UhOh Ranch Spring Sheep Dog Trial

Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye to Terri and Brian, load up and drive a short hour to Mindy Bower and Kevin Hall’s beautiful UhOh Ranch for their fantastic four-day Spring Sheep Dog Trial.  The four Open classes had about 48 dogs each, while the Nursery classes averaged about 18 and the Open Ranch about 24.  That's a lot of dogs, and handlers.  A few people were local, or were staying elsewhere, but we had quite a congenial crew parked along the road and tucked away in various nooks and crannies around the ranch.

Coordinating the classes running simultaneously on two fields took a lot of hard work.  Thanks to Terry Murray and Mike Lupow, who, along with Mindy and Kevin and countless volunteers, put it all together.  I’m grateful, too, to our judges, Bridget Strang, Susan Squires, Dave Imas, Mike Lupow, Connie Brannen, Maci McGraw, Brent Phelps, Laura Esterman, Terri Nicolau and Vickey Russell.  They did an outstanding job, under ever-changing conditions, and I am honored to be able to run my dogs under them.  

The courses, especially for the four Open runs we watched (two of them from the hillside above), were great fun.  They also gave everyone a lesson in watching their sheep.  As you will see from some of the following photos, it was almost impossible to see the dogs…and sometimes only the sheeps' backs were in view.  And, speaking of the sheep, furnished again this year by J.D. Schmidt, they were strong, healthy yearling ewes.  They were a challenge, but very uniform and gave the dogs an opportunity to do good work if they were on their toes. 

Here are some of the photos I took during the trial.  There will be more as I sift and sort, so stay tuned and come back for another visit soon.   

I pulled a few images off videos John and Charly took of my dogs' runs.  The quality isn't special, but I'm so glad to have a record.  The first two are of one of Dutch's open runs.  His first was pretty much a disaster, but we got numbers.  He improved with each of his next two runs, getting a better score each time.  I was especially pleased with his Open 4 run.  We completed our shed and pen, and he scored a 71.  

The range ewes and difficult courses were a challenge for Bo.  We retired twice when his sheep escaped to the exhaust pen, but we ran out of time before finishing Open 4.  He never quit, though.  His sheep were difficult, and in the high grass he had trouble keeping track of them, but he stayed with it, and I'm so proud of the effort he gave me.  He may be a little dog, but he has a very big heart.  

Meg had her challenges with the range ewes as well.  She had four runs, and the first one she did well until her sheep challenged her at the drive-away panels.  She wasn't able to move them, and we retired.  Her second run was better; it took her a bit of time, but she finally was able to move her sheep.  It wasn't pretty, but we got them to the chute and timed out.  Her third and fourth runs were better, and she placed fourth in both with scores of 55 and 50.  We have work to do, but we're beginning to work together better as a team.  

There were lots more good memories, including dinner in Kiowa at the Mexican restaurant/bar, and the adventure we had helping put the sheep loading chute back together after strong, gusty winds blew it over.  I can't wait for the next one.