Just like old times

Lisa and I arrived in Kamloops at 1:00PM just in time to go on a trial ride. Also in time for the 34 degree weather. Tomorrow we are heading to Holly Bruner's trial in Paxton Valley. We are staying at my dad's house which is only 45 minutes away from Holly's. It was very hot so Lisa and I needed to refresh ourselves before our ride. No need to recycle bottles here.

All refreshed and ready to go.

Dad doing his thing.

Now I must rest up. For tomorrow we run dogs.

Lazy husband = happy sheep and dog

The cattle have over taken most of our land. So my sheep are grazing anywhere they can get grass. Currently they are in the pasture where our machinery live. This means Kyle needs to open and close many gates to get in to feed the cattle. Sounds like too much work. Yesterday he decided to leave the gates open to make things easier.

Of course the sheep took full advantage of this opportunity.

The calves also thought it was fun the chase the sheep.

Isla to the rescue.

Mission accomplished

Placenta, sunflower seeds and stock handling

Friday began like many of my days lately me covered in placenta and eating sunflower seeds. I usually starts with me minding my own business walking dogs and Kyle phoning me on my cell because there is some sort of calving crisis and his dad is now where to be found. So in that case I am moved up from not a chance in hell to second in command. Fridays drama began with a cow calving beside and older calf and then thinking the older calf was hers and preceded to abandoned her calf. So I tootle out to the field on the ranger dragging the calf sled. Rescue the calf from certain death and take it to one of our maternity pens. I do a very fancy Joe Lucas like calf tie so that the little gaffer doesn't escape from the sled. Before I continue I must tell you that last year my husband had no experience with calving or moving stock. He was born and raised in town and before he met me he never dreamed of running 150 head of cattle on a farm.
Calf secure in the pen. I reach in my pocket and grab a handful of spits (sunflower seeds) and jam them in my mouth. Funny how short term memory works. I had completely forgotten the at not 20 minutes earlier my hands were covered in nice juicy placenta. Oh well to late now. Maybe I could use the extra protein for energy. By the time I get back to the pasture to help Kyle wrangler up the momma cow he had resorted to chasing her with his truck and honking. His stockmanship could use some work. Not only are we trying to get one cow we also have to get the adopted calf and its really mother. I promptly tell Kyle to get out of his truck and lets just go on foot both moms are fairly easy going and don't really want to kill us yet.
So I proceed to work my husband like a border collie. But I don't really want him to catch on to this so instead of the regular commands I use left, right, forward and stop. Thankfully he never knew what hit him and we proceed to quietly move two cows and a calf into the alley. Sorted out the real mom and put her in the pen with her baby. Some more drama ensued when she noticed that her baby was leaving with another mom. We had her in the head squeeze and she tossed those panels like the were made of match sticks. How exciting for us. I was really just running for my life. Finally she calmed down and we got her baby to suck. A couple hours later she decided this really was her baby and we were never taking it away again. She is not so easy going anymore.

Puppies

The girls from Lethbridge were up for some lessons on Saturday and Sarah took some pics of the puppies. I am not sure how she did it but she managed to capture their personality's perfectly. Sarah is very talented.

Bracken
Always so serious

Craig
Never stops moving
Also never has more than one foot on the ground at any given time

Happy Birthday to me

Last Thursday was my birthday. Being as I was at a dog trial my husband waited until Monday to go to town and pick up my present. He called just before he got home to make sure I was not near a window. Than he came in and covered my eyes and took me outside. What could it be you are thinking a car, new holiday trailer. Now keep in mind this is the same man that in the past has bought me the following for various occasions.
-tow rope
-300 piece tool box
-water cooler
-vaccum

What could it be this time.

That right boys and girls a skid steer. while most girls are wearing pretty jewelry I will be out moving dirt and digging holes.

Kyle is very proud of his purchase

Carleton Creek Trial

Dog trialing does funny things to a person. You seem to loose all track of space and time when trialing for three days. Carleton Creek is the first field trial of the year in Alberta and it is a little bit like coming back to summer camp. Most of us have not seen each other for six or seven months. We sit around in our lawn chairs talking about what is new with each others dogs. As my weekend progressed I found myself thinking about things we need to work on for the next trial. Each year of doing this sheepdog thing I become more and more of a perfectionist. Fellow handlers congratulate me on a good run and all I can think of was were I messed up. Next time tighter turns or better lines. I can honestly say that this is the only aspect of my life where I am a perfectionist. This morning I sat back and reflected on the weekend for my blog and I realized I didn't do to bad. Saturday we ran two Pro Novice and one Open. Pro Novice had 32 dogs and Open almost 40. Pretty good numbers for the beginning of the year. The first Pro Novice run was a little rough but good enough to be with in the top 10. Second PN run was much better starting to get it together. Finished 2nd round two and overall I finished 3rd for the Pro Novice. It was 8:00 PM when we ran Open. The sun was in my eyes and the sheep were a little wild. I had a hard time getting a flow and timed out in the shedding ring. Sunday morning was run 2 for Open and we ran when it was cool and the sheep were just right. Had a really nice run and to my surprise placed 2nd. Which meant I was sitting in 10th place to go to the double lift. Something I was certainly not prepared to do. Luckily someone bumped me down to 11th. My second place win gives me points to qualify for the USBCHA national finals in September. Yea for me. As all summer camps end we exchanged hugs and email addresses with old and new friends.

Our Host Milton scott doing his best can can girl impression.

Isla watching the double lift from the sidelines.