By Celeste Lacroix
This year thunderstorms and heavy rains threatened the 80 Acres Sheepdog Trial right up until the morning's first run when everyone arrived with all-weather gear. Some dogs, arriving at new locations in the extreme thunderstorms, had been lost the evening prior providing just another added edge for the trial organizing committee. In the end, fortunately, all dogs were safe and accounted for. The trial event consists of 2 one and a half day Open trials. Handlers, sheep and dogs were encouraged by the cool / damp weather; many people remembered last year's scorching heat at this event.
80 Acres Sheepdog Trial was held on 4 to 6 August 2023 on a field that is donated for use by Brian Back and Andrea Winthrop. The property is accessed through a side road off Marclan Rd in Kingston. The field is challenging by being very long, flat and narrow with a seasonal creek running through it. The sheep are exhausted behind the judging station and provide increasing draw as the trial goes on.
80 Acres Sheepdog Trial is held a week prior to the Kingston Sheep Dog Trial thus attracting handlers from all over North America.
The judge, Michael Davidson, from Northumberland, UK was a very kind gentleman who was fair in scoring, jolly in attitude and very helpful with advice to anyone who asked. Amanda Milliken’s farm flock sheep were used in groups of 3, combining ewes and lambs.
The trial was sanctioned by the Ontario Border Collie Club (OBCC), North Eastern Border Collie Association (NEBCA) and the United States Border Collie Handlers Association (USBCHA) for qualifying points to year end points and awards.
I admittedly only stayed for day 1 as I had just received the new dog that I’d bought from the southern USA which a kind handler coming to the trial offered to transport. Yes, we paid all duties :-). It was “Christmas” at my farm for the next few days, exploring and discovering JR Khaki who clearly didn’t understand my Canadian accent but fortunately seems to be bilingual in whistles.
In case you missed the placings:
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Placings Open 1 1. Faansie Basson and Finn: 93 2. Lori Cunningham and Buck: 91 3. John Palmer and Dutch: 89 4. Robin French and Becca: 87 5. Barbara Ray and Dinah: 87 6. Kevan Gretton and Bud: 86 7. Tracy Hinton and Lad: 85 8. Tracy Hinton and Tye: 84 9. Fiona Robertson and Bean: 84 10. Werner Reitboeck and Jessie: 83 11. Joe Haynes and Davey: 83 12. Sally Molloy and Reese: 82 13. Beverly Lambert and Lee: 81 14. Faansie Basson and Jack: 81 |
Placings Open 2 1. Robin French and Cait: 88 2. Kevan Gretton and Bud: 87 3. Mary Minor and Ziya: 86 4. Sally Molloy and Kerry: 86 5. Lee Lumb and Dez: 86 6. Faansie Basson and Jack: 85 7. Tracy Hinton and Tye: 85 8. Mich Ferraro and Quark: 85 9. Barbara Ray and Grant: 85 10. Christine Koval and Tru: 83 11. Peg Anderson and Dan: 83 12. Faansie Basson and Finn: 82 13. Peggy Chute and Twizzler: 82 14. Beverly Lambert and Lee: 81 |
Dogs Entered:
10 - 80 Acres Only
42 - Kingston Only
71 - Both Trials
I did get a chance to conduct a short survey with handlers and thought you might be interested in some of the information regarding your fellow handlers, dogs and more. This will help provide a bit of a view of the handler and dog profile of attendees. Please note, not all handlers responded to the survey (and I did a bit of sleuthing to enhance questions like 'where are handlers from') but it gives an idea of some interesting datapoints!!
Where are our handlers from?
Canada - 15
ON - 10
QC - 3
BC - 1
AB - 1
USA - 23
NC - 5
NY - 3
CT - 3
PA - 2
MI - 1
MS - 1
TX - 1
FL - 1
WA - 1
GA - 1
VA - 1
MA - 1
NV - 1
NH - 1
And finally, advice to new Handlers:
*All photos credit Alanna Leach