a blog about Kilt and her kids plus Trouble our JRT mascot.

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Sequim, Washington, United States

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Lamb Town

This is what I call a FUN trial.  I love a challenge and so do my girls.  The range ewes were challenging to say the least.  You weren't allowed to use a crook or any hand gestures.  You were only allowed to use voice and whistle.  Plus, at each obstacle you had to stand on your mark before the dog was allowed to try to get the sheep through the obstacle. Everyone got one try on Saturday and then they picked the top 10 dogs to come back on Sunday .  The silver buckle winner went to Bonnie Richardson and Gael.  Whoo Hoo Bonnie.  I enjoyed the trial very much.  There was great RV parking and a wool festival with all sorts of booths to roam around and shop from throughout Saturday.  I did do a bit of Christmas shopping and met some great people from Orland with 400 head of sheep who encouraged me to stop in for a visit on one of our treks to Sequim :0)
Kilt was up early on and did a nice job managing the sheep.  I wasn't sure exactly where I could stand behind the pen.  I understand the rules now and look forward to trying again another year.  The sheep turned and faced the dogs early on when they finished their outrun.  No problem for Kilt. She brought them down nicely, but they ran to the exhaust.  I didn't know I could move over to the exhaust to help her so we wasted more time than we should have there.  But, Kilt did a little training of the ewes in the corner.  Gotta love Kilt. :0)  There were 2 sets of panels and a single file Y chute and a pen.  The panels were makable, but I only saw one dog make the chute and I could count on one hand how many made the pen on day one.   Kilt had them in the mouth of the chute and pen...but no such luck.  Yoko blew out 2 of her front pads after getting them through the chutes.  I retired her at the pen, because she was dead lame and they were playing ring-around the rosie.  Yo wasn't the only dog to blow a pad.  The dirt was hard and rough from a recent demolition derby :0(  That was a first for Yoko and she was not a happy camper about it.  But, I told her it was a long way from her heart.



Piss on you...that's what they the range ewes had to say!

Heading one off at the pass.


Wanna make me?



Tom Trent's dog looking good at the 2nd panel.



"I'm outta here."


Bonnie's Gael almost had the pen, but Big Bertha had other ideas.
Note:  They were the silver belt buckle winners on Sunday!

I'd be a little more worried about the ewe on the right!  Ha!

"I'm done."

Bonnie's Gael looking good.  Bonnie standing on her marker.


Tom Spencer's King watching the lead ewe.

Lead ewe tired of being watched!

Steve's Tess telling the girls to get back on course.



I met up with a nursing classmate I hadn't seen in years while at lamb Town...made the trip even more worthwhile :0)

I got on the road early Sunday morning, because I had to work back to back 12 hour shifts on Monday and Tuesday and because I wanted to stop in at the Porterville fun trial to visit with Jim and Sally Oxford and friends.  I made it in time to get a non comp run in with Kilt at Porterville and to have lunch with everyone before I got back on the road to home.  It took me another 4 hours to get home because of one wreck after another on the I 5, but I made it by dinner time.  Certainly, was a fast trip, but I am glad I went. 4:30 AM rolled around pretty quickly. But,  I had a great time. :0)

2 comments:

Karen said...

I don't think I have the energy that you do:) Sounds like a great weekend though, despite the pissy ewes:)

gvmama said...

The pissier, the more fun, sometimes. It gave my girls some great experience. Glad to have a day off today, though.....