2017 June July

Stockdog Corner
Terry Martin • Bryan, Texas
Just the Wonder of it All
I
talked to someone a few weeks ago who asked me to write
more about the early ASCA trials and the shows, too, because
she had heard that people used to show and trial both on the
same weekend. She was from Colorado and had heard that the
CASA Memorial Day weekend event was as big as Nationals. So
I thought I would write about my memories of that event because
it was my first Aussie show I ever attended. That had to be the
early 1970s because it was before there was an ASCA Stockdog
Program. However, I did attend several years after the Stockdog
Program became a reality.
My first experience had
nothing to do with working the
dogs, but it is kind of a story of
someone (me) coming from a
ranch into a world I had no idea
even existed. We had Aussies to
work our cattle and to share our
lives.
I think it was through the
early publication put out by the
National Stock Dog Registry
that I “met” folks like Lois George (Copper Canyon) and Leslie
Sorensen (Colorado Kennels). I bought a dog from Lois and later
Leslie bred to him. Remember, back then there was no Internet,
so the people in the dog world became acquainted through letters
(paper/pen/envelope/stamp) and the phone, which at that time was
very expensive.
My first experience of going to an ASCA show was when
Leslie asked me to bring Bobby to the CASA Memorial Day Show
and enter the Get of Sire Class using two of her puppies sired by
him. My friend Barb Hager (Blue Isle) had been showing a son of
Bobby in Washington, so we cooked up this amazing idea of her
shipping Frosty down to me and I would take him to Colorado.
I got my good friend who also had Aussies, Shiree Christiansen
(Brushwood), to go with me and we flew to Colorado with two
dogs. I suppose now it is hard to imagine what a huge deal this
was for us, but it was! We took Bobby and Frosty and neither of
us had ever shown a dog before. There is nothing like unexpected
success to get someone hooked. Leslie’s puppy, Clay, won Best of
Breed Puppy, Frosty won his class, and Bobby and his offspring
won the Stud Dog Class. I was now a dog-shower!
Something that I later missed very much about the shows and
trials was just the wonder of it all. We stayed with Dick and Leslie
My first experience had nothing
to do with working the dogs, but it
is kind of a story of someone (me)
coming from a ranch into a world
I had no idea even existed.
Sorensen for the show in Ft. Collins and on subsequent trips over
there I stayed with them and then with Cathy Jones (Ruff N Reddy).
There would be people in sleeping bags all over the living room
floor, bedrooms full, great conversation until the wee small hours
of the morning. During those early years of shows and trials I and
my friends stayed with people we had only met once at a show and
many friendships were made.
Since this is the Stockdog Corner, I had better move on
the the early trials. The first trial I attended in Colorado was
not sanctioned and this was
probably the year before the
ASCA Stockdog Program began
so still early 1970s. I admit my
memory is sketchy on this, but
one dog I have never forgotten
was Orin Barnes’ Las Rocosa
Disney, who was such a fancy
little dog on cattle. Orin told me
years later that all he could think
about out there during his run was
to worry about whether or not he
would be able to catch his dog when the run was over. I worked my
son’s little dog Buster Brown, and there was a cat that came into
the arena and climbed up on a post. I had some worries that time
too as she was pretty obsessed with the cat. I have no memory of
what pattern they used.
The CASA trial became one of the best trials in the country.
Gas was cheap back then and people drove from as far away as
Florida and the Northeast and from California, Washington, and I
met people from Arizona and Nevada there. Whether it was as big
as Nationals I do not know, but it was far from a local event.
The stock was usually good except for one year when they
used roping steers. I remember them as being pretty big, which
usually means they have been roped a lot and they sure knew
where the return pen was – right on the back side of the first panel.
The steers went right up the fence to the first panel and there they
stood. I remember one handler who had a really good dog who
could not move them, so she threw rocks at them. Not sure if that
was against the rules or not – probably so! It didn’t do any good. I
am sure that was in Open as this was before there was an Advanced
class. Since trials were few and far between in those days it was
a disappointment as people did not have many opportunities in a
year to get a qualifying store. It was a memorable year for me as
AUSSIE TIMES May-June 2017 105