Sunday, September 26, 2010

National Finals '10 - Double Lift

It's in the history books now. Patrick Shannahan and Riggs are the new National Champions and Tommy Wilson and Sly are reserve. Congratulations to them both! Patrick and Tommy are gracious winners and Alasdair was very classy as he stepped down from his past domination of the finals. (he and Scott plan to fight it out for the win next year)
I'm sure everyone watched the webcast so there is no need to go into details about Scott's runs but I can add a little information from behind the scenes. Maid's rerun was given because she was unable to turn back without a crossover due to the fact that the horses setting the first lot of sheep stayed out to watch the run. When she looked behind her that was all she saw. The judges decided to give her a rerun but they elected to keep her crossover. It was an odd decision but Scott said they might not have given him a rerun at all so he was happy enough. Maid showed she could have done it perfectly and was one of only two dogs to do a turn back without crossing over (the only other dog was Spot) so it was unfortunate that she wasn't given the credit for it. We are just happy that the new way Scott has been training Maid is keeping her head cool and she still didn't grip today.
The other little tidbit is that one of the judges told Scott that until Donnie's grip (Scott said he got a little desperate when the sheep started to rejoin) he was in third place. Not a bad run for a dog who was only 3 yrs old this past January. Scott was very happy with Don. It was the most difficult trial he had ever been at and he showed great command of his sheep.
If you were watching the webcast at home and you noticed in the first few runs they didn't follow the dog on the turnback but followed the sheep, you can thank my buddy Louanne for getting that fixed. She told me on the phone during the runs that they weren't following the dog so I relayed her information to the camera man who thanked her for her direction and changed his camera angle for the rest of the trial.
Wendy Schmaltz and Gin won the overall stockdog of the year award for being the highest placing dog at the cattle dog nationals (7th) and at the sheepdog nationals (4th). She said she couldn't be happier. She's a celebrity now after her heart stopping run and it felt good to scream with everyone else when she shut the pen gate.
Debbie Bailey and her Huck (who showed tons of heart when you realize he was running with a torn tendon in his rear leg and still finished the course) won rookie of the year. Congrats!

Some pictures from today...

Maid and Scott wait for sheep

Maid pushes on a challenging ewe at the pen

She could have gripped but she didn't!

Half time procession - Cy Peterson from Georgia holds the Canadian flag

My favorite dog and handler team (other than Scott and his dogs) : Lori Cunningham and 2 year old Matt

Donnie studying the runs before his

Donnie stops a collared ewe in the shed

Wendy Schmaltz and Gin accept the All Around Stockdog of the Year award

The top 17 handlers and their dogs with the judges

11 comments:

gr8bcs said...

Thanks for all the updates, Jenny. Much appreciated.

Jeanne said...

Congratulations on an amazing finals! It was thrilling to be able to see the runs live from across the country. Safe travel home.

Joan said...

That was driving me up the wall when the cameraman kept focusing on the sheep at the turnback. I was very happy when that got fixed..thankyou!

gvmama said...

Don was amazing. I love Maid, but Don gave a stellar performance. His taking the away command for that 2nd group of sheep...I don't even know how he figured it out at his age. Scott and Don will be the team to beat. Wow! That's about all I can say....Wow!

Camp said...

thank you for the great recap Jenny..it was an exciting week for us...a memory that i will cherish forever..father and son in my first final..making it to Sunday with Huck, the heart you spoke of that he showed and then us winning rookie of the year in Open...wowie! blessed with your friendship..safe trip home..talk to you soon. smooches for my sweet laddie.

Dancing shepherdess said...

Donnie had an outstanding run, and third place, well deserved. I thought he was a real standout.

Dawn said...

I was watching on my laptop with headphones and my poor hubby came running from the back room when I yelled "Noooooooo!! oh crap..." at Don's grip. Well at least Mari has some new words to take to first grade today... hmm... wonder if Scott can fix THAT...

Hi to you both from WA,
Dawn

Donna Brinkworth said...

I LOVE that picture of Scott and Maid waiting for the setout. Love it! Congrats on a great performance with both dogs. I have put links to your blog from mine and Facebook for people to come visit the photos, they are awesome as usual. Next year, I would love to be there for the showdown between Scott and Alasdair, and to see all the great dogs. Great work Jenny with your dogs too! Donna

Monique said...

Thank you for the updates and the blog, and congratulations for all your successes.


Monique & Lucy

WalkOn Border Collies said...

Scott and Don will win Finals in the future and perhaps more than a couple times; they have an obvious awesome partnership. I predict they will dominate the next decade.

Robin French said...

Thanks for the blog Jenny, and the great pics. And congrats to Scott on Don and Maid both. what fun dogs to watch and i always learn a lot watching Scott.