New Mexico Part 1

Well we made it to New Mexico after a long and uneventful drive.

Day 1 was very similar to Day 2 of Pauma. Day 2 was a major breakthrough. PIPER GOT #s instead of letters. It wasn't pretty but we made it around. I don't know what the # was as they were very slow posting and were not posted by the time I left.

Her outrun was very nice although she may have come up a bit short as the sheep lifted slightly to the side. The fetch was at a decent pace but offline most of the way so I am sure she lost major points.

The turn was the right way this time - I only make the same mistake once - and the drive away was pretty good until close to the panels when the sheep did not want to go through and there were some bobbles. We missed the drive away panels but were close enough for an attempt (at least I think we were - wait till scores) and the cross drive was pretty good with one attempted sheep escape low. She adjusted properly and we got the cross drive panels.

From there it was very smooth. She made the turn nicely and brought them to the pen under control and on line. One sheep wanted to slide by but she took my flank and kept it from getting more than its head past the gate. She had to stay tight and walk in slowly to convince them to go in and handled it very nicely.

So - it was not pretty but we made it around. Now we have to clean it up. Twq more runs here to improve on it.

Allison Holmes (she and Herb had Piper for about a month) told me she thought Piper was running very nicely for me. It was nice to hear from a top handler who has personal knowledge of Piper from before.

Weather today was brutal. Wind was constant at 25 mph with gusts. Brutally cold.