Barbara Ray: Soldier Hollow

The incredible view of mountains makes Utah one of my favorite places to visit. Wow, it was hard to focus on dogging. Amanda and I made ourselves quite comfortable at the parking lot assigned to handlers in Midway, Utah. We placed a picnic table between our campers and feasted on many fine meals prepared by chef Amanda. In fact, she searched about for wild flowers and made several fine arrangements to dress up our little heaven.

The running at Soldier Hollow was difficult as promised, given that the yearling range ewes were larger than anything my dogs have ever experienced. Stella in particular was intimidated by their size and lack of willingness to yield to her presence in the same way sheep at home were doing. Monty, on the other hand, was not intimidated but was drawn to their unwillingness to move and was eager to show them he had the stuff to make it happen. My first goal was not to puke at the post, second was not to buy sheep. Getting in the prizes would only be my fantasy.

On the first day, only Stella ran. She was tight on her outrun coming inside the trees and sage brush outlining the outrun. As one might expect the sheep lifted off line at quite a clip and it was the “catch ’em story” for the first third of the fetch. After making the panels at warp speed, we were able to settle the sheep and carry on with a decent run. My plan for the next day was to give a few redirects and protect the top end points. Sad to say, on her second run the sheep ran off their mark, way down the hill and hid themselves under the porch of the little cabin on the field while Stella was still early on her outrun. Meanwhile, I was ready with the redirects I promised myself but there was no need as she took a perfect route. At the top she looked for sheep and seeing nothing she cast wider. Meantime I looked behind me, hoping for a rerun but none was offered. Next I gave a return whistle, as I suspected Stella to be at the set out by now. Many whistles and shouts found her return to the field where it was obvious she had started to back track the outrun. I directed her towards the hidden stock where quickly she startled them at the cabin. It was off to the races again! Skillfully she made the fetch panels and proceeded round the field being tested by several of the packet. Sadly, the pen did not happen this time. Turns out her score was not nearly good enough even had we made the pen to place in the top five. All in all I was very pleased with this youngster’s effort. Hopefully maturity and additional experience will bring better results in years to come.

My first run on the field with Monty was in the heat of the afternoon when the sheep were at their crankiest. He too came inside the debris on the field but the sheep stayed put as he lifted them well. He responded beautifully to my stops & flank whistles. The sheep constantly leaned on him down the fetch changing directions as I asked him to defend. We narrowly missed the fetch and used valuable time convincing the sheep to move round the drive. In the shedding ring I stirred up the sheep far too much trying to force and opening. Eventually we got a good shed but far too much time was used so the pen did not happen. The next day’s run was similar to the first with the heat and testing sheep. Apparently I asked too much direct forward movement from the dog and this ate up time on the course again. Having watched some the experienced western pros I plan on flicking him around at Meeker to get a better result. At least the shed was an improvement allowing additional time for the pen. Unfortunately time ran out before accomplishment. Amanda pointed out I didn’t use enough dog at the pen and it’s true. I just didn’t know Monty well enough to tell if he could take the pressure without a grip. Amanda assures me he can. I will try to improve this too at Meeker. Keep in mind, this was our first trial together. My timing with him needs refinement.