Survivor

Yesterday I had the privilege of judging a small schooling show (AHBA trial). It was my first experience in judging a whole trial (I had judged several non-comp runs in AHBA in the past). The trial hosts were informed in advance of my inexperience, yet hired me anyway, so there was full disclosure! ;-)  Anyway the venue was beautifully maintained as always, the dogs were nice and the stock well suited to the trial (for the most part). (The geese might be another story on that!) And, I survived! A major factor in my survival was the fabulous Clerk Debbie (below in blue) who was incredibly competent (I am in the pink). Judging is easy when you have such a great clerk.

They're making me think again!

There were several nice runs. Most of the dogs were border collies, even though AHBA is open to all breeds. I am not sure why more of the other breeds were not entered but that is a question for someone who knows more about it than I do. Runs were offered on sheep, goats and geese. The goats were a real trip and the geese, well, were geese-like. The sheep were very fit and worked well if the dog was right. It was not easy. Anyone who says that AHBA is too easy has not tried that venue. Anyway many thanks to the trial hosts for keeping this venue going in our area. And thanks for having confidence in me to judge! I feel like I learned a lot that will carry over into any venue where I choose to trial.