The Bluegrass Classic

Whenever I think about what it takes to put on such an incredible trial, I am completely blown away! It's like putting on a national finals every year...except even more challenging because of the second field running all the novice classes. I have never seen such a hard working group of committed people working so well together...simply awesome!

It was very cool to experience the "first look" at this beautiful and large field thru the eyes of some Canadian folks who came to the Bluegrass the first time this year. It is to beautiful, it takes your breath away each year as you step up to the fence and have your first look.

The flock of 600+ Texas lambs who have never been worked by dogs, nor handled much by people are challenging, to say the least. They have no leader, so bringing your three lambs who desperately want to get back to their flock resting safely in the holding pens, down the 450 yd fetch is not for the feint of heart or weak of dog. Every dog gave it their best shot, and we all hoped that every dog would figure out how to keep those sheep from breaking back to the set out pens. Some were not blessed with the skill, combined with lots of luck, that it took to accomplish this daunting task and sadly had to be called off by their handlers. All of us shared the pain of those handlers who did not get a chance to try to negotiate that amazing course with their wonderful partners.

I have enjoyed putting down some really good runs at the Bluegrass with my dogs over the years, starting with Dallas, then Russell, now Maya..but I have never been able to put two great runs together to make it into the Top 20 Double Lift Finals...until this year! I could not be more proud of my partner, Maya, for the excellent job she did handling those sheep on this great course! She lifted those lambs and started them down the fetch line with the finesse of a much more experienced dog, handled the drives well, and finished up with great sheds and pens both runs. Her two scores of 75 and 73, combined 148, earned her a spot in the Top 20 right in the middle of that field of some of the best dogs and handlers in north america. Holy cow! I am so pleased, and so proud of her...words cannot express...I took a shot of the top twenty leader board as a memento:

Joe was so excited that we made the top 20, he decided to drive down Saturday night to be there to support us for Sunday's run. I couldn't have been happier than to have Joe there with us!

The day dawned chilly, cloudy and rainy...and eventually turned over to a steady rain most of the day. Great for running dogs...much better than high temps and sunny...or stormy. The course is a full 30 minutes, so the cool rainy weather was perfect! Saturday evening the handlers drew their number to determine the running order, and when I opened up my draw and saw "20", I groaned...I didn't want to be the first...nor the last. But, oh well...that's the way it is!

The presentation ceremony was awesome, as the Canadian and American flags and anthems were presented...and each of the 20 teams was introduced to the large crowd of spectators...it was so very cool!! And inspiring to feel so much support from my fellow handlers as well as the spectators.

So, after a long day of watching and waiting, it was finally our turn to step to the post...the long awaited last run of the day. I knew I was going to have a bit of trouble getting Maya to focus on the first lot of sheep, set way to the left on the hill, because she was focused on the distant soccer field where kids were having their tournament, in the field beyond the trial field. She could see the kids in their white jerseys running around, and was certain those were the sheep. I tried everything I could to get her to see the sheep on the left hill, but I had to send her knowing she was not aware of where they were. I hoped a bendout would help her to get out to the far left once she left my feet...but no luck...she was determined to go for the soccer kids and as she passed to the inside of the sheep, she saw them and swept around, getting behind them and doing a great job of lifting and listening as we negotiated the dog-leg fetch with precision right to the gates and to the drop off point. Now, I had a plan to help her leave her first lot of sheep to turn back for the second lot, but she would have no part in leaving her sheep...thinking I was cracked, asking her to leave sheep on a trial field. After spending several minutes trying to convince her to turn back, I decided that it was not going to happen, and retired. Definitely not the run of my dreams...but I am so happy to have the opportunity to give it a go...and I plan on doing some "turn back" homework before the finals!!

Going in to the double lift round, I knew that the worst possible thing that could happen is that we made it into the finals at the Bluegrass!!!  How cool is that?

The winners of the day were Tommy Wilson and Sly...they had an awesome run that was a privilege to watch. Scott Glen and Don were reserve, and Linda Fogt with Mickey were 3rd.

My good friend and supporter, Nancy, couldn't be there, but she came over Wed to work dogs and have lunch...so she made me leave the house while she prepared the lunch, which turned out to be a "Leaderboard Luncheon".

The theme was the Top 20 Double Lift Leaderboard. We had a festive center piece with a print out of the top 20. We had blue corn chips and blueberry scones for the "bluegrass". Then we had two footlong subway sandwiches for the "double lift". The comedy of the lunch was the animation of the look back, demonstrated by two pimento-stuffed olives representing the eyes, stuck into blocks of cheese with toothpicks as holders...the animation: turning the tooth picks so the "eyes" of the olives looked back to the other set of sheep.  It was so corny and funny, and sweet...what a great friend!  Maya got to indulge in a big hunk of cheese as we enjoyed the sandwiches and chips!

Wow...what a great couple of weeks...the only thing keeping me from floating above the ground is the pain caused by wrenching my lower back while cleaning out the stock tank on Monday. I couldn't stand up straight for two days, but I'm slowly getting better. Hopefully I'll be good by next week when we leave for Minnesota and North Dakota trials...

Three Sisters SDT

We had a blast at the Three Sisters Land of Lincoln SDT the 2nd weekend in May! The weather was a range of really nice on Friday, crazy windy on Saturday and not so bad on Sunday. The trial ran smooth as usual, and there were a LOT of runs to get thru over the weekend...but we actually finished up around 2:00 on Sunday, so a tight schedule was kept for three days. Great job by the organizers and volunteers!!

Finding the sheep was challenging, as they were set out in a field adjacent to the main field, with different ground cover which was about the same color as the sheep. So, not only was it challenging to see the sheep, but it appeared to the dogs that the field ended in a waterway about 75 yds in front of the sheep. The cheviot-cross mule ewes were as clever as always, and did a great job of figuring out how to beat the dogs back to the set out pens which were to the side, but in line with the fetch, in front of the sheep set out post. Their commitment to rejoining their friends peaked on Sunday, when it seemed that half the Open teams retired or dq'd.

Luc and Sue, just starting their Open trialing segment of their career, did a great job of figuring out where the sheep were set, with my help on their first runs. Luc lost his sheep as they ran like mad to the set out, and his "ca-ca" to  keep a determined ewe from jumping the fence did not work. His second run showed how much he learned, as he neatly found the sheep, lifted and fetched them beautifully down the field. We timed out trying to pen a ewe who would not even look into the pen...but Luc did a great job of trying!

Sue did a wonderful job of lifting and fetching the sheep her first time out, with a nice drive, pen and shed. I was very proud of her -- her first Open run! On Sunday, she cast out well, lifted beautifully, then over-compensated for the strong pull to the set out pens by holding the sheep to the right of the fetch gates keeping them offline the entire fetch as she brought them at way too fast a pace and wouldn't take a lie down. The turn was challenging with Sue on the muscle and working hard not to let the sheep escape. I retired on the drive away, but was very happy with Sue's outrun and lift.

Maya had two good runs, handling the sheep and the course like an old pro, in spite of her tender age and relative lack of experience. She made the sheep and the course look easy! Her two good runs earned her the Open High in Trial award for the weekend -- a beautiful desk set with brass border collie and sheep. She got a special beef treat at home!

A great way to start the spring trial season!