Today dawned very pretty although there are scattered dark clouds which may play havoc later. There are foothills behind my hotel and this morning I got up early and decided to take Rave for a run. First mistake of the day. She went varmint hunting and was having a grand time. I was having a grand time watching. Then she disappeared behind a knoll. No problem I waited for her to reappear. Now actual time probably wasn't long but we where out of sight of each other. I started worrying that if she tracked her prey she would not know what direction I was. So I started calling. No response. Called again. No response. Just about the time my heart rate started picking up she pops up over the hill, big smile on her face. And covered in little cockle burrs. I have gotten about half of them off. The rest are going to take scissors as they are a tightly wound knot of burs on her chest and legs. I also found to my chagrin a bunch of mats in her britches. Shame on me. A good bath with cream rinse and a long comb out session is awaiting us when we get home.
Lets hope the rest of my decisions are a bit better today!
Arrived at the trial site early after swinging through Starbucks for a latte to get me going, ready for a fresh day of trialing. We started with cattle and we got our little friend that liked to split out on his own once again. As it turned out we got this particular calf 4 times over the weekend. It was a really good experience trying to figure out the best way to handle him. We got a little better on each run and on the last run I was very pleased with how Rave had started kicking out on her cover and stopping him before he got started. We did not get many q's on cattle this weekend but the learning was way more valuable than the q would have been. As you can see these are little guys. Quick and did not stick together. 
Sheep where fast and running the course. Had troubles getting Rave to check up just a bit so she got ahead just slightly on the cross drive which resulted in a turn back. A recurring problem in trials. Hard to duplicate in training. Last run on sheep there was one smart black ewe who was really trying to beat the dog on the cross drive and make the break for the repen. Rave held her but then started having a bit to much fun. She likes nothing better than playing cow pony. Didn't help much on our over flanking problem but Rave did well although she probably should have hit the sweet spot to hold that ewe. But it was a mighty small sweet spot. I crossed the handlers line to help out and we completed the course but of course lost 50% of our points for crossing the line. The first run of sheep that we had went okay. Not stellar as Rave is still sending to much energy to the sheep making them move quick and not taking her flank on the cross drive well.
And the ducks. Good ducks. Rave also on the power and not executing her usual finesse on ducks. We made the course but it didn't flow. I am really looking forward to getting back into training in a few days. Practicing calmness on both of our parts.
Thanks Montana Magic Photography for the photos!
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