2017 June July

to herd, and she just answered “All herding people must be tested
in this way, to prove their worth.”
A couple years went by, I got another Aussie. I moved to
another city, and then moved back, got another Aussie. You can
never have just one. I’d work stock where I could and take lessons
from friends who were willing to mentor and teach me. Mostly I
would putter around with Irene’s sheep and ducks, figuring out
what worked and what didn’t. In May 2014 I thought I would give
this trialing thing a chance. Cocoa and I entered sheep and ducks
at our first stock dog trial in Frenchtown, Montana. It went well;
Cocoa got her Started-Advanced Sheep and Started/Open ducks that
weekend. We made it to one more trial at the end of the summer,
and got our Advanced Duck title. In summer of 2015, I entered
some duck runs at a trial that had everything, to compete in MVA.
We did better than I expected, and someone said “Hey, I think you
qualify for Finals now!” and I thought, oh, that’s nice, I should
look into what that’s all about. We made it to a couple more trials
in the Finals-points year, and luckily we were able to get enough
points for a Finals invitation on ducks!
September finally came, we had made it to Albany and set
up camp, located some armband numbers and then it was finally
Finals! Some of the dogs I knew, and I’d seen work before, but
there were many I hadn’t met. Looking down the list of dogs it
became apparent that there weren’t many others competing with
dogs from conformation lines, who didn’t have a WTCH. I wasn’t
sure how hopeful I should be feeling. Cocoa and I had done well
before, but these were the top dogs in the country. My friend told me
“Melanie, your first goal is to make it in the top 15 in the first two
rounds, and then all you have to do is make it in the top 10.” I said
“Listen Susan, at least we’re here, I’m not making any promises!”
Being in possession of a somewhat nervous character, I was not
pleased to see that somehow the scheduling
had put us up second in the first elimination
round, and first in the second. In hindsight
this may have been a blessing, as I didn’t
get a lot of time to focus on how difficult the
ducks turned out to be. The arena was larger
than any duck arena I’d ever seen, which
was a concept I liked. Unfortunately for the
ducks, it was also the largest arena they had
ever seen. You didn’t have many chances for
dilly-dallying, or the ducks would unionize
and take a coffee break.
In the end, I followed my friend’s advice,
and we placed 9th in our first Finals. I’m
really glad that we qualified for an invitation
to compete, and it was such a treat to be able
to watch all the other amazingly talented dogs
work on all three stock in Finals. I think it’s
incredible that our breed has the largest single
breed registry in North America, and that the
people who love the Australian Shepherd
are so dedicated to keeping the programs
that showcase our breed running. We have
so much more support and opportunity than
many other breeds do. I look forward to
attending and supporting many nationals and
hopefully Finals events in the years to come!
Finally, Finals!
New Finalist Kathy Sider:
First Time at Finals
The 2016 ASCA Finals were exciting, great fun, and also
exhausting. Challenging stock, especially cattle, made my dog and
me work harder than we probably have ever done. It also made me
pay close attention to the other runs and try to figure out why some
were quite successful while many were not. We enjoyed making
new friends and spending time with old friends. Competitors
were supportive and helpful of one another and especially of the
“newbies.” Dashing from ring to ring and trying hard to stay on
schedule was wearing and kept me and Ginger on our toes.
It was especially exciting to see a Supreme Champion emerge
after so many years. The winning runs Sherry Baker and Oakley
laid down on cattle, sheep, and ducks were inspiring.
Overall, Ginger Rose and I learned a lot at the 2016 Finals.
Although we had no big wins, I was very happy that Ginger Rose
qualified for Finals on all three stock and made it into the final
round on ducks. That was a satisfying achievement for both of us.
We look forward to the opportunity to compete in ASCA Finals
again.
It was very apparent that enormous time and effort went into
putting 2016 ASCA Finals together and that the organizers faced
and solved significant challenges along the way. I was impressed
with their thoughtfulness, their attention to the many details, and
the positive attitude they maintained. Hats off to Ken and Rhonda
Silveira and Ken and Debbie Lyle, as well as the many staunch
volunteers who worked hard to make it all happen.
Kathy Sider’s WTCH HTCH Ginger Rose AFTDs OFTDm.
*****
100 AUSSIE TIMES May-June 2017