Movin' On

We've spent the last couple of days enjoying the hospitality of Vergil and Anne Marie Holland just outside of Lexington, Kentucky. The working dogs have had a chance to get some practice time on sheep and the pups, teenage dogs, retired dogs and slacker dogs have had a chance to relax.

Scott discussing trial strategies with, PR Syn, the next generation of Alta-Pete dogs

Tomorrow we go over to the south side of Lexington to Mike and Laura Hanley's farm. Their Chinquapinwood (I dare you to try and pronounce that) trial is starting on Saturday. They are using Vergil Holland's sheep from the Bluegrass flock. Vergil has been giving these sheep a vacation for a week or two so they are not the same sheep that everyone has been practicing on at his farm. I have worked on Vergil's Bluegrass flock in the past and have always found them to be sensible which is a sign of being worked with well trained dogs. Of course, Laura's field is a little tricky so it won't be easy. It is not a wide field and has a slightly sloped crossdrive that makes the panels hard to hit.
This trial is a popular warm up for the Bluegrass so it is no surprise that there are 63 open dogs. The underclasses have been combined into what Laura calls the "stockdog class". This is a full course with no shed that is often called a Pro-Novice in the west and an Open Ranch in the east. It is also a class within a class for nursery so that if you are running nursery your stockdog class run will count for that too.
Although beautiful, this trial is in a holler back in the woods so I'd be very surprised if I had reception to post on the blog. If I can get some results up on Saturday I will, otherwise I will have it posted on Tuesday when we move our campsite over to the Bluegrass trial.