Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Wed Final - Not much Nursery

Much thanks to Allen McPherson for the use of is wireless account for the upload.

The day started off early with the chorus of many dogs howling in the wee hours, well before it was time to get up. That set my three girls to push their snouts into your faces for their early morning pets. Now, that we were woken up early, we got up and made French Toast, sausage and hot coffee. Gael, the new pup was dancing with joy to go for her morning walk and be with her new friends, Tess, Nan and Roo. After the morning chores, we set off to the Open Field.

Once again, the hospitality suite let me use the power and table to write this blog. The Hospitality suite has coffee, tea, water, hot cocoa and lemonade. Tons of food such a hard boiled eggs, oranges, potato chips, popcorn, crackers, cookies, homemade brownies and cheese, bagels, fresh melons, donuts, coffee cake, and tons of other stuff. No need to go to a store to gain weight when you can hang out here. The only item they are lacking is a wheelbarrow to haul me back to my trailer after I ate the treats. They are the happiest folks and willing to take care of you. They are a godsend. They also have lanyards for sale made by Charlotte Jones. I might mention this is where Suki, the troublemaker is hanging out. I wtote the scores down as I heard them but to get the official score go to the usbcha.org website.

Derek and Jan were first up and had nice outwork and missed the second cross drive panel. Settled them quickly in the shed and got the pen. His score was in the 149. We walked up as it was going on,

Don Heslsey and Blue had a nice run. The lift was a little hard, offline on the fetch and then it settled down and the shed and pen were good. His scores was 142.

Laura Vishoot and Ripley had a score of 113 and I didn’t see her run. Dennis Gelling and Jake had a very nice run. Jake was a bit strong but under Dennis’s handling had a good run. The drive was beautiful and a little before the crossdrive panel and missed them and did a pull through. The shed and pen were good and the score was 146.

Joann Zoerb and Bryn had a tough run and she was very patient at the pen but the time ran out as she was closing the pen and her score was 98. Tricia MacCrae and Max had one of the best gathers of the day so far and the drive was good, a wee bit low before the crossdrive and made the panels. Had a bit of trouble in the shed but got it and ran out of time at the pen.

Martha McHardy and Ceri, the Canadian from Vancouver Island, Canada ran her Ceri. The run was a bit tough and her score was 71.

I ran over to the Nursery field at this point and they were doing really well or really bad, Joni had a fast run with Griz and I don’t know any of the Nursery scores. Allen Mills and Gayle Richardson both had RT.

Terri Pelkey had an incredible run with Dash. Her score was 166. I didn’t see much of it but what I heard, it was fantastic. Don Whittington had a nice run and his score was 148. Francis Chai had a a nice run and was very calm. I was coming back from the Nursery so missed these.

Scott Glen and Maid were up and as he sent her, the sheep broke back to the setout and were fussed about a bit. They had a good lead when Maid got to the top and considering what happened, she handled it quite well. The Course Director walked out and he will be given a rerun as his dog had to stop runaways. He will run in a few more runs.

Bob Hickman and Mojo had a tough time with the sheep breaking back to the setout and he ended his run. They made a gallant effort at it.

Scott had his rerun with Maid. She ran up the field with gusto and had a nice lift, fast fetch and Scott showed why he is one of the top handlers. His drive was nice but a little fast in some portions and I think he had one of the fastest times entering in the shedding ring. He got his textbook shed and his pen for a score of 153.

I ran off to the Nursery field to see Scott Glen and Sleat run. It was tough and she got a score in the 60s.. There were about 9 RT or DQ in the Nursery so far. At this point, Joni is leading with Griz.

I dashed back to the Open handler’s tent to see Lee Lumb send her Chica. There was a bit of fuss at the top but she got it all squared away. A bit low on the cross driven then high then she lined then for a nice pass through the second panel and a nice turn to the shed. I really like Lee as she is a nice and calm handler. Quiet in the shedding ring and had a calm shed. She got the pen with class and walked off with a score of 162. On a side note, Chica is a half sister to Lana Rowley’s wonderful Kell.


I quickly got what I could from the runs that I missed. Michelle Howard and Moss had a grip at the pen. Hub had a nice run with Juno. Pearse had a nice outrun, lift and a bit of a fuss on the first portion of the fetch and then lined it out. A very nice drive and shed and they had to work for the pen but got it and walked off with a score of 143.

Suzy Applegate had a rerun due to her sheep leaving at the top. I missed a couple of the runs when I went for my lunch break.


Dirk Vansant and Amos had nice outrun, a bit low on his crossdrive and the second panel and got the shed and he retired at the pen. By now, it is blazing hot and I am sweltering under the tent.

Pam Boring and Mirk had a hard run in the heat. I missed parts of it and arrived in time for the shed part. Her shed was quiet and she took her time at the pen for a nice pen. Score was 128

Karen Stanley and Meg also ran in the heat of the day at 2:00 and I was looking for a margarita and a cool creek bed to soak in but alas, neither were handy so I got a lemonade (non alcohol type) and a bag of popcorn.

Now Suzy was able to fit in her rerun. They slowly walked to the post as the sheep were settled at the top and Lynn took off like a bullet and had a wonderful sweeping outrun. A bit of a fuss at the top and then a nice fetch, and good drive with a tiny bit of a bobble. She had very good control during the run and it was a pleasure to watch. In the shedding ring, the first attempt, a ewe leapt over the top of Lynn and she tried to contain it but it got away. One the second attempt, she held the two and was marching them to the pen when here time ran out. Carolyn Crocker is the owner of Lynn.

Shauna Gourley and Hope from Utah are a team that I am rooting for. When we first pulled in on Sunday, they loaned us some orange cones to mark off a section for our other Finalist buddies. So she get us as her cheering section. Hope stood at the post, eyes keen on the sheep. She was a bit snug on the outrun and she stopped at the top when Shauna whistled a down. The fetch was nice but one ewe flipped around the post for the drive and she was DQ.

At this point I ran to get my dog’s eyes checked and try to me the porta potty pump guy to pump out my trailer and missed him!! DAMM! Tess, Rainey, Roo and Nan’s eyes were all fine.

I missed Tommy Wilson’s Sly run but here is what I hear .straight from his mouth. Nice outrun, lift and fetch. Good turn at the post and made the first gate, then they broke and Sly got them. Good drive and got the second panel and straight into the ring. One ewe bolted out of the ring and Sly had to gather them and it took a bit to get the shed. Tommy got the pen and his score was 155. of course, I was rooting for Sly as she is Nan’s sister.

Gayle Cochlan and Meg had a nice controlled run. She is one of those nice, quiet handlers. In the shedding ring, an ewe broke as it had done in Tommy’s run but she got it back for the shed. The pen took time ut she got it.

Lavon Calzacorta and Tess had a screaming run of the day with a score of 168. The outrun, lift and fetch were very nice and they hit the fetch panels. The drive had a bit of a spilt on the crossdrive but made both panels. His shed was nice but took sometime and the pen was good, even though the sheep broke.

Anet Haitcox and Dod had a score of around 100. I missed that run due to doing other side projects. Jean Gelling and Star had a DQ. Rose Anderson and her ROM bitch, Shen started off with a wide outrun then came in hard at the top to lift them off to the side and in a gulley. They appeared rather quickly and ran the other direction. She worked hard to get them down the field. She worked and got three through the fetch panels and got a round of applause for that efforts as that was hard at that point and showed some fine handling skills. An ewe went down and that was the end of her run but Shen ran her heart out for her.

The last dog of the day was Norm Close and Gwen. Standing tall with his cowboy hat and stunning Gwen was only fitting that he was the last run. She came in the pressure point and took them steadily. They started to lift nice then bolted for the setout. Gwen ran like race horse to cover but they beat her and Norm retired gracefully.

2 comments:

debsuss said...

Keep up the good work. It is almost like being there. Thanks so much Deb

Ben said...

Hi, Diane. Don't know if you'll get this, but I'll be there early-afternoon Friday if all goes well! And I have pastries :) If I can't find you, I'll give you a call and/or see you for the Friday potluck! SO EXCITED!