I’ve been so obsessed with Bryce (and his back, and the mysterious episodes -assuming those two things are one and the same) that I neglected to talk about Raven and Jayda at the CPE trial the other weekend. And that’s not fair, because they were VERY good girls!

Raven had a fabulous weekend, with 4 first-place qualifying runs to finish her remaining three Level 1 titles! I call this photo “Rrrrraven’s got RRRrribbons” …

I was especially pleased with her Snooker run – I started with a fast, open, speed sequence, then had to pull her in tight for a serpentine and a figure 8 around the #2 jump to start the closing. Being so green, I was sure I’d lose her and get whistled off, but she made the transition beautifully and ended up with 42 points in 20 seconds! She’s now out of Level 1, though I may keep her back in it for a few classes until I’m happier with her teeter (no teeters in CPE Level 1.)

Jayda qualified in 8 out of 9 runs (despite me bumping a flag and almost knocking it over on her HEAD in Snooker), finishing her CL4-F title along the way! She still needs 1 Jackpot Q to get completely out of Level 4, but she’s well on her way through Level 5 in the other classes and has completed her L5 requirements in Colors and Snooker!

I think running Jayda has really sharpened up my handling and course planning. Since she’s “speed challenged”, I can’t afford to waste a fraction of a second with wide turns, spins, or miscommunication so I need to be very clear about what I want and give her the shortest possible yardage. Raven has no issues with speed, but she’s starting out with the benefit of a better handler :).