First Day of Open at Dirt Blowing Trial

This is one of the many views we had. The sun would come out and scatter across the rolling mountains and give us a slide show of shadows. The wind would pick up and throw down a few dust swirls and then all would go quiet.

Off to the left of the Open field.

Roo on the fetch. He started to cut in so I stopped him and reflanked him and he cast out wide and deep and came in proper. He was on the muscle and his down was forgotten on the fetch.  We didn't do so well as he was a powerhouse. The setout crew talked about his run and they said my whistles were dead on but he ignored them. His outrun was nice and had he listened we would have done far better. We have some homework to do before the next trial.

Roo in the shedding ring. we timed out. He did not have any issue handling the range yearlings.

Nan had a stunning outrun and lift. They broke back to the trailer and one tried to run over her. I saw her grab it and whirl the sheep in a circle. She got a DQ but in the end she had control of the ewes and brought them back to the exhaust. She was quite pleased with herself that she was able to get them down to the exhaust - minus one that bolted to the other side of the trailer. 

A couple of years ago, she would not have stood up to the ewes and let them run away or be chased off the field. Since then, we have worked on her confidence.   I am pleased that she stood up to the ewes and brought them down, one way or another.

Norm and Gwen had a stunning run. I have a nice blog on that and will post that later this week, They won it  with a score of 88 and it was sweet. Dianne Deal and Zorro had a nice controlled run and got 3rd. Geri Byrne and Jim laid one down for 5th place.

Tess and I set for a few hours and it was tough. She walked the sheep quietly to the hay but they would bust anyway they could. After out set, we both took a nap as the sun drained us dry.

Nursery was on the hill field and it was tough. I didn't make it over there but the sheep were winning. Most of the young dogs either DQ or RT.

What trial is not complete without a cute puppy?  Kate owned by Norm and Vicki Close.

Getting into mischief. Kate has the "Pleat" hairstyle on her forehead.

We had handler's dinner that night and Karen Mahoney and Meredith (her mom) made Dutch Oven ribs and cobbler. Their ribs are very tender and a huge hit. I love their cobbler and got the recipe!! YEAH!! Everyone brought a side dish and we ate way too much. It was a good way to end the day.

note: click on the pixs for a larger view