, somewhere between damp and wet, into the indoor horse arena, spread it around, and pack it tight. It doesn’t smell much like anything but dirt to us humans,…
We got into Rally Obedience because Chama’s Novice Obedience class series ended and there wasn’t an Intermediate Obedience series scheduled. Our instructor told me there was a Rally Novice class starting soon that might be a reasonable substitute. What good advice! Chama was bored with regular obedience classes but enjoys Rally. A bored puppy is not an ideal student because they make their own fun. Instead of working to master one command at a time, in Rally you learn several…