Weaves in the Snow on the Farm

A couple of weeks ago the Stump Kids made the trek to Grammie and Grandpie's house for the Christmas holiday. But just because we're here for holiday celebrations doesn't mean time off from weave pole training, right?

I'm lucky in that my dad keeps the equipment trailer for the Hoosier Kennel Club's agility equipment on our farm, which means when I'm home I can pull out things like jumps and weave poles (contact equipment--there's no way, but jumps and weaves, yes) and work the dogs on the farm. So, that's what we did--dad helped me pull out the weave poles and we set them up in the middle of the barn yard, with the horses out in their fields, snow on the ground, and my sister's dogs barking next door. For LaMesa the barn yard usually means running around, having fun, barking at the horses and chasing the barn cats, so I figured this would be a great way to train for distractions, plus to train on different weave poles.

LaMesa did struggle a little with a few things--I think the poles aren't spaced exactly at 24" like the weaves she's used to, because you could see her rhythm get knocked out of whack when she'd get going. But, I was proud of her for really concentrating and trying to do all 12.

At one point dad pulled out part of a set to add three more poles because he felt that it would help her with finishing her weaves to do more than 12, which I agree is a good theory. However where the base was set was on uneven ground, so when she would hit the base, it would rock to one side and she had a hard time staying in. I'd watch her try and try--you could see her body bending to try to make that one pole, but when it moves on her at the last second, she missed the last pole. No worries--I removed that last set of three and had her try just the 12 (rather than 15) and she was just fine.

Here are a few videos of her weaves...my dad was learning how to record video on a IPhone for the first time, so don't mind any of the rocky views.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3