February 3rd is our first trial (AHBA)

[iLLt3cK]

So Tate & I will be competing in our first herding competition on February 3rd and are very excited!

 

We are running in HRD I and HTD 1 and after our lesson today I think we will fair pretty well!

 

Any other board members attending?

 

I know it's not USBCHA or anything but I think it will be great for us to get in there and give it a go! My g/f will be taking plenty of pictures as well!

[kelpiegirl]

Cool!!!! What do you have to do in these tests?

Julie

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

HTD and HRD are title classes.

 

HRD is fun. You sort sheep and put them through various obstacles, set them, leave them, regather them, hold them for brief periods to show your dog can settle sheep/cattle, basically whatever the trial director can come up with to simulate, sort of, farm chores. It's not something I'd base breeding decisions for Border Collies on, but if it's set up right it can present some different challenges for a dog and handler just starting out.

 

HTD 1 is a teeny tiny novice type course - fetch the sheep and walk them through panels and then pen.

 

I think AHBA is pretty neat though there's starting to be cultural "leakage" from a program which shall remain nameless, which insists on perfectly trained sheep, courses set up exactly right, and overall setting things up for a maximum opportunity to get points for titles.

[iLLt3cK]

Originally posted by Rebecca, Irena Farm:

HTD and HRD are title classes.

 

HRD is fun. You sort sheep and put them through various obstacles, set them, leave them, regather them, hold them for brief periods to show your dog can settle sheep/cattle, basically whatever the trial director can come up with to simulate, sort of, farm chores. It's not something I'd base breeding decisions for Border Collies on, but if it's set up right it can present some different challenges for a dog and handler just starting out.

 

HTD 1 is a teeny tiny novice type course - fetch the sheep and walk them through panels and then pen.

 

I think AHBA is pretty neat though there's starting to be cultural "leakage" from a program which shall remain nameless, which insists on perfectly trained sheep, courses set up exactly right, and overall setting things up for a maximum opportunity to get points for titles.

Exactly!

 

Tate & I are working towards entering USBCHA trials once he's ready but for right now I'd just like to get some experience under our belts.

 

It's unfortunate that there are not more USBCHA trials in my area! We went to watch at the last one in Campo (and help set sheep) as well as the trial that was just run in Poway.

 

Here goes nothing

[Kathy H.]

I think AHBA is pretty neat though there's starting to be cultural "leakage" from a program which shall remain nameless, which insists on perfectly trained sheep, courses set up exactly right, and overall setting things up for a maximum opportunity to get points for titles.

Really!? That is too bad. It's not the case around here anyway. No one has yet accused the sites I've been at recently of having "perfectly set up courses" and the sheep were sheep, some better than others is all.

 

I sure hope this isn't a trend that will sneak across the country.

 

Personally I enjoy trialing my border collies in AHBA trials and try to get a Herding Trial Championship on all of them.

 

Depending on the site, the HTD courses can be good practice for field trials and the other courses push me to make my small area work and pen work as nice as it can be.

 

I find the Ranch courses to be great fun and to make me and the dog problem solve under pressure which is good for both of us. Some of the things I've learned/figured out on ranch courses have turned out to be very helpful back home!

 

Again, depends on the course and the site. I've seen a ranch course with a stock gather in a (I'm guessing here) 12 acre field and I've seen others with a field shed and always lots of sorting.

 

Kathy in the midwest

[Patty Abel]