It's like Christmas! In February! Without the snow!

Oh wait, we didn't even have snow at Christmas this year, so I guess that doesn't apply. lol

Look what we have already! Yay!! Who has the best dad ever? If you answered, "Me!" you would be correct. :o)

I went and dug through the USDAA web site on Monday to find the specs for the broad jump -- aka: Long jump, but nobody actually calls it that.... It was terribly nice of them to break it down into instructions so simple that even someone like myself could almost figure it out. Note, I did say almost. I dropped out of geometry and stink at math, so this whole business of figuring out measurements and angles is not exactly up my alley.

But my dad rocks at it, so I printed everything out and showed it to him that afternoon. In a matter of seconds he punched out a few numbers and told me how much wood I needed to buy and what I should get (that would be 3 1x8 pine boards if you want to build your very own!). I was going to wait until I went to La Crosse and could hit up Menards, but I was impatient and ended up dumping the dogs at home and running over to All American just up the road from my house. They had what I needed and $16 later I was home with my three boards trying to figure out how I was going to get the dogs to the office with me the next day.

We worked it out (although Secret was NOT happy about her co-pilot seat being folded forward to accommodate the lumber). And by 3:30 on Tuesday afternoon we had our very own broad jump! Yay! Someone on Facebook called me "determined" for obtaining our latest "trouble obstacle" so soon after the trial. Well, yeah, that's kind of how I tend to acquire ALL of my agility equipment. lol You buy or build it when you need it! I just hope I don't end up having to go out and buy a competition teeter next....

The wood traveled back home much easier in its nicely nested fashion. I was just planning to set it up for the picture and then stick it down in the basement to be painted, but you KNOW I couldn't just do that. So Secret got a quickie introduction to the broad jump. I started out with the two front planks and then added the third and the fourth. She didn't instantly realize that you are supposed to go over the center and was taking it at a bit of an angle, so I'll likely dig out the old stick in the ground weave poles to use as marker poles (or whatever the poles at the four corners are called). Once I straightened her approach she figured it out well enough, but the poles are there are trials and she needs to get used to them anyhow.

I spread the boards out further than you see in the picture, but I didn't have a tape measure outside with me and I don't believe they got to the regulation distance of 4'. Seriously, 4'! That's a lot! Whatever the spread was that we were working with, though, Secret did not have any problem with so I don't anticipate any problems.

The yard is pretty wet & sloppy right now so we didn't go overboard with our little play/training session. The new jump got christened with plenty of little mud droplets, but that will soon be covered by paint! I figured I can get them all primed up in the basement over the next few days -- I don't know if I'm talented enough to properly stripe them, so they may just stay white. We'll see. :o)

I wish the weather would make up its mind already. It kind of stinks to keep having periods of rain or snow that melts right away that keeps the yard boggy. Oh well, we have plenty of time before the next USDAA trial -- speaking of which, the premium still isn't posted for the trial at On the Run. I am such an impatient person.... Not that I would send it in right away or anything, but I keep checking daily regardless!

I do need to get entries sent in for the next NADAC trial in La Crosse, though. The closing date is Monday and the trial is next weekend. I think I'm going to stick Secret in Weavers and Touch-n-Go to get the last Q's she needs for her Elite Versatility so we can at least get that out of the way. Then of course we'll all cross our fingers for Chances Q's! Secret still needs 9 and Kaiser needs... Four? So close!