Pickin' on the porch...

We aren't complaining about the cold anymore. The temperatures are above 20 degrees Celsius and the humidity is 94%.

The two days of Open running were tough here at Swannee River. Some groups simply refused to come down the field, others ran down the field like screaming banshees.

Mary Lou and I fared well enough. The scores were low on Day 1, but I managed a 5th and Mary Lou also placed in the money out of 70 some odd dogs. Day 2 saw the first three handlers walk up the field to get their dogs as the sheep absolutely refused to play. The fourth dog to the post was Mary Lou's Dyna and she posted an 88 under extremely difficult conditions that lasted until the last 10 dogs of the day when the sheep finally gave in. One handler was very complimentary, commenting "imagine what your score would've been on the good sheep". Part of sheepdog trialling is luck of the draw, and five of the top ten runs came in those last tries of the day, bumping Dyna to fourth.

I'm running a dog named Taff for Alistair, as he works with a few of his younger dogs. Taff scored an 80, which I was pleased with considering it was only our fourth run together. Actually, both Craig and Taff ran well for me with good scores in the middle of the day when the sheep were difficult, Taff just falling off the board at the end of the day with the last run.

The southern hospitality geared up in the evening, with some local musicians serving up some good old western music. There was a lot of foot stomping and swinging about, and the odd chiropractic adjustment as dancers who had partook of the homemade beverages tried to spin their partners in biomechanically impossible positions.

I'm thinking the novice runs aren't going to start on time this morning! :)

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