We seem to be flat out with sheepdog trials at the moment, and Mayanup was certainly one of the most enjoyable trials I’ve been to recently. The weather was unbelievably fickle, with shirtsleeve sunshine one minute and blasting wind and rain the next. The sheep were big , irritable and well endowed with horns, and gave many dogs a hard time, and the Mayanup hillside course caused problems for others, especially on the cast, which is a bit longer than usual and incorporates an interesting dip midway up the hill. The pen didn’t get much use over the weekend, so mention must be made of Marianne and Coco, who were one of the few teams to complete the course, and Sarah Somers held up the girls’ team by getting two dogs into the Open Final.
I was pretty happy with my dogs.
Muddy found the sheep on his first run and then I retired, although he stuck and then crossed on his second run.
Pinky stuck on her cast both times- something I'll have to work on.
Queani did some good work (such an awesome casting dog). I think we made it to the bridge the first time out before she had a momentary brain freeze and crossed (working to the judge). But in the Improver she got them to the bridge and then, just as they went over, one turned around and Queani didn't want to walk up and push them off- understandable, since I was asking her to walk onto that small, wet enclosed space to front up to 3 large cranky sheep with horns, one of which was stomping its feet loudly on the boards every time she walked forwards. After winding off most of our points, she finally went up and over, bombed them on the way through, and apparently crossed just off the obstacle. I didn't see it (was too shocked that she'd gone over) and asked the judge if we were OK, and apparently she didn't see the cross either because she thought we were fine. But the office assumed that it was a cross, and hit the timer bell prematurely. So we got a rerun- which was OK, think we made the bridge again but ran out of time. The thing I'm learning about Queani is that she isn't pig-headed at all- she's actually a bit soft, but she shows her stress when I hassle her by bombing and swiping. If I work on keeping her relaxed, we get much better work.
Bill was a good boy- he might not be much of a dog, but I really enjoy working him and now we're getting some ground time he's starting to relax and work with me, so we can get some nice sections of work. He had trouble with the lift and draw both time, pushing the sheep a bit hard which resulted in one taking off for the fences. But we managed to salvage the unsalvageable- he actually stopped when asked, and looked back away from the sheep he had to the one away up the field, and took my advice on how to get them back together. We had some really nice work on the carry in both runs, and managed to get the race and even the bridge and made it to the pen on a pretty good score in the Improver, where Bill ran out of puff and the sheep peeled off all our points going around the sides. We still made a 4th place in the Novice. Considering how tough the sheep were, I was really happy with him- he even walked up on the bridge with a head full of horns facing him.
Mayanup 3 sheep Trial
19-21 September
Novice (judge- Andrew Gorton):
1) Bernie Jones – Glenview Ruth (BC)
2) Ray Sutherland- Swagman Cyndy (BC)
3) John Charlick- Grassvalley Magpie (BC)
4) Sam Weaver- Boylee Bill (BC)
5) Nan Lloyd- Badgingarra Rio = Ken Atherton- Badgingarra Tony (both kelpies)
Improver (judge- Germaine Seymour)
1) John Charlick- Nolan’s Gael (BC)
2) Ken Atherton- Badginagarra Tony (kelpie)
3) Ivan Solomon- Perangery Danny (BC)
4) Nick Webb- Morillo Toby (BC)
5) Ivan Solomon- Perangery Beck (BC)
Open (judge- Frank Sutherland, finals- Ivan Solomon)
1) Peter Gorman- El Shamah Ellie (BC)
2) Nick Webb- Morillo Toby (BC)
3) Ray Sutherland- Rocky Roxy (BC)
4) Ray Sutherland- Christie’s Tammy (BC)
5) Ken Atherton- Kiwi Knight (NZHD)
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