Humid! That's what today is! We had some hard rain earlier and I bet it is not much above 70 but it is definitely wet. Tricia MacRae laid one down this morning and got a score in the low 80s with her Bear dog. Most of the runs are doable and the scores are higher but not a ton higher. If the sun is not out then it's quite nice out and the sheep are less cranky but when it comes out from behind the clouds they can be troublesome. We have yet to run into the bad section yet where it is just impossible to bring them down but it's only 2:00 and that is about when they turned yesterday. I'm afraid Hemp got a big DQ but odd as it sounds I'm actually very happy with him. I suspected this might happen and last year when he was in nursery, the first time he saw these sheep he gripped and I chewed him out and the next day he tied for first place. So I'm hoping he will do better on his next run. His outrun was great and I don't think he saw them when he left the post. He went deeper than most dogs are and lifted his sheep bang on. Then I got involved. The one thing I am learning with this dog is less is more. Sometimes the best handling is no handling. He got them about 20 yrds down the fetch line and I tried to help him and we lost them almost back to set out but he got them again and started his lift again and it finally dawned on me that he had it and I should just shut up. So I managed to do that for a little while and he brought them on his own. This is what I was so happy with. I was worried he'd grip at the top or leave a sheep but he didn't let any get around him, even the one that broke off. He got back on line just past the fetch panels but by then he was a little hot in the head from my earlier involvement and I didn't make it much better with too many big flanks. We turned the post and I thought to myself, "Settle this down" so I stopped him behind the post. This is a dicey area and the sheep tried to get around him and he didn't give ground and gripped one under the chin. and was called off. It was right in front of me so I chewed him out and then he helped me exhaust the sheep, properly chastised. Of course, he was only hot 'cause I made him that way so I'm actually really curious to see what he does on the next run. These are the hardest sheep he's ever seen on the biggest course he's ever been on and he's only 3yrs old in his 4th open trial so I'm not concerned. I will be disappointed if we don't get something done on his next run but for now I'm not upset.
Christine Henry ran right after me with Tweed and he showed tons of heart. I was really impressed with him and he got a 71 with no pen.
Emil Luedecke got a high score with his Spot dog. I didn't see it but heard it was an 80.
On the young dog field, Scott did well with Whisk in the nursery and got an 85 - I don't know where it ended up in the end yet but I heard it was at the top. River also did well with a 71 and I was very excited to hear that. I will find out later if he ended up getting a leg.
I believe Sleat retired but I'm not positive on that.
Scott still has a few more before he runs with Drift so I will update you again later.
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