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Okay, That Was Fantastic!


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Thank you so much to all of you who suggested that people interested in getting a border collie attend trials, I went to the Massachusetts Sheep & Woolcraft Fair's Trial and it was so great, I don't even know where to begin.

 

First of all, it was pretty awesome to be completely surrounded by border collies, and the differences in size, color, and coats really showed it doesn't matter how they look, as I think I saw almost every variation under the sun.

 

I watched the classes of Pro-Novice, Ranch, and Open, and I pretty much spent the entire time grinning from ear to ear. It was so amazing to watch the dogs and handlers working together, the commentary was phenomenal and very entertaining as well as informative.

 

I was worried I might be bored because I had heard if all goes smooth in the run it can be dull, but I was fascinated by everything and didn't want to leave! I wish I had been able to come for both days, but it was really fun to be there for one.

 

It was a really riveting experience to be able to see in person, the bonds between the handlers and the dogs were so obviously present and watching them work as a team was like poetry in motion.

 

In other words, I had a good time. :lol:

 

I took tons of pictures, although I'm afraid I can't really put names to dog or human faces for the most part. :P

 

I'm just so excited and it was such a fun day, I had to share.

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I don't think I saw you, as I remembered you saying that you were going to be at all the ones I was thinking of attending, and I was going to say hi but then realized I had no idea what you looked like.

 

What did you run in? I got there during Pro-Novice, I think I might have somehow missed you. :(

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I ran first in PN with Juniper, but was given a re run since the sheep bolted from the set out person as she was beginning her outrun. My re re run was 4 dogs later. I have red hair and my dog was a little smooth coat bitch with prick ears.

 

This photo doesn't show her spots, but this is the dog you might have seen.

 

Juniper

 

DSC00972.jpg

 

You would have missed this dog's run, but you might have seen me walking around with her.

 

Hazel

 

HazelPamsWalkup.jpg

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Oh, I didn't see you run but I did see you sitting with your dog! I was admiring one of them, perhaps Hazel then, she looked so sweet. I'm sorry I didn't get to see you guys run/take any pictures, did you do well? :)

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Today Hazel got 6th. She is only a year old, I just started training her and I was only running her to expose her to the whole trial scene. However, she had other plans and placed on both days.

 

Juniper's run was going very well and she would have placed had the sheep not jumped the fence. She was getting them lined up to go into the chute and they bolted. I don't know if you noticed how far back the dogs had to be in order to not put too much pressure on them during the chute (substitute for a pen). When Juniper's sheep decided to make a break for the exhaust she was too far away to stop them and they went flying over the fence. These particular sheep don't hesitate to jump fences to get off the trial field. She worked her little heart out for me and I was happy with her run, despite the misfortune at the end.

 

I would love to see your photos.

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... I pretty much spent the entire time grinning from ear to ear. It was so amazing to watch the dogs and handlers working together, the commentary was phenomenal and very entertaining as well as informative.

 

I was worried I might be bored because I had heard if all goes smooth in the run it can be dull, but I was fascinated by everything and didn't want to leave!

That pretty much describes my reaction to the first sheepdog trial I saw, and probably many others here too. I think it means you are meant to own border collies!! :)

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Congratulations to you and Hazel! Poor Juniper, I noticed the sheep were rather impressive jumpers today, and they desperately wanted to get into that exhaust pen and into the shade (for good reason) and that they were ready to test the dog and make a break for it up that hill.

 

I'm attempting to upload them into an online album, some of them are pretty interesting quality haha, according to my camera the 'perfect' setting appears to sometimes mean 'overexpose it to the max'.

 

By the way, if you saw a girl obsessively checking to see if Open had started after the lunch break (I think I came over 4-5 times...haha), that was me.

 

--

 

I hope it's meant to be! My Mum and little sister kept on asking 'don't you want to look at the rest of the fair??', to which I said nooo, I'm good watching here, you go have fun. :P

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It's the nature of the beast. I compete to test my dogs and see how their training is coming along. I was happy with my dogs' work and saw some places where I can make improvements, so I overall I would call the trial a success. I think I got the best prize of the day; I went home with several dogs that I find very exciting to work. :)

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It's something I would really love to do one day if the timing ever ends up being right, but I'm still a student and am not in the position to train a dog/buy a trained dog/visit a trainer enough/travel/get my dog on sheep on a regular basis.

 

So look for me out on the trial field...eventually!

For now I'll sit back and enjoy. ;)

 

I do definitely want to come to watch more trials before I get a dog though, maybe a couple in late summer/fall. :)

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I did have a ton of fun! Thank you, I'm glad you liked them, I just wish I had gotten more with both the sheep and the dog in the shot! I did delete a bunch of bad ones already, haha. :P

 

If anyone knows the names of the handlers/dogs in the photos, feel free to comment on the photos saying so, I'm trying to add captions with the handler and dog's names. And if you happen to notice I messed up captioning one, let me know. B)

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