Fetch Gate Nursery '10 - Day One and Two

While we are in New York state doing a clinic at Roger and Heather Millen's Fetch Gate Farm, they hold a nursery trial every year. The field is a great one for schooling the young dogs in a trial. It is lush green with a gentle slope (unless you are walking up it, then it feels like a big slope) and dog broke Katahdin sheep that are easy for the dogs to see. This year there were 8 dogs in the trial.

On the first day, Rainey did very well. Her outrun was the best it's ever been and her lines were pretty nice.

Diane Pagel's Rainey

She had a little trouble with the drive away but other than that she did well until the pen when she had some difficulty getting them in. She placed 3rd on the first day! On the second day her fetch and drive lines were not as nice so she didn't place.
Scout (the kelpie) also had a good trial. She had some trouble covering on the fetch on the first and second day due to pulling up short on the outrun but her drive was pretty good and she had a good pen both days.

Sherri Purcell's Scout

On the second day, Scout came in third - a personal best!
Kuro didn't have a good run either day. Some dogs do well when they sit for a few days and some don't. Kuro needs to be worked and had been sitting while we were clinicing. Fortunately, since he was already qualified, Scott was able to use the time to train on him and fix some problems that he would probably let go if he was still needing a leg for the finals.

Diane Pagel's Kuro

On the other side of the coin, Jr./Sweep showed that he could do really well if he has some time to sit and relax between trials. His biggest problem had been his outrun and on this field he really figured it out. He had a great outrun and a nice fetch.

Scott's Sweep/Jr.

His drive was nice too except for Scott's mistake. On both runs he turned short of the drive panel. On the first day it cost him the win but he was still able to hold onto second place and get his first leg for the nationals. On the second day, he still won and got his third leg for the nationals. Very good Jr!

Bluegrass '10 Double Lift

On a rainy Kentucky day Don competed in his first double lift. He rose above what we were expecting from a young 3 year old. He made only one mistake and that was the little bit of trouble he had on the turnback and he crossed over before he committed to the lookback. After that he worked like a pro and got RESERVE CHAMPION ! Congrats to Tommy Wilson and Sly who won the whole thing.
For more scores go to the Bluegrass website

The parade of the top 20 double lift competitors

For the first time, Canada's flag was included in the parade

Scott and Don walk to the post

Don's first lift

Don's second lift

Don on the fetch

Don

Turning the post

Don making the first drive panels

Don making the crossdrive panels

Don in the shedding ring

Don keeping the two groups separated in the shedding ring.

Don and Scott finishing up the shed

Scott and Don getting the pen

Reserve Champions Scott and Don and Bluegrass Champions Tommy Wilson and Sly

Bluegrass '10 Day Four Photos

Debbie Bailey caught a few pictures of Hemp yesterday in his run...

Hemp and I turning the post

Hemp and I in the shed

Hemp on the way to the pen

Hemp and I at the pen

Bluegrass '10 Day Three/Four

Even though the day is not over, I thought I'd better update you on how things are going. Tonight is the handler's dinner so I may not have time to do another update when the runs are over. First I'll just say briefly that Maid's run yesterday was a little Western. Running sheep and finally she'd had enough and gripped on the crossdrive.
In the underclasses they switched to different sheep. They were now the rerun open sheep. Every year this gives the babies a surprise and this year was no different. Kuro's first experience in the nursery class didn't work out and he ended up with sheep back at the setout and one in a corner. When he ran again in the Open Ranch he got it figured out and ended up in 3rd place.
Scott ran Megan in Open Ranch and even though he didn't finish the course with her, (she sliced a flank on the drive and the sheep ran back to set out) he is really liking her.
I haven't seen any of the younger dogs today and they are still running the Open Ranch right now. The open field is hot as usual. It was a cool enough this morning that I was able to run Hemp without having to wet him down. He's been keeping a cooler head which is his main problem. He overheats himself with excitement before he gets to the post. He had a good outrun and lift and had a decent fetch. At the time of day he ran (and quite a bit all day) the sheep have been taking off to the handler's right and the fetches have been so far off line that many people are getting DQ'ed by the judges for being off course. Hemp never had any problem with that. I was proud of him holding his line. His drive was pretty nice too. We missed the crossdrive panel high and that was about the only thing that wasn't good and considering the wind was blowing in the wrong direction, he was really trying hard to please me. When we got to the shedding ring, the problems started happening. My sheep really wanted to start running. I've been told I didn't make it any better but Scott was running on the other field and didn't see my run so I had to rely on other people's opinion. I had a missed attempt and then after much running and flanking I got the shed. At some point in this run, Hemp got the idea I was mad at him. I thought it was because of all the hard stops I had to blow so he'd hear me on the crossdrive in the wind. A person who's opinion I respect said it was in the shedding ring. Regardless, the run continued to fall apart. Hemp was physically good but mentally spent and wanted to take a break. He kept thinking I was calling him off and tried to recall to me. I finally got him to regather the sheep in the ring and we got to the pen. We almost had it. Those sheep really wanted to pen but Hemp was spent and when I asked for a very important stop, he couldn't give it and we ended up timing out at the pen. I am not upset with the dog. I need to re-evaluate how I'm handling him if he's becoming sensitive to me. He handled the sheep well around the course and got a 74 with no pen. I know that I'm glad that I finally get to participate in one of Scott's shedding clinics this June because I really need it with both Hemp and Lad.
On to the Superstar: Donnie made the double lift! He got an 87 today and had to struggle for every point. It was hot and the sheep weren't happy. He made all his panels and had a nice fetch but it looked like any minute he was going to grip off. Scott said his drive was off line alot but from my angle it just looked a little bit. His shed kinda took Scott and Don by surprise when Scott saw an opportunity and decided to call Don in on it at the last minute. I didn't see his breakdowns but I know they accepted it and they made the pen look easy. I'm so proud of both of them. Don is very green at this (it's his first double lift) so Scott is going to take it easy on him tomorrow, especially if it is in the heat.
Scott's run dropped Hemp and I off the double lift leader board but we couldn't be more happy about the result. There were only 13 dogs left to run so Hemp stayed in there almost until the end.
Don't forget to check the bluegrass website for the younger dog's scores for today.

Bluegrass '10 Day Two

Sorry I didn't update last night. We went out to dinner and there was alot going on here at the trial so it got late.
Yesterday was a weird weather day. It was cool in the morning for quite a while but then got hot, very hot. Then a HUGE storm came in and poured crazy hard rain but cleared out about 20 minutes later and then it got humid and hot. If you look at the scores on the bluegrass website you will see the trend because the sheep reflected the weather.
Maid ran when it was still cool but the sheep are crazy in the morning (don't know which is worse, the crazy sheep in the morning or the heavy ones in the afternoon). Her lines weren't very good and the judges called a missed attempt as a shed. If you are not familiar with scoring, a missed attempt is usually 5 off your 10 point shed. If you then shed a good one on your next try, you will get away with a 5 point shed -as opposed to getting your missed attempt called as an actual shed and pointed as a bad one. Then you get only 1 point because it was so bad, even though it was actually a missed attempt. So that was what happened to Maid. Her shed got one point and they timed out on the pen. Their score was a 49 so they won't make it to the double lift on Sunday but their next run today could still give them a chance for day money.
Hemp ran after the storm in the heat. The sheep did not want to move. The 4 runs before us (with the exception of one older dog who got them off the top but didn't finish the drive) couldn't move them and the 3 runs behind me couldn't move them either. It was not a good time to run. Hemp had a good outrun and lift and then started to fly about behind his sheep so I gave him a steady and he laid down. (note to self and note to anyone else - DO NOT try to fix problems by training the day before a big trial - Hemp was running through his "there" at the last trial so I tried to fix it and ended up making him stop instead of "steady") This was a big mistake because once you have them moving you want to keep them moving. I was afraid he'd tire himself out before he got down the fetch so I thought I'd just settle him behind them but when he laid down the sheep started to graze and they didn't want to move again. I started out by whistling him up. After a few minutes, when that didn't work, I tried voice, asking him up. That didn't work so I finally started getting grumpy with him. I stressed that if he didn't get up he was going to get in alot of trouble. I thought about walking off but I've never made the walk of shame and I didn't plan on doing it on my strongest dog. We were losing ALOT of time trying to get the sheep re-lifted. One scribe told me that the Welsh judge, Hefin Jones, thought about calling me off, but when Hemp finally got them moving, he was impressed. As soon as I saw him shift them a little bit I started telling him what a good boy he was and kept him coming. I could NEVER do this with Hemp usually - he would lose his mind and race the sheep or attack them if I talked to him that much. It was dangerous but I couldn't let him lay down again. Just before the fetch panels I went back into regular mode with him and slowed him up and made the panels. The sheep like to jump over the fence to the handler's right and join the crowd for some reason so the first drive leg is dangerous. I chose to start the drive leg a little high so we could drift down onto the line and not get too close to the fence. It worked and Hemp had a great drive. He lost only 4 points from one judge and 3 points from the other. It was a very different Hemp though. He was a little fried mentally by that difficult fetch and he was actually very smooth and quiet through the drive. It allowed me to make tight turns and have good lines. When I got to the shedding ring, I knew I was about out of dog and didn't want to risk him in the heat. I decided to lay him down and see if I could maneuver a shed without having to move him much but I wasn't going to try to hard and if it didn't happen then so be it. We timed out in the shed. I was very happy with his try. It took alot of heart to move those sheep after he had stopped. (I wish he hadn't stopped in the first place but most dogs weren't moving them at that time of day anyway) He got a 64.
Kuro was the star of the day - he won the nursery class with an 84! He is now qualified for the national finals. He made all of his panels and his only problem was being a little low on the crossdrive but he did very well. We are proud of him! He definitely gets the "Most Improved" title from our kennel. I can't say enough about how good he was.
Jr. needed some help on his outrun and didn't do that well. He got a 50.
Rock, in the Pro-Novice class, retired on the drive but did fine leading up to it. We found out that the day before he had gotten a 7th place! Not bad for a dog who wasn't planning on going to the post at the start of this trip.
Lad ran early today. The sheep are very jumpy this morning and have been very difficult. I didn't think it would be too bad for us but we had a bad fetch line and although our drive lines were very good, the sheep were running and just when we thought we had the panel, they would jump around it. We missed both our drive panels and then in the shedding ring, they wouldn't let me or Lad near them. I had a big hole and called Lad in but he didn't come in fast enough and we had a missed attempt. I decided to call the run and retire. The score wasn't competitive anymore and the judges have 134 runs plus a double lift (plus they have been judging on the nursery field for 2 days) - I didn't want to waste any one's time. He had given his best shed in his last run and the judges didn't like it well enough to call it so I figured this wasn't getting any better. We are very sad as he likely doesn't have enough points to make it to the nationals this year either.
Maid runs later today, and Hemp has about a 10:30 draw tomorrow which is a good time to run. The sheep will be a little more settled than first thing in the morning and it should still be coolish. I will try to refocus and shake off the doldrums so that Hemp will have his best shot.

Bluegrass '10 Day One

Oh, boy! There have been alot of runs here today. I'll try to remember the highlights of our dogs. I'm sorry that I don't have much about other people's runs today but between trying to catch Scott's runs on both fields and my own run, I haven't seen much of anyone else's. I can tell you that on the open field, Lyle Lad and Shep had a beautiful straight fetch and on the nursey field, Ron Enzeroth was awesome running in the middle of a horrible storm and ended up 2nd I believe.
The definite hero of the day for our kennel has been Donnie.

Don on the fetch

These sheep are very hard to get off the top of the open field. They try to keep running around the dog until about 50 yrds high of the fetch panel - and this is a 450yrd or so outrun! Certain times of the day they have been very heavy. The weather started out cool and rainey. We had the BIGGEST claps of thunder I have ever heard in my life (yes, Bob lived through them although he didn't believe he would). Then, when the rain left, it got warm and SUPER humid. Now at about 6:30 it is cooling down. They are still running on the open field and are about 2 hour's behind schedule.
When Don ran it was still cool and rainey. He lifted them off the top like they were no problem and kept his characteristic cool head. We wondered how he'd react to these sheep because he is just 3 years old and has never encountered a fetch or sheep like this. He was off line to the right for a little while before the fetch panels but got them back just as he passed through them. He had a nice turn around the post and made all his drive panels, even with a clap of thunder on his crossdrive. His shed was quiet and calm and he and Scott made it look easy.

Scott and Don in the shed...

They were patient at the pen and made it in with no points lost. They have an 86.5 and there is still a whole day to go tomorrow but they are near the top right now.

Lad was our other open dog today and I'm afraid our run was a bitter pill to swallow. Lad was very good and people keep telling us what a spectacular run we had but unfortunately things didn't work out for us. It was blazin' hot when he ran but it didn't affect him that much. It was the first time he had done an outrun here at the bluegrass without needing help to get to the top and only pulled up a little short by my calculations (and Scott's) but the judges seemed to feel he was dramatically short and took 6 points off of him. The sheep were heavier at 3PM and so he was slow to lift but wasn't too far off line and made his fetch panels. He had a wonderful drive and got a 27 out of 30 points but our downfall was the shed. The sheep spread out quite easily and got to eating so I called Lad in and he made one pass through and back again on the sheep. I thought it was good enough (and so did Lad who turned to regather) but the judges are consistently having the dogs hold longer. So we reshed. And reshed. And reshed again when they finally called it. I had 50 seconds to make the pen and Lad was extraordinary there. He never let the sheep settle or run behind the pen. Back and forth as fast as he could he wore the sheep down (who were harder to pen than Stampede sheep) until they went in. THEN, I made the mistake of trying to close the pen a fraction of a second too soon and one popped out. It ran behind the pen and Lad got it and put it in without loosing the other two out of the pen but before I could shut the gate they called time. 63 disappointing points.

The lower classes have been rough but the dogs have now been up the field and should be better tomorrow. Kuro in the nursery, had one redirect on the outrun and just missed the fetch panels. His turn was going to be good but the sheep slipped around the post the wrong way. From then on, Scott did some training, knowing he couldn't place today but hoping tomorrow he could do better. He got a 65.
Jr./Sweep had a crossover but then had a great drive. Hopefully, he understands the outrun now and will show his talents tomorrow. He had a 51.
Due to a mix up in entering dogs, Scott decided to throw a dog in the Pro-Novice that he trained over the winter for Roger Millen. Rock hasn't been tuned up to trial but was game to give it a try. He finished with a very respectable 67.
Rainey is also running this evening but as of yet I haven't heard how she did.
For all of the scores check out the Bluegrass website http://www.bluegrassclassicsdt.com/index.html

Chinquapinwood Trial '10 - Day Three

The great weather has held out for the last day of this trial. Today we had the "ranch" class which was a combo of nursery and Open Ranch.
All our dogs did nicely with maybe the exception of Meg who didn't find her sheep until Scott walked out and helped her. (but once she found the sheep she looked really good) There is a hill then a dip and then the sheep are spotted on the next hill so it's not an easy outrun which makes us proud of the dogs who did get out there.
Jr./Sweep was first and had a good outrun but then was a little crazy on the fetch and not very clean on the drive.

Scott and Jr. turn the post

He did have a nice pen though and earned a 60 which placed him in 8th place in the Open Ranch but didn't get him a leg in the nursery.
Kuro was next and was very good. He had a nice outrun and fetch and drive BUT just in front of the crossdrive panels he took a wrong flank (there was alot of pull on the high side of the drive panels and many dogs messed up at the panels when they tried to cover) and missed the panels just short but then had a good pen.

Kuro on the last leg of the drive

He ended up with a 71 which put him 4th in the Ranch but SECOND in the nursery and got him his first leg towards the finals!
Roxy ran in only the Ranch class and with one redirect on the fly she made it out on the outrun.

Roxy turning the crossdrive and starting the third leg of the drive

After a little time to settle on the fetch she finished well and ended up with a 67 and a 6th place.
Last to run was Sava who had heavy sheep. Despite that she pushed on and did her best. Her final score was a 53.

Scott and Sava spot sheep

Tomorrow we move over to Masterson Park and the Bluegrass starts on Wednesday!

Ranch Class - 43 dogs
1. Vergil Holland and Scott 79
2. Bob Washer and Spain 75
3. Mary Thompson and Rio 72
4. Scott Glen and Kuro 71
5. Nancy Schreeder and Fox 67
6. Scott Glen and Roxy 67
7. Vickey Russel and Devi 65
8. Scott Glen and Sweep 60
9. Jan Thompson and Hannah 56
10. Allan Hickenbottom and Jill 56

Nursery Class - 23 dogs
1. Robin French and Bill 79
2. Scott Glen and Kuro 71
3. Mary Thompson and Frost 71
4. Maureen Robinson Hellbender 68
5. Chris Chambers and Molly 67

Chinquapinwood Trial '10 - Day Two

Day two weather was, if possible, even nicer. Cool but sunny and almost no wind today. Lad was the first of our dogs to go and although he was underflanking a little, it was really pilot error. I asked him for an away flank on the fetch to get the panels and he underflanked just enough to miss it but I just had a little slower reaction time and I should have been able to fix it. He made the rest of his panels, but my crossdrive was low and hurt me. We had a split, pen and then single a collared sheep today. Lad did very well on both of his sheds but only got an 84 today (out of 110).
Scott had a great run with Don. Really nice with great lines and made all his panels. Not much else to say about it because there wasn't too much wrong. His score was a 102 and stayed in the lead until the end of the day when his mother, Star, and Alasdair MacRae topped him by one point.
I was hoping to get some points on Hemp but he wasn't going to play today. He wasn't listening to my "there" whistles and was just running too free on his flanks. Just before the fetch panels he almost headed them and I never really got them exactly on the line the rest of the way. It continued on the drive when I got mad and abandoned the "there" all together and just went with hard stops. I actually had my nicest crossdrive of the weekend but I didn't like the way he was running. When we got to the first shed, he was slicing and when I called him in, he never really took control. He was lazy about it. I decided to retire but I was not happy with him, especially since he really needs those points for the finals.
Scott didn't have a great run with Maid but it wasn't the worst run either.

Maid turning the post

She was better than yesterday and Scott kept her pretty tightly controlled. She made her fetch and drive panels and had a good line to the crossdrive but it was a tad high and 3 sheep skimmed the high side of the panel while just one went through.

Maid and Scott on the split

Both her shed's were good and her final score was a 96 which was good enough for 9th place.

Scott and Maid on the single

Tomorrow we have the "Ranch" class which is going to be a class within a class for nursery dogs and ranch dogs.

Open 2

1. Alasdair MacRae and Star 103
2. Scott Glen and Don 102
3. Vergil Holland and Brook 101
4. Allan Hickenbottom and Vic 99
5. Alasdair MacRae and Nap 98
6. Bob Washer and Briggs 97
7. Emil Luedecke and Spot 97
8. Marianna Schreeder and Nan 97
9. Scott Glen and Maid 96
10. Jim Valley and Lita 96

Chinquapinwood Trial '10- Day One

Mike and Laura Hanley's Trial, just outside of Lexington, Kentucky is always a wonderful trial. In tonight's handler's dinner (above and beyond the small price they charge) they spoke of this possibly being their last year. I wanted to scream "NO!" Hopefully they will change their mind and they will find sheep again next year. This year's sheep are provided by Vergil Holland and are the same sheep we used last week at Shaker Village. I love these sheep. They are a crossbred flock that are healthy, fit and sensible. They are also very good looking sheep.
Our judge Linda Tesdahl, is doing a great job and fortunately doesn't have bad weather to worry about. It was a perfect dog working day. Sunny but with a cool wind that is keeping the temps in the 60's.
The course is on rolling hills that make the crossdrive dip quite a bit with a very tricky crossdrive panel. Everyone thinks they are high and ends up missing it low.
Hemp ran 4th this morning and didn't start out very well. I needed an away flank on the fetch to make the panels but he gave too much ground. I asked him to walk up to bring in that flank but he just slipped back behind the sheep which kept them off line and missed the panels. With the caliber of competition, I knew we were out of it with that panel missed. I usually walk off when that happens but I decided to train on him and see if I could impress upon him to smooth out. I felt like it was a good choice -we'll see tomorrow. We did finish the course and got a final score of 71. I did have nice turns around the drive panels which was nice to have because I've been working on that.
Scott ran Donnie in the late morning and did very well.

Scott sends Don on the outrun

He made all the panels (with a small panic at the crossdrive panel!)

Don on the first leg of the drive

Don was pushing a little bit and Scott had to get on him a little but he made his pen and had a nice shed.

Don holding the single on the shed

His final score was an 87 which put him in 5th place.
Scott ran Maid in the afternoon but she didn't have a great go. There was some confusion at the top and Scott wasn't sure what happend. She ended up overrunning the sheep by quite a bit. He had to send her back and it was sloppy enough that he decided to train on her like I did with Hemp. Maid's final score was a 75.
Lad's run wasn't too bad. He had a good outrun (I know- go figure!) and a decent lift. A few bobbles on the fetch but a nice turn on the post.

Lad turning the post- photo by Catherine Laria

He made both his drive panels but was a little low on the crossdrive.

Lad on the drive - photo by Catherine Laria

I had the sheep ready to go through the crossdrive panels and just needed a little adjustment but Lad, who was running a little more like Hemp today (pushy) overflanked and we almost missed it. It was an easy pen and then he had a nice shed which pleased me since that is another weak spot. His final score was an 86 and he placed 8th.
Alasdair MacRae and Nap won today with a 94 and Bob Washer and Briggs were just behind.

Open 1 - 61 dogs
1. Alasdair MacRae and Nap 94
2. Bob Washer and Briggs 91
3. Allan Hickenbottom and Vic 89
4. Allan Hickenbottom and Meg 87
5. Scott Glen and Don 87
6. Vergil Holland and Brook 86
7. Christine Henry and Tweed 86
8. Jennifer Glen and Lad 86
9. Robin French and Zac 86
10. Alasdair MacRae and Star 83

Shaker Village '10 - Day Three

I'm sorry. I have no scores. It's so wet that there was no way for me to write them down! There has been more rain here than I have ever seen. Don't get me wrong. We are still having a good time! It's really fun to try the difficult sheep on the hilly course. It's just so wet and boggy that we are uncomfortable. Quite a few people didn't get to run their dogs today due to the fact that the one lane bridge that leads across the creek flooded and no one could get in or out of the trial area. (Except Bob Washer who walked and waded through the water to get up here and run his two dogs at the end of the day - then, he walked and waded back!) Still, there was roughly 50 dogs run. Our poor judge, Lyle Lad was stuck judging from a golf cart with a tarp around it but she gamely stepped out of her only protection to make sure she was able to see over the hills to judge the dogs.
To make a long story short, Scott and Don tied with Paul Tucker and Rick with a 94. They had a run off for first place and Donnie won!
As for the rest of the dogs - Kuro was awesome in the nursery and he just gets better all the time and seems to have tons of confidence. I'm sure he will qualify any day now.
Sweep/Jr. - crossed over on his outrun but then had a great run around the course.
Maid didn't have a bad run but gripped a little in the shed as the sheep ran back to the exhaust. I don't know if she was called on it.
Hemp worked wonderfully. I was so happy for him as he marched those sheep around with good flow and went every where I asked him to.
Lad was also good and ran at the very end of the day with extremely difficult sheep (and had a good outrun!) who didn't want to move and wanted to go in all directions when they did move. Lad kept them together and still kept his lines and finished well.
In a couple of days I will try to bug Leigh Ann for the scores to post but it's going to take a little time for them to get out of here and cleaned up so I won't rush them.
Shaker Village has been wonderful too. They have been monitoring the water over the bridge and comped rooms at their hotel for stranded handlers. They have also been trying to find a way to get food over here. (we have plenty for ourselves)
Keep your fingers crossed that the water goes down tomorrow!

Shaker Village '10 - Day Two - Update

Claudia Frank won the first day of open in a run off for first place.

Shaker Village '10 - Day Two

OK - no pictures today. If you wonder why, turn on your tv and take a look at the Kentucky Derby. Rain, Rain, Rain. Oh, yeah, and thunder (those that know my old retired dog, Bob - he's doing fine) I will try to get today's scores tomorrow. It's supposed to keep raining but if I get a chance to go write them down during a break I will. Right now if I did they'd be nothing but smeared ink by the time I got back to my computer. I can tell you that Christine Henry and Rook have a 91 and Vergil Holland and Brook do too. Linda Fogt ran first this morning with Mickey and got a 90. Scott and Maid had a nice run and got a 90 also. Maid ran tight on her outrun and had to be blown out twice. Without that she would be in the lead. Donnie ran really well but was hit hard on his lift. I didn't see what the judge saw that lost him those points but other than that he looked really good. His score was an 87.
Both Bob and Hemp took really bad tumbles on their outruns. Hemp left my feet too wide and got on a road and was going too far up the hill. I called him back and redirected him and as he took off he must have caught his feet in the high brush and did a 3 summersalter. He found his sheep and was a little funny on the lift. I think he was trying to guard the draw but he kept flanking off instead of just lifting and going. He wasn't avoiding the lift, just over compensating for the draw. The sheep had gotten heavy and felt extremely heavy for Hemp. They grazed alot and he had to keep scooping up the lagger. Scott told me that even tho Hemp was trying to be good and was taking his flanks, he was "pulling a Pleat" and shutting the the sheep down by catching their eye. I didn't see this so obviously there is something I need to be aware of. The difference between him and Pleat (we compair them alot) was that Pleat knew and enjoyed doing that to sheep and Hemp seemed bewildered by the results. He finally gripped a hock on the third leg and then had a very nice shed before he ran out of time. He got a 73 with no pen.
Laddie needed 2 redirects on his outrun which he took on the fly so I was pleased with that. The rest of his run wasn't fancy but like Hemp he made all his panels. He came in on his first attempt at the shed but his sheep were jumpy and the two took off to the exhaust so Lad didn't commit to his single and had to go get the sheep and bring them back to the ring. His second attempt was good but his sheep raced back to the exhaust and hit the gate and opened it. Lad got right under their nose and stopped them from getting in with their buddies and worked them back to the ring and then we took them to the pen and put them in. His final score was a 74.
They postponed the nursery until tomorrow. Pray for less rain.