Dog Trial Marathon Week #3-- Prairie Grass Sheep Dog Trial

Mid-May we made the short hop from Kristi and Cole’s to nearby Simla, Colorado, for the Prairie Grass Sheep Dog Trial.  (On the other side of the country, some of our friends were competing in the Bluegrass Sheep Dog Trial, but I think we had more fun, and we certainly had more interesting weather. )  The trial is held at beautiful UhOl Ranch, where hosts Mindy Bower and Kevin Hall made everyone feel welcome.  John and I came in a day early to help direct RV’s to the appropriate parking spaces and be available to help as needed.  Good friend Joanne Hardy was the judge, and did an outstanding job.  

Shortly after we arrived, so did the sheep, some 200 beautiful yearling range ewes.  They unloaded down the “ship elevator” and were moved along to their night pasture by Mindy and one one of her border collies. 

The sheep elevator is an interesting contraption; it can be raised and lowered to move sheep from different levels in the truck.  It takes some convincing to get the first ones to take the ramp, but eventually they all exited.  I’m told that some transporters have a goat that is trained to lead the sheep down the ramp, simplifying the process.  

Meg and Dutch supervised, along with one of Mindy’s guardian dogs.

The weather varied from shirt-sleeve to rain, a bit of hail, and everyone in parkas and rain gear.  The dogs and sheep loved it, though, even if we didn’t.  

On her first go, Meg was disqualified for letting her sheep run off-course and take refuge on the manure pile.  Her second run was much better, and she placed 4th with a score of 81.

Dutch had a decent trial.  His first run wasn’t spectacular; he didn’t pen his sheep, and finished with only a score of 57.  His second was better, and he scored a 72.

I was thrilled when both of my dogs qualified for the end-of-trial Double Lift.  Dutch had enough points with his two scores combined, and Meg qualified because of her fourth-place finish in Open 2.  However, each handler could only run one dog, and I chose Meg because this was her first qualifying Double Lift.  

We had a tough go.  She usually has a lovely, wide, come-bye outrun, but this day she just couldn’t believe her first packet of sheep were to the left.  She ran very short, and was nowhere near her sheep.  I recalled her several times, and finally resorted to whistling her look-back command and she finally went in the right direction.  She brought her first packet down, narrowly missing the fetch gates, and dropped them at the designated spot.  She looked back and, after going the wrong way, picked up her second packet and joined them with the first, again missing her fetch gates.

Her fetch around the post was orderly, and she had nice lines through her drive-away and cross-drive panels.  we worked hard at our international shed, but timed out in the shed ring.  We have lots to practice on when we get home, but she gave me a good effort, and after her two initial fetches, handled her sheep well.  

We also enjoyed watching good friends and competitors as they tried to complete the Double Lift course.  Brent Phelps and Rhys gave it a good try but timed out in the shed ring.

And Terry Murray and Dutch's daughter Pickle P. completed their international shed, but timed out before completing their pen.

Congratulations to Double Lift winner Bridget Strang and Bill, and good luck, Bridget, when you compete in the World Trial this fall.  Thanks again to Mindy and Kevin, and Terry Murray and Mike Lupow for a great trial!

Dog Trial Marathon Week #2

After our week at Strang Ranch, reloaded up and headed back across the Rockies to spend a few days with Kristi Cetrulo and Cole Burrows at their new place in Peyton.  Back through the tunnels we came, seeing Glenwood Canyon from a different perspective.

After a good run, the pups slept all the way there.  

We arrived at Kristi and Cole’s place and set up camp just in time for the second snowstorm of our trip.  The dogs again had a wonderful time racing back and forth, snow flying.  

We have known Kristi and Cole for several years, and have shared many a good visit and chilled beverage with them at various dog trials over the past couple of years.  

Their new place is lovely, with large pastures, expansive barns  and outbuildings, and a home under renovation.  Their view of Pike’s Peak to the west is breathtaking.  Since acquiring the property early this year, they have wasted no time returning it to what will become a perfect location for working and trialing their border collies.  

In progress when we visited was pasture improvement.  This flock of 100 or so goats from GoatMowers have been busy eating weeds to make way for Kristi and Cole to reseed with native grasses.

Their five dogs, plus our five made quite a pack.  Complicating our visit was the fact that Meg had just come into standing heat, and had to be kept separate from Dutch and Kristi’s Keg, both intact males.  The puppies, their two and our pair ran and played and ran and played and ran….until they were all exhausted.  It was a doggone good time for all!

While we were there, we had the opportunity to meet Kristi’s brother, Giancarlo and his son, Sirius, who were visiting from Florida.  Here is a photo of Kristi and Giancarlo.  

And here is a pic of one of our meals at Buck & Blue’s Grill located at the Latino Trails Equestrian Center in Elbert.  They make a fantastic hamburger!  

While we were at Kristi and Cole’s, I was able to to spend time training with Terry Murray.  Terry is an exceptional trainer and handler, and is even more special because she owns Pickle P, one of the pups from Dutch’s first litter with Jill Hefner’s Nan.  Terry introduced our pups to sheep up close and personal in a stall with barrels.  Both girls did well, and by the time we left were circling the packed pen of sheep with calm confidence.  Such a wonderful way to begin their herding education!  Thank you, Terry!

And,I ned also to thank Lise Anderson, with whom I spent a day working dogs at her Tabletop Ranch.  We were too busy for me to get any pictures, but I’ll make up for that the next time I visit, probably in a few weeks at her Tabletop Sheep Dog Trial.

And a very special thank you, Kristi and Cole, for your warm hospitality, and for the time we were able to spend together.  Can’t wait to see all you have done the next time we visit.   

Dog Trial Marathon Week #1--Strang Ranch Spring Trial

We loaded the RV, hooked up and on April 25 we were on our way.  Bit and Tess settled into the cave underneath the jackknife sofa, and Bo, Dutch and Meg were comfortable on top.  

Our destination for the first leg of the Dog Trial Marathon was Bridget Strang’s beautiful Strang Ranch just outside Carbondale, Colorado, for the Strang Ranch Spring Sheep Dog Trial.Our travels took us across West Texas, with stops in Snyder and at Coyote Keeth’s RV Park outside Clayton, New Mexico.  It has been so far pretty dry, but that didn’t stop this patch of prairie verbena from putting on a show.  

We made our way north through the Texas Panhandle, then across New Mexico past familiar landmarks,

then into Colorado where we stoped for the night in the lovely town of Leadville, elevation 10,154 feet!  Our campsite was the park where soccer fields and the rodeo arena share a parking lot.  No frills, no hookups, but an overnight accumulation of several inches of snow.

There was some white-knuckle driving on John’s part, but we crossed the Front Range of the Rockies, and dropped down into beautiful Glenwood Canyon.

The road construction which squeezed westbound lanes down to one didn’t help our Canyon experience, but did slow traffic enough that John could enjoy some of the views.  The tunnels funneled us toward Glenwood Springs and then we turned south back toward Strang Ranch and got our first glimpse of the mountains that overlook the ranch.  

Once we arrived, we had a beautiful view of Mount Sopris.And here we are, parked in one of the most beautiful spots imaginable.

The weather has been beautiful, warm days, and very chilly nights.  Each morning we work to see the icicle fairyland produced by the wheel line overnight.

This trial is a great opportunity to work dogs because it allows a dog to have 3 open class runs available instead of the usual two.  Because of the large number of dogs entered, each there were 4 open classes, and each dog ran three times in one of the 4 open classes.  Confusing, right?  Meg and Dutch both ran in Open 1; Dutch ran in Open 2, Meg ran in Open 3 and Dutch in Open 4.  

Our scores were nothing to write home about.  Dutch placed 14, 21 and 22 in his three runs, and Meg got a 32nd, with two retires.  We had a wonderful time, though.  There were 58 or so dogs in the Open class, so the competition was stiff.  The fields are beautiful and green, with plenty of challenges especially on the hill field.  The sheep were tough range ewes, and gave the dogs challenges of their own.  

Here are a few photos from our visit.