First Bluegrass update

OK - I have no official information and the info I do have has big holes in it but I thought I'd give one update so people could get a feel for what is going on. The weather is cool so far but it is supposed to heat up. We've had on and off hard rain but it looks like it might be done now and the wind is picking up (not Alberta wind but a wind). So far, the sheep are winning on the open field. Carnage. The outrun is bigger than last year. I heard one person say 40 yrds longer and another person say 80. It looks like 80 to me. Alasdair is leading with Nap with a 94 and I'd be surprised if he was bumped today. I just ran Lad and got a 55.5 which isn't as bad as it sounds but there were some handler errors that were just stupid. For example, I sent him on a comebye outrun but when he stopped at 3 o clock, I whistled away to me. I didn't realize what I'd done until he started back to me and I thought, "Huh... He's never done that before on an outrun." Fortunately, he hadn't gone too far before my brain kicked in and I gave him a comebye, then he looked hesitant a little further on (can't imagine why) so I gave him one more and that was all he needed to finish the outrun. I heard we lost 7. He lifted and they took off to the right. He caught them and got them straightened out but had to re lift at that point and then I was afraid he couldn't do it. It took him a little while, and whistles were not enough. I asked him up once by hollering "Walk Up" and then tried an "Atta boy. Walk up." Which sometimes gets me into trouble because he might grip (or chest bump since Laddie doesn't really grip) but this time it worked and he brought them down the fetch fairly on line but missed his fetch panels at the last minute. Turning the post could be difficult and some sheep wouldn't go around so I kept a pretty big turn and had a decent drive UNTIL - after I made the crossdrive panels. There is a spot that is hard to hear down there (it's down a hill) and I was so happy to make the panels but Lad hesitated on my next flank because of sound (a huge downpour of rain had also started) so I had to blow him several fast ones because the sheep started to go up the field and he caught them but not fast enough and they came back through the panels! We lost one point on the shed (not sure where) and got NO PEN. I lost the fat, speckled, leader around the pen and circled it twice before getting them in one second AFTER they called time. His best moves came when he was exhausting the next dog's sheep after it had hung and drug on a single. Lad held it from going back up the field for a good 3 minutes and exhausted it without the help of the other two who were racing back and forth on the fence line near the spectators.
I saw Norm Close's run with Gwen and it was rough. Tough fetch but they hung in there. I didn't get a score for him yet. Most scores are in the 50s and 60s for those that even got one. Tommy Wilson and Sly had a 60.
Things are easier on the under class field. The big part is the outrun. I only saw a few runs and got no scores yet but Sleat had trouble on her outrun so Scott used the rest of the run to train on her and he said Whiskey was hesitant on his drive.
I'll get some scores up later and I'll try to take some pictures of the underclasses and Scott and Maid who are supposed to run at about 2:30.

Chinquapinwood Trial Stockdog class and Nursery

No fog this morning so we were able to start the Stockdog/Nursery class at 7:30AM. The morning started out overcast but warmed up as the sun came out. The course was the same as open, minus a shed. Tuque was the first of our dogs to run in the first class. Unfortunately, Tuque is not performing as well as she was a few trials ago. That's young dogs. They can't be perfect all the time and since she is already qualified for the nationals, the trick will be to keep her from developing any bad habits. After the Bluegrass, if she still needs it, Scott will get some more training on her to prepare her for the finals. Since the main part of her problem was her stop, Scott decided to pull her from the second class and put River in her place.
Sleat is getting better all the time.

Diane Pagel's Sleat

She had a good outrun lift and fetch and the start of her drive on her cross drive she took a wrong flank and missed her panels.

Sleat on the fetch

However, up until that time she had a nice and controlled drive but ran out of time at the pen. Her final score was a 67.
Don had an off day too. His fetch was a little rough and he made his drive away panels but his crossdrive suffered and his flanks weren't up to par. He also timed out at the pen and only got a 43.
Alasdair MacRae won the class with an 89! (that's out of 90)

Stock Dog Class first round: (36 dogs)
1. Alasdair MacRae and Hanna
2. Emil Luedecke and Lad
3. Vergil Holland and Scott
4. Linda Myer and Gnat
5. Alasdair MacRae and Sara
6. Vickey Russell and Devi

Nursery day one: (21 dogs)
1. Emil Luedecke and Lad
2. Vergil Holland and Scott
3. Alasdair MacRae and Sara
4. Vickey Russell and Devi

On the second run of the stockdog/nursery class the sheep got more difficult but our dogs got better. The sheep had been good this whole trial but they were hot and tired and just wanted to go to the exhaust. They got much harder to push around the drive.
Sleat still didn't get her qualifying leg but she is almost there. Her outrun and lift were good as usual and she pushed on those heavy sheep and only had difficulty right in front of the crossdrive panels. She did make them but it was very wobbly. Her score was a 74.
Donnie moved his sheep alot faster and was taking his flanks better since the sheep weren't leaning on him as much with the quicker pace.

Don on the fetch

This time he got his pen and ended up with a 70.

Don and Scott at the pen

Scott knew that the sheep were going to be difficult for River.It had just gotten too hard for a green young dog. He ran at the end of the class in the heat of the day when the sheep had decided they had enough. So his plan was to use the run to give River some training experience and retire him when it got too much. First we weren't sure how his outrun would go since he didn't run in the previous class with all the other dogs. Scott only had to give him one blow on the whistle and River corrected his outrun and finished it up wonderfully. He continued on and had a great fetch too. Many dogs lost sheep going around the post as they ran back to the set out. River kept his under control and started on the drive. He did a good job of trying to move them up the drive line. They wanted to stop and graze and River kept picking them up and moving them along but right in front of the panels it got too hard and he circled them. Scott helped him straighten them out and then retired and had River bring them back to him. River was pretty proud of himself and we were just as proud of him. He did better than we had expected.

Stockdog Class Second Round: (36 dogs)
1. Jim Swift and Molly
2. Alasdair MacRae and Hanna
3. Emil Luedecke and Lad
4. Mary Thompson and Rio
5. Vergil Holland and Scott
6. Maureen Robinson and Newt
Nursery Class Second Round: (21 dogs)
1. Jim Swift and Molly
2.Emil Luedecke and Lad
3. Vergil Holland and Scott

Chinquapinwood Trial - Day Two Open

The running was incredible today! The open runs just kept getting better. Today we had a shed, pen, and single so the points were out of 110.We could take any two on the shed and any single. The running was delayed an hour this morning by a heavy fog but by 8 AM the first dog was on the course and the day stayed sunny and in the high 60s. Scott was third up with Roo. His run was much better today and his outrun was perfect. The only bad thing that happened was on the crossdrive. The drive was reversed today and the crossdrive was harder to hit than yesterday. Roo made it through, but then brought them back through again. It hurt his points and he ended up in the mid 90s (I didn't write down his exact score)
Laddie ran mid morning. It was starting to warm up so I made sure to wet him down before I ran him. His outrun and lift were good again and his fetch started out right but the sheep were heavy to the left and I had Lad bump them to try and get them back on line. I tried this a few times and before I knew it I was missing the fetch panel. They needed only one hard flank and I just misjudged how much they had changed from yesterday where only small flanks were needed. They had become much heavier. We had a nice drive line but our crossdrive was too high. Almost everyone had to banana the line to make the panel but you could only do that if you were low and I was high so we missed that one. I made very large holes for Lad to come through on both his sheds and we did lose a couple of points on each for them but I wanted to make sure he'd come through. His final score was an 89.
Drift's runs started really nice but he had some difficulties on the drive. He had a really nice line going to the first panel but he flanked too quickly on his own and shot them past the gates. His crossdrive line was too high so he also missed those panels. Both of his sheds were pretty good and his pen was nice. Even with the missed panels he got a 96.
Hemp came to the post loaded for bear. He was full of it and I knew it would be hard to hold him. He had a wobbly fetch and he ran wide around the post which allowed the sheep to start towards the exhaust but he came in and prevented a disaster and had a nice drive. We made both our panels and had a nice shed, pen and single. He ended up with a 97 which unfortunately was one point out of the placings.
In the mean time, both Alasdair MacRae with Nap and Vergil Holland with Dally had laid down some serious runs. They were tied for first with a 107!
Marianna Schreeder had also stepped up with Penny (a Pleat daughter) and had a 106. Scott and Maid were almost last to go and tried for a 107.

Maid

It was a beautiful run but he was one point short of Alasdair and Vergil's runs and ended up tying Marianna instead. The good news was that 3 of the top 4 dogs (Penny, Dally and Maid) were all started in their early training by Scott so we were proud of all of them.

Maid at the crossdrive panels - Yes, those are crossdrive panels

Alasdair and Vergil had a run off for first place. There was not much wrong with either run but Vergil missed the crossdrive panels low when he attempted to make a tight turn and Alasdair made all his panels so he took first place. Well done Alasdair!
It is also worth mentioning that Christine Henry has been running very hot these last two weekends and is often getting more than one dog in the top 10.
They didn't get to the Stockdog/ nursery class today so I will post those scores when they finish tomorrow.

Open Two: (62 dogs to the post) - ties broken
1. Alasdair MacRae and Nap 107
2. Vergil Holland and Dally 107
3. Scott Glen and Maid 106
4. Marianna Schreeder and Penny 106
5. Christine Henry and Tweed 102
6. Alasdair MacRae and Star 101
7. Chris Chambers and Tag 100
8. Mary Thompson and Coal 100
9. Tricia MacRae and Cap 100
10. Christine Henry and Rook 99

Chinquapinwood Trial - Day One Open

Lexington, Kentucky. The first day of Laura and Mike Hanley's Chinquapinwood trial started with the open class. The day was overcast and rainy most of the time but at about 4PM the sun came out. Fortunately, by then the wind had picked up enough to keep it from being too hot. There was alot more humidity this morning but it was starting to dry out by the evening. 62 dogs went to the post for Bob Washer to judge. Vergil Holland's sheep were very cooperative and there were only a few rogues to give the dogs trouble.
Hemp and I were the fifth team to the post and I'm happy to say we are starting to get with each other. He had a good outrun but a wobbly fetch although he did make his panels. His drive away was similar and we got the panel but we were still wobbly. The crossdrive at this trial is very difficult and when you look at the panels you can't tell if they are your drive away panels or your crossdrive panels by the way they are angled. Hemp and I had a little argument on the crossdrive but things started to click right about then and we came to an agreement that angled the sheep through the panels at just about a perfect position. He had one of the few full point pens and when I pulled him through on the shed it looked like he wasn't going to hold it but I gave him a flank as he was coming through and he got in the right position to hold it. His final score was a 92.
Maid ran a little later in the day and looked good the whole way around. She pulled up a little short on her outrun and when Scott blew her over she went hard and fast and caused her lift to be off. She settled after that and walked her sheep nicely around the course, made her pen and got her shed. She finished with a 93.
Roo ran next and had a little trouble with his outrun and came in too early. Scott blew him out and we were afraid the crashing at the top might resurface because of the bad outrun but it didn't! He went deep enough and picked up his sheep well but took a wrong flank on the fetch that caused him to miss his fetch panels.

Roo turning the post

After that he settled down and took the sheep nicely around the driving part of the course. His sheep lapped the pen once before going in but he had a nice shed. His final score was an 85.

Diane Pagel's Delta Bluez Roo

While Lad was waiting to run the sun came out so I quickly wet him down to help him deal with the unfamiliar heat. Amazingly enough, he managed the outrun and lift with no help from me and with full points. He had a slight wobble at the top but settled his sheep and came right on down the fetch line. A nice turn and a little wobble going through the drive gates. His crossdrive was a little low and we had to banana the sheep through the drive gates but then got back on line for the third leg. At the pen, we had the sheep jump out of the mouth but we caught them before they could do too much damage and got them penned. I was a little afraid of the shed since Lad wouldn't come in the second day of the Shaker Village trial so I made sure we had a large gap with plenty of time to come in before I called him in and it worked. Lad tied with Hemp with a 92 but beat him on the outwork. (I know. That's ironic.)
Drift ran almost last and the sheep were getting just a little aware of the exhaust.

Drift on the fetch

He had a nice outrun lift and fetch but things slowed down around the post and he had sheep that were trying to dash around him to escape. After a few minutes of struggling, Drift took a dive at one but didn't grip. Unfortunately, it cost him some points but then he marched the sheep around the course with one of the prettiest drives of the day.

Drift on the third leg of the drive

He got his pen but timed out in the shed and ended up with an 83.
It is a beautiful evening and they are going to run the first 15 dogs of the Stockdog/nursery class tonight before stopping for dinner. Tomorrow they will start again with day two of the open and then finish the first Stockdog/nursery class. I will give the placings of the Stockdog class tomorrow when it is finished. Monday they will do the second Stockdog/nursery class which has 36 dogs in it. Tonight we dine! Laura is known for hospitality and the handlers dinner is always extraordinary for a mere $5.00. Emil Ludeke is making brisket and I hear there will be fresh potato salad and baked beans and a bunch of side dishes with Laura's mother's pies for desert. I must be sure to not be late!

Notice how high the scores were!

Open Day One: (62 dogs) - ties have been broken
1. Alasdair MacRae and Star 96
2. Dee Alleyne and Rook 95
3. Lorna Savage and Zoe 95
4. Alasdair MacRae and Nap 95
5. Scott Glen and Maid 93
6. Dave Murray and Moe 92
7. Vergil Holland and Brooke 92
8. Jennifer Glen and Lad 92
9. Jennifer Glen and Hemp 92
10. Vergil Holland and Dally 91

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.

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

Shaker Village Nursery Day Two

I think the best way to describe Scott's nursery runs yesterday is "improved". All the dogs are getting better. River and Sleat are pushing on harder on their drive and Donnie is looking more experienced each time he goes to the post.
River started the runs and he got to finish his first run ever! He lost several points on his outrun but he's learning how to handle the hills. He left Scott's right side with great confidence but then stopped himself at 3 on the clock. He looked around for a second and then, before Scott could whistle to him, you saw him go "AHA!" and he took off to the top of the hill. He did stop a few more times at about 1 on the clock but like the other young dogs, he was confused by the fact that he had seen the sheep but then when he got above them on the hill, they disappeared into a hollow. Scott helped him over and then he did a nice controlled fetch.

David Titcomb's Kinloch River and Scott on the fetch

They missed the drive away panel but made the crossdrive and got their pen.

Scott and River at the pen

His quite respectable score was a 71.
Sleat is also getting so much better and I'm sure it won't be long until she gets her last nursery leg. She's really looking good on her fetch and driving much stronger. Her score was a 68
Donnie had a difficult set of sheep but handled them like a pro. Scott said it took alot out of him but you couldn't tell on the field. He had to keep a leader in check and a wanderer in line and he did it with style and finished with an 81

Nursery Day Two: (16 dogs)

1. Bob Washer and Spain
2. Scott Glen and Don
3. Linda Tesdahl and Suede