BevLive: The Big One, Day 2

Last day of the trials and last blog entry. Today was the hottest day we’ve had since the double lift day of the Blue Grass, by the end of the day it was in the nineties and really sunny and cooking. The wind was a big factor today. When the running started at 7:00 the wind was in our faces at about fifteen miles an hour by the end of the day we’d worked our way up to 25-30 mph always in the wrong direction. Our suspicion was that the dogs heard very little on the gather.

The early runs started well and things tended to go down hill from there although all day the odd dog would have a good run. The winner came in the middle of the trial, my Joe with a 82. This was a large enough score to win the overall as well. Second went to Jean Gellings and Star with a 79. Third was Tom Wilson and Sly, fourth Bud Boudreau and Sam, fifth Robin and Zac, sixth Joni and Sage with Amanda and Monty finishing seventh.

Was a really great trial, good sheep, challenging but very doable. The hill and the great, huge field are the best. Amanda described this as “extreme dog trailing” and I believe she is right. These two trials are tough for all of the dogs, right on the limit of the possible. What a wonderful feeling when your dog actually manages to do the course. Getting a prize is nice but the point of these events is the accomplishment of getting dog and sheep around the course.