I was so excited that this year we were able to go to Jamie Spring’s Spring Ranch Sheepdog Trial. It marked the final stop on our whirlwind Dog Trial Marathon. All my friends have told me time and again what a great trial it is, and what great hosts Jamie and her husband are. They did not exaggerate! As you can see from the photos, it’s a beautiful, if challenging, venue that brought out the best…and worst…in dogs and handlers. Our open judge was Norm Close, and he must have been squinting to see the dogs as they lifted the sheep up that long slope. The following are photos of our hostess and her dog Monster. They will represent the United States on the team of handlers and dogs at the World Sheepdog Trials in Scotland in September. We are grateful that she shared her beautiful ranch with us and wish her good luck at the Worlds.
My dogs didn’t have much success at Spring Ranch, but we had a great time and got lots of good experience. But, a couple of strange things happened on the trial field. Both my dogs tumbled head-over-teakettle on their come-bye outruns in almost the same spot. On her first outrun, Meg took a tumble, but continued on the course and got behind her sheep. She wasn’t responding well, and from where I stood at the post, seemed confused. I was afraid she might be hurt, so in an abundance of caution I retired her. She suffered no ill effects from her tumble, thank goodness. The video wasn’t very clear because she was a long way off, but she turned a somersault! If you look close, you can see her white belly as she rolled.
Charly got a video of Meg's lift at the top from the set-out pens where she was working. I think Meg was just a little shaken up, and was also anxious because the set-out on horseback was pretty close to the sheep. I'm glad I called her run.
The very next day, Dutch ran 23rd in Open 2, and the same thing happened to him. Someone said there was a ranch road that cut across the field where we couldn’t see it, so perhaps that is what caused them to stumble. At any rate, I was very surprised since they run on very uneven, rocky ground every day here at the farm.
Dutch hardly paused, so I let him continue to pick up his sheep. His run wasn’t pretty, but we did get our shed and pen.
That was better than his first run when he gripped and was disqualified 😬.
On Dutch’s third run, we unfortunately drew a sheep that was clearly a bottle baby. She didn’t stay with the other four, and on the drive kept breaking away and running toward the exhaust pens. Dutch dutifully brought her back each time, but was clearly worried that she would escape and ran very wide on his flanks, wasting a lot of time.
We also got to get better acquainted with Charly’s pup, Jane, one of Tess and Bit’s littermates. She is a lovely, split-face girl, and she certainly has her father’s beautiful prick ears. With a little effort, we kept the sister-fights under control and managed to get a family portrait. That is Tess on the left and Bit on the right. The girls are now six months old and feeling quite grown-up.
It was a great weekend for reconnecting with fellow handlers, visiting with old friends and making new ones. Linda Lulias from Buffalo, WY, was there, as well as Dennis and Marlene Edwards from Sundance, WY, Barb Biller, Leslie Scruggs, Thad Fleming, Brent Phelps (from very close to home), Mike Neary, and many others. We really enjoyed our other next-door neighbor, Merry Klimek, who was camping in a tent. One person I don’t see much of is the legendary handler, Bud Boudreau. He and his good dog, Dot, are always an inspiration. Here are some photos from his and other runs.
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| Bud Boudreau and Dot |
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| Brent Phelps and Rhys |
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| Mike Neary |
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| Shauna Gourly |
We look forward to a return to Union Center next year.
