Shaker Village Open Day Two

The morning started out rainy and didn't change much for the rest of the day. Although the sheep were still relatively good, they were done with this game and wanted to go home. At this point, I do too. I'm afraid that although my dogs are running well, we are in a transition of handling and we are not where we need to be to pick up points this year. Sigh. I guess I will be doing all the kennel work at the national finals this year because I won't be running a dog.
Hemp is really trying to work with me with every run. We had a set that became difficult to line out after they had turned the post which caused us to do alot of flanking and stopping. He hung in there and took every move that I asked from him but we were low on our crossdrive.

Hemp on a challenging crossdrive
(photo by Debbie Bailey)

He had a very good shed BUT I screwed us out of 4 points. The judge had declared that her line on the third leg was not the usual line from the corner of the crossdrive panel to the center of the shedding ring. She wanted the line to be about 10 yrds higher than that. So there I am. Watching the line and forgetting that the shedding ring is off to my left. I saw the sheep pass a pile of sawdust and assumed they were in the ring. In front of me. Where the ring wasn't. So I stepped into the imaginary ring and then realized the ring was to my left and they were not in the ring yet. Oh, yeah and then I was going to lose them so I had to flank over and bring them to the center of the ring anyway. In total I lost 4 points for leaving the post early on a perfect shed for that little mishap. The sheep didn't run right in the pen and required a little persuading, it was still a good pen.

Hemp covering sheep
(photo by Debbie Bailey)

Scott and Drift were doing a very nice course until the shed. Unfortunately, they had a missed attempt which hurt their chances of getting in the double lift. Drift has been really good this trial but just hasn't been getting the breaks to get a real good score.
Maid was really laying down a good run and was having an amazing drive until right in front of crossdrive panels. And then... SCOTT MISJUDGED THE PANELS! The judge said they had no points off her drive until then but they lost 5 at that point. A good shed and pen got her an 89
Laddie was the last run of the day. We walked to the post and while I was looking up the field at the setting of the sheep, Lad left on his outrun. I noticed him a quarter of the way up the field looking hesitant. I figured if he wanted to outrun that badly I'd let him go but I thought I'd whistle him on. Before I could whistle, he picked up speed and continued on a perfect outrun. He had a nice lift and his sheep started to run down the field. They were slightly off line on the fetch but we managed to get them back on line and through the panels. We had a much easier time lining them out on the drive and Lad was trotting up the line with a pace and control I had never seen from him until just before the panels, and then he let go. He dropped the pressure and although I started flanking him to get ahold of the sheep again, it was too little, too late on my part and we missed the panels. OK. We got back on line on the crossdrive line and he started back into that nice pace again but just before the panels he stopped and let the sheep go again. I flanked him but again, I wasn't expecting it and was too late in recovering and we missed the panels again. We had a nice line to the shedding ring and an easy opening on the shed but the sheep started to flank around me so as Lad came in, I gave him a flank and instead of flanking on the single, he gathered the whole group. The second time this happened, I retired.

Open Day Two: (52 dogs?)

1. Bob Washer and Clare
2. Christine Henry and Bess
3. Christine Henry and Rook
4. Scott Glen and Maid
5. Paul Tucker and Brock
6. Becky Randolph and Trey
7. Lyle Lad and Tell
8. Linda Tesdahl and Jaffe
9. Robin French and Jet
10. Connie Brannen and Peach

The double lift was for the top 6 combined scores. Scott made it in second overall with Maid and drew up in 5th place. The required course was a first outrun to the right and a turn back to the left. Fetch around the post and go directly into the shedding ring. Shed off any 3 of the 10 sheep and pen them.
Maid had a wonderful first outrun and a good fetch but a flank shortly before the fetch panels goosed the sheep past it and they missed it losing 5 points. She had a perfect turn back and although the sheep were running like mad, they made the fetch panels and joined with their buddies.

Maid on the second lift

They had a pretty easy shed after a short amount of setting up and then moved on to the pen. Oh, the pen!

The evil sheep at the pen

The leader ewe would not, I repeat, would not go in the pen. She lapped it several times and tried desperately to rejoin her buddies that had been sloughed off. Round and round they went until they beat Maid who stopped two before they rejoined but not the first because Scott stopped her before she started to think of gripping. Scott closed the pen and they re shed and this time the sheep were much more amiable and immediately penned. In the end, Mike Hanley and Moss won the whole thing. Mike was the only other one besides Scott to get a pen and Mike's pen was perfect. It ended up being the deciding factor that had him beating Scott by one point.

Open Double Lift: (6 dogs)

1. Mike Hanley and Moss - 98
2. Scott Glen and Maid - 97
3. Paul Tucker and Rick - 88
4. Connie Brannen and Peach - 86
5. Christine Henry and Rook - 84
6. Vergil Holland and Brook - RT