A new start line behavior????

I just have to brag about my ability to learn from my experience at Nationals! What a great experience that was for us! It wasn’t that I wasn’t aware of our “weaknesses”, but I had kind of put them on the back burner. Nationals brought them to the front burner, for sure! It is hard to be self critical, but I am trying very hard to do that and learn. Our weakest thing - start lines, for sure. That showed up big time in KY.

So, he has had the last two weeks off, basically. No RDW work, no classes, just his daily teeter and some tricks. And………………start lines. But, not really, I just wracked my brain trying to figure out what trick I could do at the start that would get his ears up and get him focused and happy.

Everything I had tried didn’t work. He LOVES his tricks, but when I asked him to do one in the ring he would go blank and not do it. So, I have settled for holding him and then just letting go to start. He has never liked it that much, it has worked just OK and we have gotten by. I needed something to do where I didn’t touch him and where he couldn’t go blank. And something that got his ears up!!!!

One of his favorite tricks is his launch off my leg to a twist, spin. Wicked fun, he loves it. But, in order to do it well he needs some distance from me, so I asked him to back up. He backs up then charges at me to launch for his push off into the twist/spin. That’s my start line!!! Not the launch part, though. LOL!! I ask him to back up and just take off!! Last night at class I tried it for the first time. OMG, it SO totally worked! I had practiced it at home during his daily teeter with a jump before the teeter, but last night was his official coming out of our new start line!!! He was ON FIRE and charged off his start, ears up!!! He ran SO fast last night he was slipping on the floor and he’s never slipped there!!! I think it might work! He can’t go blank and not do it because I always have to put SOME physical pressure to get him to back up, so back up he does, ears come up quickly, and off we go!!!!

**I have no expectations, as always with him, it could end up not the right thing, but I kind think it might work. This weekend will be the bigger test. USDAA trial. First trial since Nationals.