Happy Bluegrass Eve!

Yeah I haven't been very up to date with blogging...quick catch up before bed: Rae and I trialed at Twin Oaks in Murfreesboro, TN last month, then last weekend we were at the Hanley's in Lexington, KY for Chinquapinwood. At Twin Oaks I retired the first day because she wasn't listening to me AT ALL, which is a problem we've been having of late. We did respectably the second day, though still encountered some selective hearing, but we held it together to finish and even got our shed.

Chinquapinwood day 1 she listened very well and I was super pleased. The cross drive was unbelievably difficult, you lost sight of your dog and sheep through a good portion of it, and it was always a surprise to see where the sheep would emerge after coming out of "The Bermuda Triangle." I didn't have her push on the sheep enough (figured this out after the fact), which resulted in the sheep stringing themselves out. It was a tricky situation as the lead ewe wanted to bolt but the trailing ewe wanted to poke around. We timed out at the pen, but managed a 62 (without a pen or shed). For day 2 we had our most excellent outwork EVER! She listened beautifully on the fetch, and it was our nicest display of teamwork at a trial. The fetch line, turn around the post, and driveaway was going phenomenally until we got a little boogered right at the panel. We both have panel panic, and I was getting excited about how well the run was going! She got squirrelly, wouldn't take her downs and grossly overflanked 3 times in a row, so I RT'ed and ran down the field to remind her what lie down means. Ah well, I was super duper happy about our performance up til that point. And it was my fault for causing it to begin with.

Livy got to play with her brother Deuce. They look so much alike! He's such a sweet boy.

Now we've moved on down the road to The Bluegrass. Handlers meeting was tonight and the course is set after much discussion on pen placement. I'm up mid-day tomorrow for the first go round. I AM SO FREAKING NERVOUS! My 4th open trial is the BG? What was I thinking?! I have to remind myself I'm here for the experience and so there's no need for all this pressure I put on myself. It WILL be fun! About a gazillion of Livy's relatives will be running, so I can't wait to see them in action!