At last I have found a few minutes to update.
Things have been very hectic here.
We have finally finished lambmarking. Percentages were outstanding, a little over 100% overall.
Lambmarking is always a stressful busy time. Mobs of ewes and lambs can be difficult to muster, but my dogs did a great job, keeping them together and getting them in the yard. Before we used dogs much, we always had major ‘lamb breaks’, where a mob of lambs at the back of the mob split and run. I call it a ‘lampede’.
Once they break from the mob it is almost impossible to get them back as they bolt back to the other end of the paddock where they think their mother might be. But with three or four good dogs covering the mob they just don’t get the chance to break. So it makes life a lot less stressful, getting them all in the yard at once.
Speaking of dogs a few changes have happened.
Unfortunately I have had to move Mango on. She does not get on with Angel and it was creating real stress in my pack so she has gone to my friend Jenny Parsons to use on her farm.
Also Zinc has a fault that makes him unsuitable for competitive trialing, so sadly he will have to go as well.
He will make a great farm dog, pet or obedience dog.
He has a wonderful nature, but will have to go to an approved home, as he is a bit special.
I also have two new dogs, rather sudden and a bit unexpected actually.
My husband and I went to a field day at Woolkabin, where we buy our rams from, like we do every year, and I got talking with the stud owners. They have been obtaining their dogs from the Casterton Auction for a few years and they had a dog who did not fulfill their needs as a yard dog. As they only mainly use yard dogs, this feller was not used much. Never one to miss a chance at a trained dog I said I would take him and have a look at him.
His name is Andron Jake and he is by Futura Ned out of Futura Suzuki. He fitted right in here and a day later I was using him in the paddock on a big mob of hoggets. A wonderful paddock dog, he just does the job without being told much. Being a bit strong eyed, he does lack yard strength but backs freely and will push through the sheep no problems. He is biddable and after a few small scuffles with my other males there has been little problems as he is a non- aggressive dog. He is easy to work and I love him. I may even consider trialing him although he is nearly six now and has certainly picked up a few bad habits which may not make him very competitive but we will see.
About 2 weeks ago Andrew Gorton rung me and mentioned he had a young kelpie bitch that did not suit his needs and would I like to try her. She was bred by Ken Atherton and had been part trained by Jenny Parsons, as well as by Andrew. Jenny mentioned she was probably a ladies dog and was not happy working for men. She is a lovely little dog, affectionate and friendly, but quite small. She works well for me and also for my daughter Sam. She is a wide working dog but has a lovely walk in. She is by Ken’s Badgingarra Tony ( Binnaburra Tuff x Karrawarra Shona) out of Ramulam Malley. (Ramulan Henery x Ramulam Casey.) I am looking orward to trialing her. She is almost two and a half so ready to start serious work.
And I did manage to make it to most of the state championship three sheep trial, held at Ken and Jenny Athertons farm.
Due to huge numbers of entries the trial went for four days. We were still lambmarking on the Thursday so I missed most of my runs that day. Driftz had pulled up lame after a very hard weeks farm work so I scratched her from the Novice and improver. Her run in the open was fabulous though. She penned with a score of 65 and was not too far away from a run in the final. She was a bit lame again after her run so I doubt I would have run her anyway.
On the thur we had a lull in lambmarking so on the off chance I rang Jenny Atherton to see if I had a run coming up, and she said Angel was on in about forty five minutes. Angel had been working hard all morning but I threw her in the car and sped off to the trial about 50km away. We only just made it and despite all the rush she managed a creditable run and a score of 48. Rio missed her novice run.
Fortunately our lambmarking contractor did not turn up on the Fri so I had the day off to spend at the trials.
Rio was tired, she puts a lot in when working on the farm, and battled to keep the sheep together well, but still had a reasonable run with a score a 53. She worked better in her open run handling some very flighty sheep, and made it to the pen to score a 48.
Angel had the last run in the improver and worked well to obtain a 70.
Angel was also getting a little tired I think and in her open run she was over cautious, not wanting to let her sheep break so we made it to the first obstacle but she would not push them through it, and we timed out.
It was an enjoyable trial. Some real highlights were Sam Weaver’s win in the novice with Daheim Queenie, and Sarah Somer’s win in the Improver with Nolan’s Brynn.
In fact woman in general had a great weekend, and a friendly rivalry developed as the woman were obviously doing the better and up until the open had most of the pens. The men were really worried for a while but did catch up a bit in the open final, which was won in fine style by Andrew Gorton and Boylee Ella. Ella was still a novice dog up until this trial, but had been knocking on the door for a long time. Full results of the trial are on Sam’s blog here.
Bernie Jones's Christies Juke, full brother to Driftz, still going well at 10 years old.
Andrew Gorton and Grassvalley Tippy.
Rod Forsyth and Binnaburra Milo at the pen.
The weather was sunny on Thursday and Friday but with a cold wind.
On Sat it came in and windy and wet and bitterly cold, but Sun cleared up a bit.
It has been an unusual season, the capeweed is usually flowering by now but not a sign of a bud yet. The rain has been wonderful though, and the longer the grass stays green and does not run to seed the better a season we will have.
Just two more trials left for the season. I am hoping to have a bit of time now to train my young dogs, something that has been sadly neglected for some weeks.
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