Each year also leaves me with a fascination for the sport and a huge desire to learn how to do it. I become next to obsessed with Border Collies for the following 9 months. And daydream about being born into a rural lifestyle of farming and animals. This year one of the competitors (she is also a photographer and painter who sells some of her artwork at the event) was talking to me while I was looking at some of the artwork she was selling. Anyway, when I told her that it looks so incredibly fun and amazing, and that I would love to do it. She asked me what was stopping me. My first response was that I didn't know how to get started. To that I was directed to a page in the event directory that gives phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and web-sites for just that kind of thing. I was also told to email her and she could answer questions that I may have. The next reason I gave was financial, to which I was told "It's cheaper than horses". The next reason I have, that I didn't find the voice for, was that I kind of always thought that was the kind of thing you had to be born into. And if not born into working stock dogs, at least born into farm life. Really, how does a person get started when they are stuck in the suburbs? Know next to nothing about sheep or cattle? And already have to terrific dogs in a community that will not allow a third? But, you can bet that I'm going to be reading and re-reading the web sites on the subject and buying a book or two....or twenty, as books seem to be a weakness of mine.
Neil was a trooper hanging out in Saturdays wind and rain, and then again in Sunday's scorching sun. He got bored, and he let us know...very vocally. Saturday, he and I saw the sights. Wandered around finding 'lost sheep' for a give-away from Bank of the West. Free teddy bears for kids 12 and under. We also colored a picture for their coloring contest and free ice cream for the entrants. We ate some yummy Greek food, Neil got his first taste of lamb, and he loved it. Then when the herding was over, we watched the Splash Dogs. Neil's FAVORITE part of the weekend. He spent Sunday looking forward to when we could watch it again.
Sunday, I was determined to watch more of the herding that I was able to watch on Saturday.
Neil let me know how he felt about this, but he was pretty good about it. He watched the sheep through Gary's binoculars, tried to nap on the seat next to me, looked for grasshoppers, and colored. We watched dogs together as a family for quite a while, then he'd had enough. Time for lunch, a bit more watching, and then some wandering. We saw the "Wild Wonders" an exotic animal rescue that had some animals there. A fox, a tortoise, skunk, hedgehog, birds, and lizards. That tortoise was amazing. I thought they were supposed to be slow. But, she moved out quite quickly with a small flock of children following closely petting her shell, her leg, or whatever they could reach. We looked at booths of wool, Navajo blankets, dog products, pet adoptions, watched the sheep herding demonstration in the demonstration arena...complete with question and answer time. And saw the tail end of the "Ultimate Canines" dog show. That was fun. Neil got to pet a ginormous 1/2 standard poodle 1/2 great Pyrenees. The dog looked almost like one of the sheep being herded on the hill. We listened to bagpipes (one of Neil's very favorite instruments)
Then it was time for something cold to drink and an attempt at watching more herding. Gary and I decided to keep track of the scores as they were announced, and remember the names of handlers and dogs that really stood out in our minds. When all of the competing was over, we went back up to the Splash Dogs go vertical. We watched dogs jump from 6-7 feet in the air for a toy that was clipped to a bar over their heads. More often than not, they caught it.
It was a fun way to get a sun burn. And, we're thinking about taking a family vacation to Ketchum, Idaho in October for the Trailing of the Sheep Festival.
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