Heppner Sheep.
That alone should strike fear in man or
dog. Cagey yearling ewes that slay the weak dog or bolt from the strong. Too
much pressure and they break apart in numerous directions and too weak will
make them turn and try to mash your dog in the rich sandy Oregon soil.
So for the second time, Kathleen and I took the trek over
to Heppner, OR. I snagged a room at the local hotel and got a room in the
overflow house. It is a huge, stately house that is being converted into a
B&B.
It was quiet and peaceful and we pretty much had the
place to ourselves. We booked it for next year. Last year, our drive was over
an hour back and forth from the hotel to the trial field plus the worse Chinese
food, made me book this local hotel. This drive was maybe seven minutes. Plus
the food was much better around the area.
Saturday morning was crisp and cold. I put on my heated
jacket and tuned it on full blast, a common theme for me the entire weekend. I
layered a lot of clothes but the chill did dig deep into my bones.
Luckily for me, Kathleen has a van that heated seats and
we parked in prime viewing space. We
spent a lot of time in the van. But the sun did peek out; it was windy but
nowhere near as bad as last year. Last year, it was windy sideways, the cold
sneaking into your bones and stealing all the warmth and leaving frozen ice
cubes behind. It was below freezing and when it did rise about 32 degree, it
rain. This year, the sun warmed us and while it was cold and windy, it was a
pale comparison of the year before.
The field was moved across the street and it was a nice
but tough course. I like it. The sheep
were set out on the side of a hill, where they blended in, about 325 yards or
so. To the right of the sheep, was the setout and they wanted to break back to
that. To the left of the post were two huge rolling fields that ran out over
800 yards and fooled quite a few dogs to go over the second hill. Some of them
never did find the sheep and those who did, had lost a good chunk of their
time.
The draw was heavy to the right as the sheep came down
and some did manage to break back to the pen or run down the fence line near
the road. Once you did get them to the post, one would try to break away from
the three others, and if successful, bolt to the highway. The fine line was
tough as your dog had to convince them to move, and they would slip around the
panel. At the last half of the cross drive, they would start to inch up the
hill back to setout so your dog had to hold that heavy pressure, and once your
dog would turn them to the second panel, they would break down the hill or slip
on the outside of the panel. You couldn't leave the post until the sheep were
in the ring and then it was any spilt. Then the pen, which I think only two
people got the first day. The exhaust was across the local road and by Sunday,
they knew where it was. Tough range sheep which displayed your ?areas to
improve? and it was hard but very good for the soul. For me, it was about, what
was working, was I need to fix on me and what part of the journey we still need
to work on as a team. At least, since I have my pacemaker, I am able to
decrease my volume of my whistles and not be a second slow as I was all last
year.
Nan was first to go and she ran out swiftly and kept an
eye on her sheep. She is great at spotting sheep and it was no problem for
her. Nice outrun and I stopped her on the lift and she picked
them up slowly. She worked them down the
hill, offline and we missed the panel but she held them tight. They wanted to
break at the turn but she grouped them and started on the drive. I was having a
hard time, getting them to go straight so had a back and forth flanking but
trying to have her flank small than her usually large flank. Success was about
40% and we skimmed by the panel, made decent cross drive, missed the panels
again and then shed was clean and fast. One set bolted off so she put them back
together to go to the pen, when one squirreled to the side and I thought she
had tucked it in but it bolted and so that was the end of the run. In spite of
the DQ, I was happy with how she worked and that she had no issues in standing
up to the sheep. She was really leaning on them but she held them together and
didn?t spook them. Handler error on my part.
Maid was anxious to run and she heard Nan's run. I took
her out several times and played with her and she calmed down. I have been
working with Maid to get her to soften and for me, not to micromanaged her
until she gets pissed at me and grips. We have been doing lambing, putting
chickens away and general chores. Plus playing toss with her as she loves to
swim and bring back the ball. She has been trying to feel her way into the
household and her role in it, often looking to Tess and mimicking her behavior.
Since Tess has passed on, Maid has been doing a lot of the chicken work and she
has learned not to push them as well as listen to me. Plus her years of
experience with Scott has made her one solid dog. She wants so hard to please
me as well.
She was leaning towards the flat field but I knew she had
seen the sheep as when I asked her, she looked at them, then to me. I sent her
and she looked like she was going to the flat field, then at the edge, she cast
herself up the hill. I am sure she was
thinking, we don?t have these dam steep hills at the farm, only marsh. But the
trooper she is, she went out wide, got to the top, bent out and came nicely
behind them. She worked hard and part of the first fetch was nice, and just
before the panel, they broke to the right. Two sets, each of two were trying to
wrangle around her and Maid was calm. A ewe got in her face and challenged her
and you could tell Maid so wanted to educate her but she listened to me and
took the flank to turn her and held her ground. She slowly got them gathered
and brought them down the hill, just below the panel. She worked the turn and
held steady on the drive. I didn't flank her as much as I did Nan, (Thanks to
Scott Glen on his feedback) and we got the first panel. Wide turn but back
online for the second panel and missed but brought them down to the ring. She
was an willing partner on the field and we had the shed set up but time ran
out. I was so ecstatic on well her listened and how soft she was. She had
several chances to grip but didn't and waited for me to tell her what to do.
She got a low score for no shed and pen but I was very happy on well she ran
and how hard she tried to please me. In fact, she ran softer than Nan.
Kathleen ran Gael but she was
one of the dogs who ran wide and didn't find her sheep. She had an fantastic
Open level outrun and did her best but it wasn't her day. This team is a very
nice team.
For dinner on Saturday night,
Kathleen had heard about a restaurant in Ione, which was ten minutes away. We went
to it and had Prime rib, thick and juicy. Big, tender baker and corn. I was
only able to eat half of mine and waddle back to the van. I went into a food
coma shortly!
Sunday, the weather turned. It
was very chilly and windy. I got so cold
that I had to wrap myself up in a blanket in the van and take a nap to
recharge. I guess my system will always be a little off kilter due to the
numerous heart issues and I feel the cold a lot more and take longer to recover.
But at least I am alive.
We ran towards the end of the
day so watched the other runs. I was able to switch dogs so ran Maid. She ran
well on the outrun and the ewes were facing towards the setout. I had to flank
her over on the comebye side to get directly into their faces to turn them and
go down the hill. They had no interest and finally she was able to group them
and start down the hill. Three broke and she leaned heavy on the right side to
cover them and the last ewe saw this golden opportunity and spun around and
broke back to the setout. Maid did not see her bolt. I worked the three back
near the runaway, hoping she would join them but she wanted to jump back in so I
walked. Maid kept her cool as the three kept dancing about, trying to go around
her. She looked at me in surprise when I called her off but she was a real
trooper and very cool.
Gael was the next dog to run.
Kathleen set up so she was looking up the field, and she ran wide but stopped,
took a redirect but crossed. She saw her sheep then cast out deep behind them
and had a sweet lift. They tried to break to the right, but she held the
pressure quite well and brought them to Kathleen. They had to work hard for the
turn and did it. On the first leg, one ewe made a break for it but Gael took a
clean head grip, stopped her but was DQ.
We gathered the First Place for
Sunday, and High Combined for Scott Glen and Don. At least, we got to see them
and dreamed of one day, we might be able to call one of those our own.
Scott had left so Kathleen was bringing it to him. The drive was long and hard and we pulled in
near midnight. Getty unloaded the van while I passed out. Maid and Nan ran
quickly to the bed and snuggled next to me.
It was a good trial and I could
what worked and what didn't. I enjoyed running my dogs and had a good time. The
best part was that Scott didn't have to wear the Hat of Shame...."I sold
Maid to her and she sucks" at this trial, in fact he complimented me which
made me happy!
Pictures tomorrow.....
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