Well it was a hot one that's for sure! We thought it might be cooler in the indoor arena under the shade, but man oh man, no breeze was a killer till the sun set. The sheep were pretty challenging in the small arena, but began settling down as it cooled off.
Tess was my first dog to run and we ran in Open Ranch. Only our second trial in Open Ranch and I was pleased with her. We placed 6th due to a slower time line. This trial was points and time and not judged. The top 7 received the same score of 24 for the first 4 obstacles completed. There were 2 more obstacled to complete, but nobody got them in the Open Ranch class. It was a very narrow chute and the pen. Me and Tess got to the chute in good order, but the sheep were just absolutely not respectful of people, they had no fear whatsoever. So I held my side and Tess held hers, but they kept trying to push me over. So I'd have Tess come over to help me and then they'd dart around the other vacant side of the chute. Little boogers! Oh well, that's trialing. I'll never be disappointed so long as my dog tries for me and try she did. She's such a neat little dog. So the time line which was the fetch panels was the tie breaker for the top 7 teams and after a couple failed attempts to get the sheep through the fetch panels and having to drive them back up and set it up again, we fell behind the first place time of 18 seconds with a 42 second time line. Good try Tess!
Next I ran Blaze in the Ranch class for his first trial since his injury. His first trial in fact since Nov. of last year. Blaze had a scorching timeline of 13 seconds straight through the fetch panels and had a wonderful run. He marched those sheep right through the drive panels and we were allowed to leave the post to help the Ranch dogs through the cross drive. They threw out the chute after it proved to be so difficult in the Open and Open Ranch classes, so after the drive we went right to the pen where Blaze had no trouble getting them penned and finished with a third place. I was so proud of him and happy to see him recovered from his accident that I was about to burst!
I also ran Nan in the Ranch class. We had alot of trouble at the fetch panels. Couldn't get those buggers to come through there so spent alot of time driving them back and attempting again. Finally got it done and moved on to the rest of the course and made it to the pen and ran out of time. I checked the scoreboard later and found out that we had been DQ'd. Evidently I thought I got them through the fetch panels and the scorekeepers said that I hadn't. So tough luck for us. Aw well, she tried. :)
Hot as it was, I still had a great time. Looking forward to Grady County in Chickasha, OK the 29th of August. I'm sure it will prove to be as hot and miserable as last year, but hey, you won't see the heat keeping me from trialing! I'm a die hard I guess. I'm hoping to have a couple young dogs ready to run by Grady County. We'll see how the next month pans out.
Tess was my first dog to run and we ran in Open Ranch. Only our second trial in Open Ranch and I was pleased with her. We placed 6th due to a slower time line. This trial was points and time and not judged. The top 7 received the same score of 24 for the first 4 obstacles completed. There were 2 more obstacled to complete, but nobody got them in the Open Ranch class. It was a very narrow chute and the pen. Me and Tess got to the chute in good order, but the sheep were just absolutely not respectful of people, they had no fear whatsoever. So I held my side and Tess held hers, but they kept trying to push me over. So I'd have Tess come over to help me and then they'd dart around the other vacant side of the chute. Little boogers! Oh well, that's trialing. I'll never be disappointed so long as my dog tries for me and try she did. She's such a neat little dog. So the time line which was the fetch panels was the tie breaker for the top 7 teams and after a couple failed attempts to get the sheep through the fetch panels and having to drive them back up and set it up again, we fell behind the first place time of 18 seconds with a 42 second time line. Good try Tess!
Next I ran Blaze in the Ranch class for his first trial since his injury. His first trial in fact since Nov. of last year. Blaze had a scorching timeline of 13 seconds straight through the fetch panels and had a wonderful run. He marched those sheep right through the drive panels and we were allowed to leave the post to help the Ranch dogs through the cross drive. They threw out the chute after it proved to be so difficult in the Open and Open Ranch classes, so after the drive we went right to the pen where Blaze had no trouble getting them penned and finished with a third place. I was so proud of him and happy to see him recovered from his accident that I was about to burst!
I also ran Nan in the Ranch class. We had alot of trouble at the fetch panels. Couldn't get those buggers to come through there so spent alot of time driving them back and attempting again. Finally got it done and moved on to the rest of the course and made it to the pen and ran out of time. I checked the scoreboard later and found out that we had been DQ'd. Evidently I thought I got them through the fetch panels and the scorekeepers said that I hadn't. So tough luck for us. Aw well, she tried. :)
Hot as it was, I still had a great time. Looking forward to Grady County in Chickasha, OK the 29th of August. I'm sure it will prove to be as hot and miserable as last year, but hey, you won't see the heat keeping me from trialing! I'm a die hard I guess. I'm hoping to have a couple young dogs ready to run by Grady County. We'll see how the next month pans out.
Me & Ruth Hines and Jackson and BB
