BRAG Trial: Bentley

Bentley really had an off weekend.  About a week and a half ago he was running a little off in class.  He dropped a couple bars and crashed the tire, which is not like him at all (he is very careful).  We took him to get adjusted and the chiro said that he was very sore around his back/rear.  So, he took a week off and he seemed fine the next week in class.

Despite only being entered in 3 events on Saturday, he ran really oddly in his third event.  He knocked a couple bars and then crashed the a-frame.  So we pulled him from Steeplechase.  Our trainer took a look at him the next day and stretched him out and said he seemed okay (though she agreed that he had looked "off" the previous day's last run).

Also, his contacts were really poor all weekend.  Contrary to Lexi, it's clear that the contact boot camp has not helped him much.  I am really all out of ideas and feeling frustrated.  Someone told me at the trial that he really is not a slow dog, we just waste so much time on the contacts.  I explained to her that we had retrained a couple times and she pointed out that she could tell that he didn't understand the criteria--and she is right, but I don't know what to do.  Target plate down?  He gets it.  Take it away?  Loses it regardless of how slowly you fade the plate.

Anyways, my boy worked hard, and here are his videos.

Masters Gamblers:
(Sorry about the shaky video, I had just finished running Lexi and they didn't give me my leash so she was in a stay right at my feet while Bentley ran!)  Anyways, clearly Bentley was not going to get the gamble.  It was about a mile and a half away from the line.  At about 55 seconds you'll see him hop the DW contact.  He hasn't done that in a long time.  Not sure what caused that.


Masters Standard:
Not a bad run--and happy that he got into his 2o2o.  But, his lack of a predictable contact caused a refusal after the a-frame.  Naturally, he made it through the hard parts!


Grand Prix:
I should have known when he dropped that first bar that he was a bit off.   I know he is not the fastest dog but he was pretty pokey in this video, which should have been another clue.  Anyways, as you'll see this run was a mess.  This is when we pulled him for the day.


Masters Standard Q:
We debated for a while whether or not we should enter him, but our trainer said he felt okay (she stretched him out, etc..)  We warmed him up quite a bit and kept a really close eye on him over the practice jump and he seemed just fine.  Decided to go for it knowing that if he showed any signs of being "off" Jonathan would pull him.  As I told Jonathan after this run--Bentley saved him!  I'm not sure how Bentley knew where he was going a couple times, but he guessed right!