Yesterday we were in Boonville, California, for the RESDA Beebe-Johnson Memorial Sheepdog Trial, held at the Mendocino County fairgrounds. It's a lovely old fairgrounds in a beautiful small-town setting.
Once again we had a long list of Open dogs but the day moved along smoothly and there were lots of good runs. Also there were lots of runs where the sheep won! Colleen Duncan took first place in Open with Stan Johnson's good female, Hope. It was really nice to see Stan's dog win with him there in attendance. Full results should be posted here soon.
Coal ran mid-day and we had a really beautiful run going. It was picture-perfect until we got to the pen with only 1/2 point off the whole thing...and then we couldn't manage to pen the three ewes. We had two ewes penned several times. The third ewe was an independent thinker, I guess. It was frustrating after marching them 'round the rest of the course. The chute was over with so fast I almost missed it! Despite my frustration with the pen, Coal was incredibly good, and he took every whistle and command. Unlike two weeks ago when Coal kind of had the bit in his teeth and was too much on the muscle, yesterday it felt like we were in tune together.
Anyway no matter the outcome I am really happy with him. At least until the next trial, he's still on top of the RESDA point standings, too. ;-)
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