Make no mistake this is not a Disney story, not a story of good triumphing over evil, and not a story of a boy and his dog against the world (though we'll get to that). This past weekend the Field Finals for the
ASDA were held just outside of
Beiseker, or
Irricana depending on your perspective. They were a lot of work to put on with the other souther members, however, they were also a ton of fun.
Day one of the trial started with the novice class, Jed I have intermittently run in this class predominantly because it is not available at every trial. Our run wasn't great it could have been better and I learned that the pen gate is not a delicate door to be subtly closed lest you upset the livestock. In fact when the judge called time as it was swinging to close costing me my ten points I learned you need to "dig in" , "sacrifice the body" and pen like you mean it. We came a close second to Anita and her dog. Then came the intermediate, this draw of sheep was a little heavier and were unable to finish our drive, thus losing all of our points finishing once again in second this time behind Doug and his dog Meg. No one finished their drives that, day in the Intermediate. The pro novice class proceeded as expected and the heavy sheep got the best of many a dog. I have run in the Pro-novice but was thankful that I hadn't.
Day Two was a pretty long affair, with Open, Pro-novice,and Nursery Running first. That meant lots of set out for Jed and I as well as other volunteers. When the time came for Jed and I to run in the Intermediate, I didn't have a good feeling. Jed had been a little grippy setting out and my temper was shorter then it needed to be for success. I made a few mistakes handling him during the run and the sheep were quite heavy, eventually frustration got the better of the both of us Jed thankfully gripped off and I was able to stop yelling at him like an idiot.
Now comes the Disney part, or lack there of. .. . I have stolen these photos from Wendy's Blog. . .
See this Kid . . .I love this Kid, Really I do. However, this kid Joey, (Wendy's Nephew) is at this point in the trial, standing between Jed and I, and my first ASDA buckle. I was way ahead of him after the first day but given how we had just run; I was not confident. The two us managed to make it around the course and Jed was able to overcome my many handling errors to squeak out a win. I mean it SQUEAK it out !! Oh Yeah !! he's 8.
Jed and I may have looked confident but after the show Joey had just put on at the pen thankfully he didn't get it, but he was really really close) I was doubly nervous and just triedto keep Jed on the course and not grip off. So, as much I hate to be the villain in this story of the defeat of the little boy and his dog I am quite happy that the trial ended up like this.
from left to right:
Jed and I Novice; Doug Finseth and Meg Intermediate; Pam Boring Pro-novice; Carol Nelson Nursery; Georger Stambulic Open
Congrats to all of us and Thanks to the sponsors and volunteers
Thanks Wendy for the photos !!
