I went to a new trial this last Saturday. Some friends came over on Friday and worked the sheep so Callie would have an idea of what to do. I gave them my best trial sheep to work. These ewe are hardly worked and I got them from Cheryl. They are very nice and light. It was dumping rain so I did short sessions with my dogs, and then left those two to work in the rain.
The trial was just over an hour away, which was a blessing, and by the way, the name of the trial is Bless Ewe trial. Farm Romney, some with attitudes, some fleet of foot, some slow of foot but challenging to work. It's been a long time since I work sheep like these and my dogs need more work like this!
Nan ran first and was on the muscle....like really on the muscle. The first sets were slow but her set ran like deer. She had a wonderful run, straight lines and a super drive. Stuffed them in the pen and called her through for two sheds and she didn't hold and we timed out. These ewes have no desire to shed and I think there was one shed all day. The sheep were well fed and in great shape. Some of them were food enhanced! Nice ewe and beautiful fleeces. I am not a spinner and wanted to rub my hands on a black ewe lambs during one of my runs but that wold be a no go. Her fleechelooked nice!
Maid was second and her set was slow. She had to push hard and handled them well. She was slow to listen at part of the fetch but then began to work well. Nice first leg but one huge ewe fought her and she held her temper. Nice turn and start of a nice cross drive then she turned then to head up the field. I flanked her away but she wouldn't take a full flank so I walked about the time she had it with Grumpy. We worked well on parts and not so well on parts but the issue that I had before was solved when I had my lesson with Scott. Overall, she is working better with me and we will get it all sorted out.
Rain was late in the last of the Open runs and got a older ewe. She wouldn't move so I got a rerun. She gripped her hocks a few times to get her to move but she didn't even flinch. Her rerun was better but she still struggled moving the heavy ewes. She got them down the field so I walked to help her on the drive. Since I turned this time into a training session, we did the drive and then to the shed. She may have a hard time pushing heavy sheep but she had no issues coming into a wee hole and holding a sweet shed. She is a shedding machine. The ewe was startled to see Rain appear in front of her and she wanted to be with her buds but Rain held her ground. So her run was successful in my eyes and I was thankful for the rerun.
The day was wonderful, sun and no rain until the very end. There was a few nice runs, Lora with Bella laid down a sweet run for a score of 88. Lucy was second with 75 and Nan had 75.
PN was tough but the dogs rallied and there were some nice runs. Kathleen laid down a smoking run with Gael to show how it was done! They she had a nice run with Josh. She has been working with Josh to get some push and it sure succeeded!
. Darkness fell as the last run ended. Timing was perfect.
Too tired to write more but I had a blast. My friend drove and I fell asleep on the way home. I was the Course Director and it wore me out! Plus the cold just sapped my energy. I was going to take pixs but never did as I had to do the CD duty. I did take a pix with my iphone and it is a nice shade of black and gray. Bet you are dying to see that!
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