Today was a repeat of yesterday.
It began with the 'Cowboys' collecting the sheep
and directing them into the pen.
I think it is amazing to watch.
The men and their dog are very quiet, slow and deliberate.
The sheep, by their nature, clump together,
and if they aren't pressured, they walk calmly along.
(The wind was terrible. You may want to turn your sound off.)
We continued to move sheep and send out groups of four.
I think the sheep were a little bored with a 2nd day of 'captivity'.
They invented games to play...
or worked to establish the pecking order within the flock.
I learned that a flock is less than 1000 sheep.
More than that? Then you have a herd.
The owner of these sheep has 10,000 sheep.
(That is not a typo!)
They are split into a number of herds that graze on
BLM land in the mountains of Colorado.
The sheep were more comfortable with our presence.
They would come a bit closer.
Here one ewe has decided to see if she can
get the gate open to release her friends!
She was persistent.
When she couldn't chew the tie holding the panel,
She tried chewing the bar!
I had hoped to get some pictures and video of dogs working the sheep. But, the field is so large and I can't get close enough to get much detail at all. But, perhaps this will give you a little bit of an idea of what goes on. This photo shows four sheep in the middle, waiting to be 'lifted' by the sheep dog. The cowboys and Lexie, a Border Collie, are holding the sheep until the contestant arrives. You can just see Lexie lying down in the grass if you look behind the horse on the right. Do you see the little black speck on the right of the picture, in the grass, just below the buildings? That's the trial dog beginning her run out to lift the sheep. She's running behind one of the gates that she will later drive the sheep through. The dog's handler is just out of the picture, in that area. She will stay there and direct the dog with whistles, until it is time to load the sheep into the pen. You can see the pen. It is the white object that is at the top of a triangle with the sheep and the horse on the right forming the bottom points. It is just below the trees and a large truck. The dog must run out to 'lift' the sheep. Then they are driven to where the handler is standing and must go around a stake. From there, the dog moves them through one, two or three 'gates', depending on the experience level of the class. The gates are comprised of two wood fence panels that are spread apart to leave a 20' opening. There is also a circular area in the middle of the field where the dog is required to hold the sheep for a period of time. Finally the handler moves to the pen as the dog moves the sheep there. The handler opens the gate and closes the sheep in the pen. The dogs had to complete this course in under 8 minutes.
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