Snowbirds 2010 - 2011

Okay so this post is somewhat delayed mainly because I came down with a case of the flu during the trial and was too under the weather to think about posting for a week.

The Snowbirds On the Border Trial at Jennifer's over New Years weekend was a great success.

I had a - for me - unique perspective from the position of course director. The course director position forces a unique viewpoint of always looking at the big picture of how the trial is going (is there going to be enough light to finish) and attention to all details (is that sheep setting right for a fair run). I learned the job entailed a bit of everything - from the basics of keeping an eye out for the next few handlers in the running order to keep things running smoothly - to runaway ewe rescue - to consulting on course changes - to fielding complaints. I got a small taste of the complaints received by every trial host ranging from - course 1 is too hard to course 2 is like a Pro Novice course (amazingly sometimes from the same people). But there were also the very gracious thank you's which were greatly appreciated even though most of the hard work was done by others - primarily Jennifer and Ron.

A big Thank You to our Judge Bob Washer from KY who was a real pleasure to work with. Bob will be judging Soldier Hollow later this year so I wish him well there. He also has a big hand in the annual Bluegrass trial.

The first round of Open was a right hand turn and cross drive toward the pool house on Jennifer's field. The pool house area proved to be a major draw for the sheep both on the fetch and on the cross drive. During Round 1 several handlers lost a stray single to this area and so we decided - after discussing among Jennifer, Bob and myself to change the course for Round 2 to minimize this draw. I was very happy that despite my obvious relative inexperience my input into this decision was accepted and considered. In fact, one of the changes was actually my somewhat unorthodox idea and it seemed to work out just fine.

The Mirk award - for top open dog over the two trials combined - went to Mike Meredith and his dog Gus and it was well deserved. Candy Kennedy won Round one of the Open with her dog Moss. Mike Meredith and Gus took Round 2. Special note to Amelia Smith and her nursery dog Star who qualified for the Nursery Nationals the hard way - finishing third in both Round One and Round Two of Open.

As for my own dogs - I ran Piper in Pro Novice and Rylee in Nursery. Rylee's Nursery Run was my first ever in an actual sanctioned trial and so now I am an official USBCHA Member.

Because Rylee and I have not "teamed up" on driving yet we went to the post with a definite plan of - get the sheep to my feet and make the turn then retire. I did a poor job setting her up and Rylee crossed over to start away before being called back to my feet and resent bye. Initial forfeiture of 19 points. But after the restart she was fabulous - would have been a 0 off outrun but for the start - walked in calmly on the tough range sheep and lifted them quietly for 1 off the lift. She then settled in on the pressure and brought the sheep calmly to my feet for only 2 off the the fetch. She even took my directional adjustments and made a nice turn at the post and the sheep were pointed on line and moving toward the drive away panel when I walked and gave her a come bye command to exhaust the sheep. I was approached by at least one person afterwards wondering why I retired. After explaining that was the plan all along this person said it would still have been hard to retire given how well the run was going. But we did not want Rylee in over her head and it would not have been worth it for one score. Her second run the outrun was a replay of the first and she gripped on the lift.

As for Piper - this proves the value of a training diary like this. Last year in two runs we had a wild bottom half of the fetch not controlling the turn on the bottom for an out of bound DQ on the first run. Our second run was a failure to launch - no lift. Comparatively speaking this year was a big improvement. Our first run was actually one of our best overall runs right up to the point where we gripped/DQd at the pen. Zero _Zero - 6 on the outwork and a nicely controlled turn at the bottom. Eight off the drive and pretty good lines. I was very happy with her and if we had simply timed out instead of gripping at the pen we would have taken 4th place. Second roun the outwork was very similar but I got stupid at the drive away panel and blew what started as a good drive with over flanking. 22 off the drive. Finished with a 52 - 15th out of 43. Overall happy with her.