That about sums up today’s dog show. Ringo has been a bit on the feisty side this week, and I had my concerns, especially as he did turn out to be very lively as we got to the show. However, he settled down after a while, and I actually thought it might work out okay.
Hah.
Yesterday the time came for our epic double jumping lesson. The weather and the season (it was now much darker in the evening than two weeks ago) conspired against us, however, and we were forced to set the course up indoors rather than in the paddock. A little disappointing, since I had looked forward to jumping Murphy outdoors, but it was rather chilly and dark. Plus, it takes a lot more work to carry all the materials out into the paddock. Not to mention back in again after the lesson. As it was, I still ended up carrying way too much for my back anyway to get us started at a somewhat reasonable hour, since the lesson before us was more than a little late.
Late again. Came up against a pair of deadlines, and one of them won. The other is still looming, but a break was needed. Another riding lesson would have been nice, too, but at least I’ve got a double dose of jumping to look forward to for next week. And, hopefully, Murphy as well, since we got to put down requests for horses for next week’s double feature.
A very belated entry, but I’ve been quite knackered since I got back last night. It ended up being a pretty tough lesson (in retrospect, I think we should have gone for the hacking out that had been planned, but was changed since we did it twice last semester ;P) and for me it was not the right time of the month for that. So, I’ve been pretty useless today.
It was, however, a good lesson. I had Murphy and once again we worked on maintaining a set cadence and a suitable pace, regardless of gait. In particular, we were supposed to make transitions from one gait to another without changes in cadence.
I am not entirely coherent at the moment, due to having started the day at 3 am in the morning to attend the Swedish Boxer Championships. It was a 3.5 hour drive there and a 3.5 hour drive back, plus lots of tense waiting around at the show area. So, I am feeling kind of mushy. It was worth the effort, though. It was quite something special to see all those lovely boxers and, of course, to get a chance to meet Ringo’s breeders, his brother (Riddles Rod Stewart), his mother (Riddles Paula Abdul) and his aunt (Riddles Petula Clark).
The actual show went pretty well. For once, Ringo behaved pretty darn well (though the judge didn’t quite think it was enough), though I made some silly mistakes and got some good tips on how to improve things in the future. The competition was very tough, however. There were at least 15 males in the junior class, about twice the size of any other we’ve entered. The breeder helped lower my expectations by saying that it was entirely possible that both Ringo and his brother would get 2’s at this stage, since they need more development. So, when Ringo actually got a 1, I was pretty pleased. He didn’t, however, place among the top 5. Whether he was close or not, I don’t know. The judge didn’t seem to care too much for dogs of his type, though, since his brother only got a 2 (very strange, since they’re really similar). The critique was one of those without anything negative (save for the show training bit) but also without that something extra:
Medium-sized, good bone. Masculine. Correct topline and chest, good angels. Typical head expression, correct muzzle, dark eyes. Moves well but needs more show training.
Not too much to report today, as we had a theory lesson. Well, practical theory lesson, but anyway. We had Spitfire down in the arena to do some loose jumping. Next to Gamir, he’s one of the most skilled jumpers we have in the stable, having competed internationally at a fairly high level. He ended up with us because he failed a veterinary inspection before a sale, and the riding school gambled on his problems not being recurring ones. So far, he’s been very sound, and he’s a very good jumper. Just a little on the hot side, though, and in combination with his size that means there’s no way I’ll ever be riding him.
What we did today was a pretty basic two-jump setup, which we used to observe how his technique changed with the height of the obstacles. Being as experienced as he is, he didn’t have much of an issue with judging the distance for himself, though he certainly didn’t jump any higher than he had to either. He’s a pretty gutsy horse who isn’t scared about occasionally knocking into a rail. It would have been interesting to have a few more horses down, to compare techniques, but having just him storm around in there was probably safest. ;)
Today, Ringo turned 1. When I got back from my riding lesson, he was treated to some ribs (minus the bones) and some ice cream. He seemed to like it. ;) He also got a days reprieve from training, but tomorrow I better get him back on track, considering the show on Sunday. But today he got to be just a birthday boxer.
Today was the second lesson of Ringo’s obedience course. This is stage two of basic obedience and after my dad had him for all of stage one (which he did this spring), I had said I’d do at least some of stage two. Last week, I had too much work to go along, but today I decided I could take the time out. It proved to be an ... interesting experience.
I was much too tired to post last night about the first of the regular lessons for the semester, and since I am still kind of sluggish (plus I’ve got three Meerkat Manor episodes to subtitle for Animal Planet), this will probably turn out a bit briefer than usual.
That’s not to say, however, that it wasn’t an interesting lesson. First, there was the dreaded weigh-in, which went well. However, since there was quite few of us (some people had probably missed the change in starting time), a lot of horses got to sit (err, stand) this one out. So, I ended up with Fleur. This time of the year I am okay with riding her in the outdoor arena, because warm weather makes her rather laid-back and not very skittish, though this time there was another, unexpected problem. Fleur, you see, would not have passed a weigh-in herself. In fact, she looks like she’ll drop a pair of foals any moment, and sitting on her felt a little like sitting on a barrel. Add to that an overly-polished saddle (darn kids ;P) and a pair of old breeches without the fully lined legs and seat I have become accustomed to and you have a recipe for an unsteady seat.
Today it was time for the second of my private lessons this week, and once again I was put on Murphy. Before we got started, however, we had some little issues to deal with. As I went to fetch his tack, I saw that one of the ponies, Ida, was loose in her stall. Since her halter hung neatly in its place, I thought that maybe she was left loose for some reason. But while I was wondering about this another horse, Spitfire, ended up walking out of his stall and out of the stable. Clearly, someone had forgotten to get them tied up properly after taking them in from the field. So, as I was alone in the stable, I had to go after Spitfire and get him back in. He wasn’t entirely keen on this idea, but fortunately he didn’t object too much once I had gotten a hold of him.
After seven long weeks of no riding and no close encounters with any equines at all, it was finally time today for the first of the two private lessons I had booked as a warm-up to the proper lessons starting next week. As usual, I’ve spent the last week or so worrying that Murphy wouldn’t be alright (that’s the worst part about the summer break at the riding school), though yesterday when I called up to confirm the time I made sure to ask who I’d be getting for my lessons. I was more than a little thrilled to find out that I had been put on Murphy for both lessons.
Today it was time for another much too early morning. And this time we only had to drive about 30 minutes away, so imagine how early we’ll need to get up for the next one (that’s the Swedish Boxer Championships, so its worth the extra effort) that is closer to 4 hours away. Anyway, today was a smaller affair. An official show for working dogs, with 10 boxers signed up. One of them being our little ... handful (that sounds nicer than hellion, I think).
A few pictures from the show last Sunday have been added to the Ringo 2007 gallery. Next time, I think we’ll see if we can’t get a bit of filming done as well (and hopefully he won’t act like a rabid little monster just then).
On Saturday, we set on our annual summer trip to our house in the area of Sundsvall. This year, however, we didn’t do the whole 700+ km drive in one go. Instead, we did about half on Saturday, then stayed the night at a tiny camping place in the middle of nowhere. On Sunday morning, we got up way too early to get ready ... for a boxer show. Somehow, we had decided it would be a good idea to go to a dog show along the way. So, at around 8 am on Sunday morning, we arrived at a cosy little dog club, also in the middle of nowhere, to join a pretty large gathering of (mostly) happy, tail-wagging boxers and their owners.
Today the whole family went to Slottskogen, a park in Gothenburg with assorted animals such as seals, a myriad of birds (including a few peacocks), several varieties of goats and various deer types. This is something we’ve done with all of our previous dogs, as its usually an excellent way of getting them used to lots of people as well as introducing them to all sorts of animals.
Ringo, alas, turned out to be much more interested in children. Baby strollers are a particular favourite. We kept trying to get him to notice the various animals, but only a few of them got him to look for any length of time. Of course, it used to be much easier years ago when you were allowed to feed the animals. They then congregated near the fences and we have a few shots of our first dog standing with his paws on the fence and sniffing something with very large horns that was standing up against the other side of the fence. These days, when the animals know they’re not getting anything from the visitors, they see no reason at all to come up close. Much better for their health, no doubt, but I did like getting up close and personal with them when I was younger.
The only ones who came up at all close were some goats and one of the peacocks, and Ringo did seem at least somewhat interested in them. But the highlight of the walk for him was probably meeting another boxer. He can be such a speciest little dog.