Weather doesn’t put a dampener on annual trials

IN spite of all the rain the field, provided by Colin Gordon for one of the South Wales Sheep Dog Trials Association’s annual trials, was so dry that the ground remained unmarked by wheels of competitors’ vehicles.

Colin Gordon and his wife Glenda, who farm at Stembridge Farm, Llanrhidian, on the Gower Peninsula, hosted the novice dog and novice han dler, young handler, Open, and a novice brace trial.

On Saturday, the rain held off until the last run of the novice competition, but nothing distracted Lisa Bassett’s Meg from the job in hand and with a score of 20 points Meg was the winner by a five-point margin from Geraint Williams’s Fly.

Colin Gordon won the Open brace with Jess and Jess and, with a combined run, Lynne Jones came second in the Open brace and won the novice brace. The only change for the young handlers’ class was that the shedding was dropped.

Samantha Walker was first to run in this class with her mother’s Cap. She managed to pen, putting her into second place.

Ioan Jones, 14, had the first run of the day with Joe in the novice class before the long wait for the young handlers’ class. His father’s Joe responded to his every command, keeping calm control of the sheep throughout his work and losing a mere 15 points. Among his prizes was a special cup presented to the youngest handler by Colin and Glenda Gordon.

Handlers stood in the widest part of the field, which narrowed noticeably at the lift. The majority sent their dogs on right-handed outruns to collect four ewes some 350 yards away on gently rising ground.

The first drive was to the right and in total the drives added up to 450 yards. The ring was a closely mown circle, which was easy to see and, in the time allowance of 12 minutes, there was a shed before the pen. The bottom half of all the gates used was solid and painted white to give the sheep every opportunity to spot the correct gap.

Lisa Bassett milks cows for a living but she is keen enough on trialling to kennel five dogs. Meg, a black and white bitch, now five, was bought in as a puppy.

In her successful run, Meg had a clean outrun, lost a single point on the lift and two in the fetch; driving was the problem and here Meg lost 15 points before having a clean shed and then two points lost at the pen.

The brace competitions produced their usual mixture of drama and skill.

In winning the Open brace, Colin Gordon’s Jess and Jess produced work of the highest standard and, before encountering problems at the pens, had lost just seven points, in appalling weather conditions.