Hopland

I don't think it is any secret that I love the UC Hopland trial. The weather was beautiful, except for the fog that delayed the trial on Sunday and Monday mornings. It was great to see everyone since I have pretty much sat out of trialling for a year. I had a good time volunteering and did not mind donating my weekend days to be there for the Open on Saturday and Sunday. It is my privilege to help out with such a class event. Ryme and I served as backup exhaust like we did last year, but this year we were barely needed. Things ran so smoothly that we mostly just sat on the sidelines and visited, like regular spectators. :)

Ryme and I were busy helping! LOL (photo by Marnie N.)

The trickiest part of the trial seemed to be the lift, and the first part of the fetch. This section required very careful handling and very correct approach by the dog. We watched one team after another fall apart and RT but there were also some very good runs where the teams handled it very well. Good dog work and stockmanship were both very well rewarded by the healthy UC ewe flock.

On Monday, Spot and I ran in the PN. The start of our trial was delayed from the original time of 8 AM to almost noon, by the heavy fog that hung over the field and made it impossible for judge or handler to see the course. Finally the fog lifted after we had just sat around drinking coffee and people visited with one another all morning.  Spot was the third dog up in PN.  I have debated with myself about posting these videos but I have finally decided to go ahead. There are some good parts and some not so good parts of our run but overall I was very pleased. Spot ended up with 60 points which was more than any of the other teams received. First place. I was astounded. He earned it, though. That lift and top part of the fetch were beautiful. There are places where I should have handled more and places where I handled incorrectly. But I am thrilled with the way he listened and performed in his first trial in a year. The videos are in two parts. The first part is up to turning the post and the second video is after turning the post.