Are you ready?
THE SUN CAME OUT AND IT HARDLY RAINED!
Pat ran in the early afternoon on field 3, a tricky field with a strange shape and lots of muck where sheep did not like to go. Of course, the worst of it was right on line for the last leg of the drive….
Pat had an OK outrun (for getting pulled up by her sticky eye), a decent lift and a decent fetch, despite not listening to me AT ALL. I can’t remember the last time I had to yell at Pat. Sure enough, the drive got her (she wasn’t the only dog to get beaten by the drive and the wet) and she gripped off when the sheep turned to face her up.
What an anticlimax.
Friday Qualifying Results – points out of 220:
Top 7 who proceed to the Semi’s (in order of placements):
THE SUN CAME OUT AND IT HARDLY RAINED!
Pat ran in the early afternoon on field 3, a tricky field with a strange shape and lots of muck where sheep did not like to go. Of course, the worst of it was right on line for the last leg of the drive….
Pat had an OK outrun (for getting pulled up by her sticky eye), a decent lift and a decent fetch, despite not listening to me AT ALL. I can’t remember the last time I had to yell at Pat. Sure enough, the drive got her (she wasn’t the only dog to get beaten by the drive and the wet) and she gripped off when the sheep turned to face her up.
What an anticlimax.
Friday Qualifying Results – points out of 220:
Top 7 who proceed to the Semi’s (in order of placements):
Field 1:
Richard Millichap and Taddymoor Jen (Wales) – 203
Karin Mattsson and Lyn (Norway) – 198
Nigel Watkins and Lad (Wales) – 196
Jim Cropper and Fleet (England) – 196
Aiden Gallagher and Bill (Ireland) – 195
Kevin Evans and Mirk (Wales) – 194
J Pluta and Killibrae Jake (Netherlands) – 194
Field 2:
E Groot and Eryi Nan (Netherlands) – 210
Merion Jones and Joe (Wales) – 208
S Hindenes and Wisp (Norway) – 206
Bernard Arends and Macca’s NZ (Australia) – 204
Alistair Lyttle and Spot (Ireland) – 200
Bobby Dalziel and Joe (Scotland) – 198
FB Petersen and Roy (Denmark) - 198
Field 3:
RV Hughes and Black (Wales) – 202
Nigel Watkins and Floss (Wales) – 202
B O’Brien and Mist (Ireland) – 200
T Ottesen and Bob (Denmark) – 200
Hefin Jones and Sam (Wales) – 198
Ron Snoeck and Mitch (Netherlands) – 198
Aled Owen and Roy (Wales) - 197
USA handlers:
Gene Sheninger and Jess – RT
C Balliu and Ben – 96
Joyce Geier and Jim – 167
Jennifer Maginnis and Bay – 176
Maria Amodei and Cato – 157
Alisdair MacRae and Star – 196
Chuck Dimit and Rex – 118
Don McCaig and June – RT
K Wessinger and Lill – 150
Dawn Boyce and Juno – 147
SATURDAY SEMI FINALS DAY:
Another good day for weather! 2 days in a row – unheard of!
The girls and I enjoyed lots of hikes in between watching the top 42 dogs (7 from each field each day) in Field 1 in the semi finals. It was the same National course. The sheep came over, I believe, from Field 3 and were a bit fat and slow. What separated the men from the boys was the work in the shedding ring and at the pen. One woman from Norway got 2 dogs in – she was the ONLY female handler to get that far. Sheepdog handling is very much a man’s sport here, and the old timers still wear ties and jackets when running dogs.
Still humming and haa-ing over whether to breed Tap...If she’s still standing by Monday. I have a few dogs in mind – including Kevin Evan’s International winner Mirk or his littermate Spot. There are some wonderful bitches whose sire might prove to be good matches too…Two of my favorites were a split faced dog called Bet, who was 2nd behind Mirk at the International and Becca, an Irish bred tri color bitch who is just dreamy. Fast powerful flanks and wonderful sense. I am going to hopefully speak to their handlers tomorrow and see whether I can visit their farms on Monday and see the potential sires.
Semi Finals Results:
Top 16 who proceed to the Finals (in order of semi final placement) – Points out of 440
Aiden Gallagher and Bill (Ireland) – 410 points
Nigel Watkins and Floss (Wales) – 406 points
Merion Jones and Joe (Wales) – 395 points
Aled Owen and Roy (Wales) – 395 points
James McGee and Becca (Ireland) – 392 points
Kevin Evans and Spot (Wales) – 388 points
Karin Mattson and Sammie (Norway) – 382 points
Stuart Davidson and Jim (Scotland) – 372 points
Gethin Jones and Eira (Wales) – 366 points
Kevin Evans and Mirk (Wales) – 364 points
John Wood and Moe (England) – 359 points
Ged Watson and Eryi Rock (England) – 359 points
Richard Millichap and Taddymoor Cap (Wales) – 359 points
Jim Wilson and Tweed (New Zealand) – 359 points
Ron Snoeck and Nell (Netherlands) – 354 points
Tony Ottessen and Bob (Denmark) – 349 points
USA handlers:
Alisdair MacRae and Nap – called to Standard (had a really BAD draw of sheep!)
Tom Wilson and Sly – called to Standard
Here are some pics from our walks. We hiked up the hill several times to Dinefwr Castle, which dates back to the 12th century and was quite breathtaking. The girls didn’t want to climb to the top of the tower though, but I got some pics from the top of the wall and keep - those will be in the next post...
Pat on a walk.
Pat and Tap “I see no sheep for the cars” Here is the parking on Semi final day. The crowd of spectators was huge. Again, they love their sheepdogs.
Pic 2429 Pat and Tap waiting to go through a gate to a “public footpath”. Signs said “Dogs must be kept under control”…Not “No dogs allowed” as we would see in North America. 
Did I mention there are sheep everywhere? Try walking two frustrated sheepdogs through these fields…”This group? This group? Do you want me to work this group?” Pat and Tap were very optimistic. 
See? They have thistles too!
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