We do Custom Training, Clinics and Demonstrations.
Started Dogs and pups for sale periodically.
Private Lessons, time permitting.
BC TEAMS SWEEP THE BEAUTIFUL AND CHALLENGING ZAMORA SHEEP DOG TRIAL ON DAY TWO
Gayle Cochlan and RMS Cap, Bob Stephens and RMS Wisp and
Nancy Stephens and RMS Ike went to Zamora, CA with some challenging dog
trialling and a well deserved winter holiday in mind. They got the challenging
dog trialling but the winter holiday turned out to be slightly on the drenching
side. The weather was mostly drizzle on Friday and Saturday and beautiful
Sunday morning but Sunday afternoon saw black skies, hard winds and a torrential
downpour that created creeks and rivers where they've never been seen before.
Thank God the Open trial was over and this ugly, ugly storm was a gift to
the Pro/Novice and Open Ranch folks! Heh, heh,heh! Man I'm mean.
Bill Slaven provided some of the nicest and most challenging sheep we've
ever encountered and the field is to die for with a 200 yard swale in the
center of the fetch where you lose the sheep and dog for an agonizing 30
seconds or so that seems like a couple of hours. It's a 550 yard outrun
with the set out pens about 60 yards behind the set out which caused Cap
and Wisp, both very deep running dogs, some problems on the first day. Wisp
and Cap both went to the set out on the first trial with Wisp recovering
to come back on his lift and the sheep bolted to the east and ran about
250 yards before he could catch them and bring them back on line to complete
the run. Cap got stuck at the top and had to retire. Ike ran 19th. that
day and was the first dog to actually break the run of rt's and dq's which
had led most of us to believe there weren't going to be many good runs on
this day. Just before Ike ran the sheep were winning about 17 to 1. Ike's
run placed him in 7th. for that trial with a hard earned 72. Anne Mock of
California won it with a great smooth run which earned her 86 points and
first place with Rob Miller of Idaho placing second with an 84 and Russ
Dotson of California placing 3rd. with an 84.
On day two which was actually run over a day and a half period due to lack
of light and a high entry, we saw a standard imposed to try and get all
the runs in before dark. This was to no avail as there were still about
ten runs left to complete at the end of Sunday which had to be set over
until Monday. Those folks had the good fortune to run on the nicest day
we had for the week end until the afternoon when the storm hit. By this
time the sheep were starting to get tired and a little fed up with the whole
situation and some were starting to stand to the dogs and really give them
some trouble. Nancy managed to get around the course with a ewe that wanted
nothing to do with this little game any more. She broke from the flock about
15 times while Ike was trying to navigate them around the course but, unfortunately,
after a great shed, those dreaded words from our Judge, Bill Berhow were
heard: "Time" and Nancy and Ike were headed for the exhaust. There
was no shame to her score of 69 for that run though as we heard Nancy comment
on her way off the field with a very tired Ike, "That's the hardest
I've ever worked in my life. I'm exhausted". Gayle Cochlan and RMS
Cap had completed a fantastic run just prior to Nancy running with Cap heading
to the set out again but Gayle getting him back off it and onto his lift
and all was smooth from there on with a nice shed and pen for a final score
of 88. RMS Wisp and Bob Stephens ran in the middle of the afternoon with
Wisp losing only 2 on his outrun and 0 on his lift but dropping 7 points
on the fetch due to Bob not flanking his dog in time to get the sheep back
on line and through the fetch panels. From there on it was a nice smooth
run with 3 off on the drive and nothing off for the shed or the pen winding
up with a final score of 88 tied with Gayle. Russ Dotson of California and
his dog Joy also scored an 88 late in the day to tie with Gayle and Bob.
The tie was broken on the Outrun, Lift and Fetch with Gayle having 8 points
off for first place, Russ and Bob tied with 9 off and the tie broken by
the drive with Russ having 2 off for second place and Bob having 3 of for
third place. Nancy and Ike wound up in fourth place overall for the week
end. All in all a very good showing for the folks from BC
Send an email to Bob or Nancy Stephens