Coming up rose-ettes

After a relaxing cup of coffee, we headed out to our next sheepdog trial adventure, a fast blast up the M6 motorway to the Caldbeck trial, another long-standing trial...flighty Swaledales on a tricky hill with a river running beside that the sheep were quite willing to use as an escape route. When we arrived, they were pulling yet another group of sheep out of the river...oh boy...

We have been surrounded by sheepdog legends this whole trip, and this trial is no different, as we will have the privilege of watching such luminaries as Raymond McPherson, Joe McRoberts, and of course Thomas Longton. When another top hand goes into the river with his sheep, we aren't sure whether to be terrified or relieved that we wouldn't be the only ones to go in if it happened to us.

We booked in right away, planning on getting home for an early evening. Mary Lou sent Dyna to the right, and she came up spot on behind her sheep. Taking control, Dyna eased the touchy sheep around the course beautifully, with a small glitch at the pen before sliding them in calmly. A great run that left many asking about Dyna's breeding and background and congratulating Mary Lou on her handling.

The sheep recycled just before Linda was to go, her second trial in a row to have the first lot of recycled sheep. We could see the sheep bouncing and popping in the set-out, and Linda looked back at us and laughed... We could all see what was about to happen, the sheep were going to explode t of the pen. Remember, in these trials the sheep are let out, but not really spotted anywhere. Linda's sheep leapt onto the course with a flourish. Linda's Bet calmly paddled them around the course, settling them well considering the grand entrance, but the pen ended up being their nemesis, as it was for many teams on this day.

My run with Craig started a bit uneven, but Craig got a good hold of his sheep and had a decent fetch and very good drive, but the pen caught us as well.

Then there was the "dog type" parade again, which we learned more about. Apparently, it is done at many of the long-standing trials, particularly at the prestigious Longshaw trial, where it is taken very seriously. A vet checks the dogs over for conditioning and health and it is considered a valuable part of the sheepdog trial. Mary Lou's Dyna made it to the semi-final this time, as did Raymond MacPherson's dog.

When the dust settled, we came away with a fair amount of hardware.


Mary Lou finished in second place, one point behind Raymond MacPherson's run, and earned a large rosette. She also won the top female handler award, a gorgeous crystal bowl. I won a perpetual trophy for top run without a pen, but since I couldn't take the trophy with me, they gave me a lovely plate (not sure how some of this is going to survive flying home!) and best of all, we have the opportunity to go visit Raymond MacPherson, a wonderful store of sheepdog knowledge and history.

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