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Seabiscuit was not supposed to be the
fastest horse. He was too small, didn't have the right build, breeding or
even a desire to win...or so they thought. He was definitely considered a
long shot. How could this little horse ever beat the magnificent War
Admiral?
Indiana is my little Seabiscuit. Indy
loves to race, especially the big dogs. I guess Border Collies are her
War Admiral. The closer the race, the faster my little Seabiscuit will
go. She uses everything she has in that little body to pull off the win.
Indy wasn't supposed to be as fast as
she is. She ended up a bit taller than we had hoped, did not come from
flyball or agility breeding lines, and seemed entirely too timid to ever
play. Our original hopes were that she would be a 4.9 second height dog,
over the 11 inches her 15 1/4 frame warrants, but that seemed to be
against all odds then. Training Indy didn't come easy. Although timid
off the mats, she has a instinctive need to herd anything that moves and
became a bit of a 'cow herding' bully. It took awhile to teach her how to
'herd' from her own lane. Teaching an exchange wasn't easy either. She
was even scared of the box at first. Single striding didn't come
naturally and it took a lot of work to teach. There were certainly many
frustrating nights at the Hope household.
But just like Seabiscuit, Indiana beat
the odds to become a consistent height dog with Fast'n'FURious. I can't
tell you the pride I felt the first time she raced in a tournament.
Actually, I still feel that pride and joy every time I take her out on the
mats. It didn't come easy...but then, the hardest ones can sometimes be
the most rewarding.
Indy now runs on the Airwaves team and
has been a part of some record breaking races for FnF. She has been
clocked running in races as fast as the 4.2 - 4.3 second range and her
single fastest run, clocked by the N.A.F.A. lights, was in a single dog,
head-to-head race against Sula (she loves Sula) where Indy ran 4.17
seconds.
And if she never ran another day in
flyball, I'd still think she was the most perfect dog EVER!! I just love
this little girl.
Rachel Hope
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