The old man still has it!
I remember our entire class being told: "Before you go out there to attack the course, rev up your dog! Ask it, 'are you ready! are you sure you're ready?'... well, all of you can do that except for Valen. He's wound up enough as it is..."
Due to an injury, I must now restrict the amount of jumping Valen can do, and this has greatly affected his trialing career. This being said, he is looking forward to competing in veterans classes (lower jump heights) once he's refreshed his skills! Look for him in "old fogey" trials this fall!