Speaking of Sheep

I barely had time to catch my breath before it was time to load Cody, leave the farm and head south for our first-ever-together sheep herding trial at Destiny Farm in Bertram, TX.  We spent Friday night at our home in Volente, then bright and early were in Bertram greeting friends and preparing for our run.  The weather cooperated…somewhat.  It wasn’t raining, but it was damp and the south wind was sharp.  Hot coffee and the big, enclosed barn were welcome.  

Cody and I were scheduled to run third out of 11 entries in the first of the two trials, so we didn’t have much time to be nervous.  Cody was excited, though.  His lower jaw was quivering as it always does when he is anticipating contact with sheep.  While we were at the post waiting for the sheep to be brought out and “set” for his run, he kept looking up at me, willing me to give him the signal to start.  He is a good boy, though.  He waited for my “come bye” command, and then was off like a shot, running wide and deep so he wouldn’t startle the sheep.  Just before he reached the balance point (where the sheep are directly between him and me), I whistled him to a stop.  Then, at my “walk up” whistle, he moved slowly toward the five sheep and “lifted” them toward me. Here are a couple of pics of Cody and me from the first trial.

After lifting the sheep, the course called for Cody to bring the sheep around the handler’s post (shown in the first photo above), through a set of panels, and back to the pen.  He listened well and we completed the course in fairly good order.  I have a lot to learn though.  Cody and I are still working on our communications, but we had a great time and took second place in the first trial and seventh in the second.  I won't say much about the second trial.  It didn't exactly qualify as a "cluster" but it came close a couple of times.  Much to work on for us.  

Sheryl McDonald's Destiny Farm is a great venue and the volunteers from the Texas Herding Association did a good job keeping everything running smoothly.  It was a small trial in terms of numbers, but a wonderful opportunity for some of the less-experienced handlers and dogs to get some "sheep time" under excellent judges Dal Lamphere and Felicia Whalen.  

Here are pictures of some of our friends and their dogs.

Below are Lindsey Posner Williams and her good little dog, Tom.  They had an outstanding run, and took a well-deserved first place.  I don't know if you can see or not, but Lindsey is wearing a serious-looking brace on her left leg.  She had knee surgery a couple of weeks ago, but wasn't going to be kept off the trial field!

Below are Reed Lamphere and his dog, Preacher.  They weren't competing, but did a great job "exhausting" the sheep after each run.  I enjoyed visiting with Reed and meeting Preacher, a very nice young dog and a half-brother to Cody. 

Check back in a couple of days for more photos.  At least one other person was taking pictures, but they haven’t been posted yet.  And stay tuned…Cody and I are scheduled to compete in another trial in mid-March.

Come on, Baby, Light My Fire!

John and I teamed up with Allan and Jef and our Cousin Eric for a red-hot Valentine’s Day Weekend.  Feeling confident after our prescribed burn a couple of weeks ago, we filled the drip torches and the water tanks on the back of the tractor and gator and over two days did two more prescribed burns on the small pasture between the creek and the goat shed, and extending between the road and the southwest border of the coastal Bermuda field. 

John and Allan were the “igniters,” and Jef, Eric and I were the “suppressors.”  We had a couple of exciting moments when the blaze threatened to move into the coastal Bermuda field, but Jef and the tractor laid down a wet line inside the fence, and I followed in the gator to take care of any errant flare-ups.  John’s well-laid burn plans worked well, and we destroyed lots of briars and small, invasive gum bumilia saplings.  

We weren't the only ones pleased with the results of our efforts.  After we completed the burns and were walking the area, we saw this beautiful American kestrel perched in a tree overlooking the pasture.  He took advantage of the reduced vegetation to go hunting, and swooped down several times in pursuit of prey on the ground.

It was a good day!

WooHoo!!!

We arrived at the farm yesterday afternoon and were so glad to see General back with his family.  His hoof appears to have healed nicely, and he’s walking without a limp, thank goodness. 

To make things even better, our #2 cow and B1 both have new babies, born yesterday or early this morning.  #2 has a little bull calf.  After making us wait weeks, I think she looks very proud of him.

B1’s baby was “hiding” in the tall grass and didn’t move anything but its eyes when we came up to say hello.  We’ll find out if its a him or a her in a few days when they rejoin the other cattle.  

Both cows are wonderfully gentle, and were unconcerned when we approached to check on the new arrivals.  B1 even stood quietly while Kota walked up, and only lowered her head and took a step when Kota got within 4-5 feet.  

The “icing on the cake” is that we got 2.5 inches of badly-needed rain over the last couple of days.  The stock tanks didn’t catch much, but the winter grass and tiny bluebonnets will come on quickly when the weather warms.  We are very grateful.

A Fun-filled Weekend

We had a great time at the farm this weekend.  The Jones, Carmody and McElhany families arrived, and on Saturday afternoon we burned a couple of acres adjacent to our upper stock tank to rid it of briars, small cedars and other invasive species.

We each had a job.  John was the burn boss, Allan “dropped fire” for Team One, which included Jeff, Erin and Anna carrying a portable sprayer, or a “flapper” to put out any blowing embers and make sure the fire didn’t spread beyond the designated area.

John and Joel also dropped fire and Jef manned the flapper for Team Two.  I drove the John Deere gator with its water tank in case we needed more put-out power.

Fortunately, we did not.  Everything went off as planned, although the fire wasn’t quite as hot as we would have liked.  We just hope we killed a lot of the species we were targeting, and that it will be easier to find those we missed when plants begin to sprout in the spring.

While the eight of us were burning the pasture, my brother’s oldest grandson, Noah Carmody, watched his sister and younger cousins.  Then, in the afternoon Rachel, Jamey and Laura, along with their moms and me, painted rocks they will later hide for someone to find. 

Here are some of the afternoon’s finished products.

The dogs also had a good time.  Cousins Clover, Zeva and Rosie joined the Bagley Pack for some socializing, exploring and bone chewing.

Five-month-old Rosie isn’t quite sure about her older, larger cousins, but she was cautiously optimistic about joining in their play.  

And she was very interested in the bone Rue was chewing.  She hung around with an expectant look on her face, and finally Rue got up and left it for her.

Rosie was thrilled and wasted no time working to get some of the marrow left inside.  It was a very good day for man and dog alike.