November- Results from our HS (Herding Started class).

Our third AKC trial in Florida was a success!

Little did we know that our vacation to Florida to visit the folks and do some trialling would end up so well. I'm proud to say that Grace came away with a first place and HIT, a second place and RHIT and a third place to finish her HSAs! What a change Grace has made. At our second trial in April, Grace escaped under the fence to get away from the sheep and now she has a HIT, WOW!
Our first day was Saturday and we had 2 trials planned for that day. The first was an all-breed and the evening trial was sheltie-only. The first trial ran longer than expected and I did not go into the field until after 4pm.

Grace was my first for this trial and she was marvelous. We scored a 98 and impressed the judge. We lost HIT by 1/2 point to a border collie who scored 98.5. I was so proud of Grace and there were a lot of suprised people watching our run.

Chance was next up and was a bit zoomy so we finished out of the placings. Luke went last as darkness was falling and he ran around apparently unable to see the sheep. I'm taking him in to the vet to see about possible night blindness issues.

In the middle of this I also had to do the evening trial's duck run so Grace and I went to herd ducks. The ducks were not used to too much human pressue and my need to stay close to Grace to avoid having her herd the ducks in a random direction meant that we did not finish the course.

Darkness fell and it was impossible to continue after that so we called it a day and would finish the unfinished portions of the evening trial the next day.

The next day, we ran our sheltie-only trial classes while dodging a rogue shower. Chance was first up and was so zoomy that I could not control him. He did not qualify with that round.
Grace was next up and did a nice job but not as nice as I would like to see. But she won first and HIT with a 89.5
Luke ran last and did very well and I was very proud of him. The sheep escaped and did not make it through the middle panel. I thought it was a near-miss and did not try to put them back through. The judge called it a missed obstacle and therefore we didn't qualify. I was still really happy with Luke's work though.

The final trial the rest of Sunday was another all-breed. Chance was first up and was less zoomy but would not give me a good lift and drove the sheep around the back end of the course before I got ahold of him. He did qualify though!
Grace did good but not as well as previous trials so she ended up with a 95 which was only 3rd place for this trial.

It was wonderful that my parents were there to see the wins and also a professional photographer was on hand so hopefully I should have some pictures up soon of the trial!
Until then, you can see samples of these pictures here. Just click on either of the started classes. We're in both.