Been a looooong time....

It has been a long time since I've written... since last fall, well, that seems like a long ways off! Kell joined us at the ranch, he is a pup from Paula Bowden and is growing up to be a great dog! Kell is from Paula's lines, bred to her imported Killibrae sire.
We've already lambed, got our nice Merino ram for next year, and right when things were going well, I ended up getting sick and in hospital for pnuemonia for just under 3 weeks...  so things are moving rather slow around here, pups are learning to just, hang out, and grow up. Grown dogs are longing for the days of working sheep... but nothing to be done about it but wait a bit longer. Just in time for summer... sun, heat, and rattlesnakes... ugh.
All for now... hoping to get back to a regular update more frequently when we've something to write about!

Chilly Winter

Thankfully our hot hot summer is over! Cold weather is here, and it's been great to be able to work dogs for more than a short while in the early AM. We've been getting out in our fields to work, and it's been wonderful, nice big outruns, getting the younger dogs stretched out, and tuning up the ones who are going to be trialing.
We've been able to have lessons on Saturday mornings in the field, and it's been great to see students progress! :-)
The other thing I welcome about winter, the snakes have all gone underground, wherever snakes go in the winter... so no more snake worries, not til next summer!

Sheepdog Trialing, fall in the West

So Trial season is upon us, out west, we don't see many (if any) sheepherding trials in the summertime due to our hot weather, so once fall hits, we start to see more sheepherding trials. It's looking like November 2 trials, one approx 400 miles away, the other just over 200. (one way... ) December, we'll have 2 more, in the beginning and the end of December. Makes it a little difficult with the holidays in December, but it's a great chance to "get away" and get in a little fun.

Our first upcoming trial, is the SJVBCA Trail in Porterville, CA. Should be a great trial, Range Ewes, and a nice course, looking forward to it! I'll have one dog in Open, and one in Pro Novice, (open ranch in other parts of the country ie, TX) hoping to move the PN dog up at the end of the year, makes life a lot easier to run 2 dogs in open, as PN is often run on another day.

So looks like the next week we'll be polishing for the trial, looking to do well, and let the points fall where they may! :-)