On The Road Again...Frio Draw Memorial Sheep Dog Trial

There wasn’t much time between dog trials, but there was still plenty going on at Goat Hill. We were excited to see Owlivia sitting in the door of her owl house on several occasions. That usually means that there are chiclets (our name for owlets) inside.

A couple of days later, she moved to a limb overlooking the box, and she stayed there for hours, in spite of a couple of hard showers, and tree work going on in the adjacent cedar elms and in the very Spanish oak where the owl house is located.  She seems to pay no attention to any of us, the dogs, or any other activities. 

We had hoped to see chiclets before time to leave, but no such luck.  We pray they will fledge successfully, and that we will see them when we return.

Just before leaving, we received some exciting news.  Our niece's son, Noah Carmody didn't just graduate from Alamogordo High School, he was named the "Golden A" of the Math Department.  We are so excited for him, and look forward to congratulating him in person later this summer!

We will be gone for several weeks this trip, God Willing, so we furiously packed the rig, closed up the house, and headed north…to Friona for this year’s Frio Draw Memorial Sheep Dog Trial.  The trial is held in memory of our dear friend, Jill Hefner, who lost her courageous battle with cancer in March of 2023; her son, Jake; and his friend Clayton, both of whom died in a plane crash several years ago.  It is a bittersweet occasion, but we wouldn’t miss it.

Our first overnight stop was at Western Texas College Coliseum in Snyder, TX.  After a short walk, the dogs posed for another Bagley Pack portrait .

We were then off again across North Texas .  It's really green this year, and the roadsides and medians were filled with flowers.

Weather for the trial was beautiful, with cool nights, and only a few hours of Texas heat at mid-day.  The sheep were challenging, and the trials were run on a big alfalfa field.  There was plenty of green, but some stiff winds and (perhaps) difficult hearing issues for the fogs due to the alfalfa field, there weren’t many high scores. Our very capable judge, Alison Holmes, did an outstanding job evaluating some tricky runs as our doge struggled to control the rambunctious sheep.  For Dutch and me, things didn't always go as planned.

But we did finally get our split!

Open 1 had 23 entries.  Dutch placed 12th with a score of 61, and I retired Bo.  Open 2 was a little better.  Dutch and Bo placed 9 and 10, respectively, with scores of 71 and 67.  Open 3 was very difficult; only 10 of the 23 dogs received scores.  Thee dogs had a great deal of trouble hearing commands; and I retired both Dutch and Bo.   The last trial for the open dogs was Sunday’s “double lift.”  Only 10 dogs entered this challenging event, which requires the dog to fetch one group of sheep, then leave them and go back for a second set.  The Double Lift is usually an event that must be qualified for, and is the grand finale of the trial.  However, we are sometimes fortunate to be given the opportunity to run in an unsanctioned Double Lift, and we always participate when it’s offered.  Dutch placed 8th, after a valiant attempt at the International Shed.  We managed to shed all but one of the uncollared sheep, but ran out of time in the shed ring.  I retired Bo after a wild and crazy attempt.  I will say that he finally managed to retrieve both sets of sheep, but just couldn’t get the entire group around the course.  It wasn’t for lack of trying, though!  I was proud of his effort.  

Meg fared better.  She placed second in Open Ranch 1, just one point behind the winner, and got a check and a prize for her good work.  In Open Ranch 2, she placed 4th.  It was a very difficult day, with only 5 of the 13 dogs getting scores.  I’m so pleased of the way she is working, and look forward to running her at Table Top.  Oh, and I have to brag on Dutch’s daughter, Bree.  Tina LePlatt paced 6th with her in Open Ranch 1 and 2nd in Open Ranch 2.!   

Here are a few photos of friends I took at the trial...more to come as I edit pics.

Charly and Cindy before and after their Double Lift run.

Les and Ike working on their International Shed

It was a great trial, and we look forward to the next one!

 A Very Busy Spring

OK…so there were more activities, events and dog trials between the Frio Draw Classic  and the Strang Ranch Spring Sheepdog Trial.  I’m going to try to get some photos up for all of these in the next few days (hopefully before I start posting about this month’s Frio Draw Memorial.)  

Ashcroft Ranch Sheep Dog Trial held February 6-9 just outside Stephenville was a disaster for us!  The ranch is beautiful and the fields challenging and fun to run.  But, the weather was predicted to be stormy, and almost one-fifth of the dogs originally entered scratched.  The weather didn't turn out to be as bad as predicted, but a couple of days were disagreeable,,, 

and the sheep were worse.  They were a mixed flock of dorper ewes, and many of them were too close to lambing to work well.  In fact, both Dutch's Open runs ended with disqualifications because one of the ewes either laid/fell down or was simply too heavy bred to continue.  

This one managed to make it around the post and through the drive-away panels, but then just gave up and refused to move and we heard the dreaded "Thank you" from the judge.  

His second run was to the come-bye side, and his outrun was beautiful.  Unfortunately, it went downhill (both literally and figuratively) from there.  One ewe didn't even make it to the post before she gave up and quit, and the judge DQ'd us.  

The same was true of Bo, though he was more responsible for his DQ's.  When I reviewed the scores for the Open courses, I discovered that, of the 71 dogs that competed in Open 1, only 42 received scores; the rest either retired or were disqualified.  In Open 2, 75 dogs competed and only 41 "got numbers."  A number of handlers had to abandon their runs or had their dogs disqualified because of unsound sheep.  Here's what that looks like.  

This sheep had to be picked up and taken off the field because it couldn't stand.

Meg didn't fare much better.  We were still getting to know each other and it showed.  I retired her on her first run and she was disqualified on her second.  We have lots to work on.

Junction Trial on the Pecos Trail took place in Junction, Texas, February 13-16. Again, we had typical Texas February weather...cold, but no rain this time.  We had fun, and at least 5 out of 6 runs were numbers, if not very good ones.  The boys each bettered their times in the second Open, though, and Meg racked up a 59 and a DQ in her Open Ranch class.  Here, Dutch and I worked on our pen.

And below, Meg brings her sheep in for a try at her pen.

One highlight of the weekend was getting to meet another of Dutch's pups.  Kate, owned by Joe Jones, is from his litter with Tip.  

She is 6 months old, now, and turning into a real beauty.  It will be exciting to see her when she begins to work sheep in a few months.

We rolled home from Junction, and on February 19 we received our token snowfall of 2025.  Not much to show this year, but enough to give the ground a light coating and dust the roof of Allan and Jef's farmhouse.

There wasn't much snow, but there was plenty of cold.  As we prepared for the Gatesville Sheep Dog Trial, it was bitter cold.

But cold weather doesn't keep the dogs from being excited about working sheep.  And John and I had the pleasure of hosting Debbie George from Puxico, Missouri, as our guest during the Gatesville trial. 

We "warmed up" working our sheep, and it really was 19 degrees!

Debbie and her two border collies, Jim and Valor, had come down to participate in the trial, and to attend a herding clinic after with Sergio Perello, who judged the trial.  

Sergio, currently of Caton, Lancashire, England, won the English National in 2018, was Reserve English Nursery Champion in 2019, and finished 7th at the International Supreme in 2017.  We learned a lot in his clinic on the International Shed, as well as in our private lessons.  Except for Meg, who posted a score of 70 in her second Open Ranch run, the dogs and I didn't do very well, so we had things to work on in our lessons.  We did get numbers, though.  

Was sorry to see the week end, and to say goodbye to Debbie.  I look forward to having her back again...maybe next year if all goes well. 

(...more to come when I have time to add updates on the following:)

Lambing

Kota Update

San Saba Reunion Sheep Dog Trial

Baby lambs and calves

More Snakes!

Birds, Birds, Birds

Destiny Farm Sheep Dog Trial

FM 500 Sheep Dog Trial

It’s a tall order, I know, but there was so much going on that I want to share……..

Rocky Mountain High

 Our adventures at the Strang Ranch Spring Sheepdog Trial...

The past week was certainly a Rocky Mountain High…not one induced by substances available there, but more like the one John Denver sang about.   It was a high because of the beautiful scenery and the special friends and awesome dogs we shared it with.

Our adventure began last Monday, April 28, when good friend Charly Kronberger and I left Texas in her LQ (converted living quarters/horse trailer) with our six dogs, bound for Bridget Strang’s Strange Ranch Spring Sheepdog Trial just outside Carbondale, Colorado. Our first stop was in Friona, Texas to spend the night and work dogs with friends and fellow competitors Tommy and Rafa Hefner.  It stays light there into the evening, and we gave our dogs and the sheep a good workout.  We then enjoyed a chilled beverage on the porch while Tommy  treated his dogs to some “ball,” followed by a scrumptious Italian dinner Rafa prepared.  

On down the road we went, across the corner of New Mexico, 

and into Colorado where we met up with Larry Adams.  Larry had previously owned and trialed Charly’s good dog, Tyg.  And, now that Tyg is no longer trialing, he is going back home with Larry to enjoy his retirement.

Our second night was spent visiting Tina and Terry LaPlatt.  Tina and Terry are frequent participants in our Texas sheepdog trials, and it was a treat to spend an evening with them on our way north.  They live in the charming old farmhouse where Terry grew up,

 and look across beautiful pastures to views like these.

From Tiny and Terrys, we headed north across the mountains.  As we climbed, the diesel prices rose, along with the altitude.

There was plenty of snow still on the peaks and roadsides, but fortunately not on the roads.

Traveling along the Colorado River, we made our way through scenic Glenwood Canyon, across its 40 bridges and through two 4,000-foot tunnels.  The views were spectacular, but thank goodness Charly spent most of her time with her eyes on the twisty, winding road while I enjoyed the scenery.

On Wednesday afternoon, we pulled into Strang Ranch and set up camp with a number of friends who will participate in the trial.

The views from the ranch are spectacular.  Sopris Peak overlooks the trial fields, and  offered ever-changing opportunities for beautiful photos.

The trials began on Thursday with Open 1, followed in short order by three other Open level trials, plus Open Ranch (also sometimes called Pro Novice) and Nursery events.  (Open Ranch is for dogs who are experienced but not quite ready for the longer Open courses.  Nursery is for dogs less than three years old.)  The sheep were yearling ewes that had recently been sheared.  I think they were embarrassed to be out and about without their usual fleece.  They were challenging to work, but responded well when the dogs handled them correctly.  

Here are a few photos from the trials.  I had planned to take more, but things just didn't work out.  I haven't tried to identify all the dogs, because "all border collies look alike."

Terry Murray and ?

Charly Kronberger and Mindy's Sally

Bridget Strang and Ritz

Kay Stephens, who not only competed, but judged Monday's Double Lift final

Wilda Bahr

Vickie Close of Farm Diggity

Donna Rock and (I think) Edith

Dutch

more Dutch

and still more Dutch

my haulin' buddy, Charly Kronberger and Floyd (Meg's litter-mate)

I was especially proud of the runs Meg and Bo gave me.  I don’t think Meg had never seen sheep like these big Rambouillet ewes.  She was a little wild on her first run in the Open Ranch class, placing 8th out of 28 entries with a score of 53.  But on her second run, she won the class with a score of 70!  

Bo had a tough time on his first two runs.  In Open 1, we retired, and in Open 2 he received the dreaded “Thank You” and was disqualified when one of his sheep gave up after a disastrous attempt to fetch them to me.  He recovered, though, and finished his third open run with a score of 70 out of a possible 110 points.  He would have gotten a better score if his handler hadn’t had a brain-fart and momentarily forgotten that they were supposed to shed a single after their successful pen.  We got to the shed ring, but timed out before we shed successfully.  Nevertheless, I was so proud of  him!  It was a great effort.

Dutch struggled on his three funs, he got numbers each time, but they were low, a 40, 47 and 62.  His outruns and lifts were pretty good, and his work at the pen was outstanding.  However, the middle of the courses wasn’t pretty.  We have work to do before we go to Friona in a couple of weeks.

Charly and her three dogs had some good runs, as well.  Young Ivy showed real promise on her Nursery runs, and Floyd had a nice go in his second Open Ranch, getting around the course, but timing out at the pen.  Cindy, Charly’s Open dog, didn’t give her best performances, but by the time we got home we understood why that might have been.  She came into heat the day we arrived home.  Hormones don’t always help!  Oh, and another thing that made the weekend memorable was that I got to meet Cora, Bridget Strang's pup from the Skye x Dutch litter born last summer.  I also was able to see Kay Stephens' Drift, Cora's littermate.  He has really grown since I saw him last.  And, competing with Meg in the Open Ranch class was Mindy Bowers' Lush, Dutch's son from his litter with Nan.  

We pulled out on Monday morning, earlier than we had planned, enjoying one last view of Sopris.  Our trip home was arduous, but we made it in two days, working hard to stay ahead of a spring storm that way making its way south.  

It rained on us much of the way, and our trip over Raton Pass in the fog is one we don’t want to repeat.   

But what an amazing week!  It was a real Rocky Mountain High and I can’t wait for next year’s trial.  

A Very Busy Spring

OK…so there were more activities, events and dog trials between the Frio Draw Classic  and the Strang Ranch Spring Sheepdog Trial.  I’m going to try to get some photos up for all of these in the next few days (hopefully before I start posting about this month’s Frio Draw Memorial.)  

Stay tuned for updates from:

Ashcroft Ranch Sheep Dog Trial

Junction on the Pecos Sheep Dog Trial

More snow?

Gatesville Sheep Dog Trial

Lambing

Kota Update

San Saba Reunion Sheep Dog Trial

Baby lambs and calves

More Snakes!

Birds, Birds, Birds

Destiny Farm Sheep Dog Trial

FM 500 Sheep Dog Trial

It’s a tall order, I know, but there was so much going on that I want to share……..