So, this weekend was the 2012 AB/NWT Regional Championships. I have had personal issues bothering me for the past week and I knew already I was going to be a mess for the weekend. I planned in my mind to go in with no expectations at all and just to throw away all my emotional baggage. So, I remained calm for the drive on the Thursday and I was okay for the most part of Friday (warm up runs). The problem is, I can't just forget about the issues bothering me because all of this stuff was happening at home at the same time as I was running regionals. There was no way that was going to escape my mind. I tried my hardest, honestly. Yes they are personal issues, and you don't understand because you do not know.. but I wish some people could know what I was going through and such.
The warm up runs on Friday weren't very awesome at all. The first one was decent, but she shut down halfway through. Then the 2nd one was absolutely brutal. She did not do a thing, stood in one spot for the majority of it all. I had 90 seconds to fool around on the equipment, but she actually just stood in one spot and did not do a thing. I got down on the grass and called her and talked nice things for her, asking her if she wanted to "do" or "go on" things that she likes.. she just ignored me and wouldn't even come close to me. I actually couldn't even get her to come to me at all. I tried my best... she's never ever done that before. It was very upsetting for me. I had the feeling in my mind that I was going to be leaving after that first day because my mind was elsewhere after that. I wanted to go home and do what I was going to be doing that night (if not for regionals), but I decided to stay and see how Saturday went.
Honestly, I did not get any sleep Friday night... That's 1 thing to bother me, onto of the load of other things that were bothering/worrying/frustrating me... I went into the competition not knowing at all what was to happen. I tried my best to pump her up for our first run; gamblers. Gamblers went alright. She was actually speedy in the opening. She acquired 36 points in the opening. For the gamble, I was to send her over a jumper and out over to a tunnel... she shut down after the jump and stood there and did not move at all...
The stress was so bad between runs, mostly when she had to be in the tent/in her crate.... When it came time to going back to the tent she pulled back and resisted on the leash.. She lunged HARD to get away from the tent, whined, barked... In her crate we found out she was chewing the metal bars, trying to get out... We could NOT leave her there at all. I had to had people hold her when I could not... In the crate, she would bark, bite the bars when I was right there, pant VERY hard and shake so hard she was vibrating... I really do not know what it is, but all of a sudden she cannot be crated =/
So, I was about to run my second run, being standard. I got her all pumped with the ball, handed it off to Savanna and then Shyloh was READY to go! She was ready to run this standard run pretty damn quick! But, then they said for me to leave the ring as they fixed the tire jump -.- This took about 5 mins, and by then Shyloh was absolutely distracted, unfocussed, and did not give a damn about me or anybody else... She watched someone who makes her shut down walk past the ring as I went in... At that moment I knew it was all down the drain.. She ended up running with 2 refusals (completely walking past jumps and just standing there) and 20 second over time. Her shutting down was so bad, she was freezing up and just standing there, like the warm up run...
During the wait between the standard and last run; jumpers, all I could think about was how set I was on leaving. I ran the jumpers with her in 33 seconds, but she had 2 tunnel refusals because of stopping to look at people and wandering off from the tunnel a bit... Too bad =/ But, she did pretty good in that run. I was impressed.
Although her gamblers and jumpers ended up being runs that were rather good, I had my mind set on leaving regardless. I knew whether or not she ran well, or not.. I was going to go home that night for my well-being and for hers. I wasn't running regionals to qualify for nationals... In fact, I know she could've easily Q'd for nationals even in the state she was during the first day. I didn't want to make nationals that way.. and I wasn't going to go regardless of if I made it or not.
In all, regionals was an amazing experience and I can't wait to go again when the time comes. Congratulations to everybody who had amazing runs, and made it to nationals this year and good luck.
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