Getting ready for our sheepdog trial
We've been busting our butts for the past couple of weeks getting our place ready for a 3 day sheepdog trial on our farm. We put up the set-out pen a few weekends ago. Last weekend we put in 22h...
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My hand is healing nicely; the cut is almost just a scar. The thumb is stiff and hurts when bent in towards the palm likely due to damage to the muscle and a bruised bone.
My wife and I do most of the pre-trial work ourselves; we typically have the help of one other couple (unfortunately this year one of them was just in for surgery). So far the weather looks great for our trial this Friday-Sunday.
Friday & Saturday are for open (top class). Our farm is not flat; the sheep (2 adult ewes and 2 lambs) will be set 160' higher than the handlers' post about 225yards away. The fetch will be downhill most of the fetch with a small ridge of about a 10' drop halfway down the fetch. The drive is short (less than 100 yards) but the cross-drive is long (about 150yards) and it goes up over the ridge. After the drive/cross-drive we will do a 2-2 split in the shedding ring followed by a pen and then shedding a single sheep in the shedding ring. We think the course time will be 13 min.
Sunday is for the three learning classes each with progressively smaller courses.
Renee and I will set sheep for all 3 days using our 4 open dogs. We're a bit anal about how sheep should be set; there are only a few of the volunteers we would let set sheep for our trial. We have someone who will work the set-out pen and volunteers to help him. How the sheep are handled in the set-out pen is just as critical as how the sheep are set. Everything that happens to sheep prior to their run will impact the run; calm sheep is the goal.
Scribing can be VERY educational especially if the judge calls out points off when the errors occur. In our venue people offer judging clinics where they teach you when to deduct points and how much; it can teach you how to minimize points lost during your runs.
My wife and I do most of the pre-trial work ourselves; we typically have the help of one other couple (unfortunately this year one of them was just in for surgery). So far the weather looks great for our trial this Friday-Sunday.
Friday & Saturday are for open (top class). Our farm is not flat; the sheep (2 adult ewes and 2 lambs) will be set 160' higher than the handlers' post about 225yards away. The fetch will be downhill most of the fetch with a small ridge of about a 10' drop halfway down the fetch. The drive is short (less than 100 yards) but the cross-drive is long (about 150yards) and it goes up over the ridge. After the drive/cross-drive we will do a 2-2 split in the shedding ring followed by a pen and then shedding a single sheep in the shedding ring. We think the course time will be 13 min.
Sunday is for the three learning classes each with progressively smaller courses.
Renee and I will set sheep for all 3 days using our 4 open dogs. We're a bit anal about how sheep should be set; there are only a few of the volunteers we would let set sheep for our trial. We have someone who will work the set-out pen and volunteers to help him. How the sheep are handled in the set-out pen is just as critical as how the sheep are set. Everything that happens to sheep prior to their run will impact the run; calm sheep is the goal.
Scribing can be VERY educational especially if the judge calls out points off when the errors occur. In our venue people offer judging clinics where they teach you when to deduct points and how much; it can teach you how to minimize points lost during your runs.
