BevLive: Hebrides, Day Three

Our B&B was hospitable but very English, a bit of a disappointment in northern Skye. Went to bed in the rain and woke up in the fog. Looks just like all the photos of Skye.

We drove about half an hour on a single-track road toward Waternish, worried we’d never find the dog trial since we had no directions. No fear. There it sat on the side of the road, covered exhaust and wood pallets for the gates all surrounded by stone walls and the Atlantic. Beautiful. Perfect.

I ran Joe first and he did pretty well. A bit strong on the top but since the fetch was about three hundred yards I got hold of him by the fetch gates. The rest was fairly good except a ewe cut around behind me on the shed and we had to do it. Then he had to grab a sheep on the exhaust job.
Not so good.

The running was very tough in the morning–only two sheds and many bad outruns, crossovers, and sheep not found. The field isn’t awfully large but the dogs don’t seem to be able to see the sheep once they start the outrun, causing much confusion for some of them. The afternoon went much better, with a couple of really nice goes. Since there was no run order and we knew no one it was hard to tell who was doing well.

Sue and Flo had trouble with the outrun and Sue ended up walking up the field. Jim and Shirley Cropper are here. Jim’s first run was a bit rough with no chute. Sheep were very resistant to going through it. Shirley did better but timed out before the shed.

Afternoon didn’t improve much. Began to rain with more enthusiasm and the sheep continued to win. Nan in a moment of monumental stupidity crossed over. I finished the run, as most everyone was doing, as opportunities to work are going to be very limited. Needless to say, she never put a foot wrong. Sue and Peat didn’t fare any better with another cross over. Did I say the outrun was very tricky?

Had a great dinner at a local pub with several other handlers and the Croppers. Then back to the B&B after a moderately foggy drive.