THE SHEEP

Okay, okay....I know.....I heard you loud and clear.....so here it is.....what you have all been waiting for. Pay close attention all.....this one has behind the scene information about one of the most important aspects of the trial....THE SHEEP! And only you...the faithful, patient, if not somewhat persistent blog followers will have this information....that is unless you share with those not "in the know".Ellen Skillings had this to say about the sheep that will be run at the 2009 USBCHA National Finals:

"Hmmm the sheep, they are very fit and sprightly yearlings. The balance of the sheep will be fall born ewe lambs (about two hundred of them.) That means these even younger sheep will be long lambs, nearly yearlings themselves, come Finals time. Breed wise, they are primarily coopworth with a smidgen of North Country, Texel and Dorset thrown in.

These sheep are run in large groups of 700 to 1200. Their exposure to good dogs has been minimal and they are never worked in small bunches, so while they move and flow beautifully in big groups, breaking them down to smaller numbers (fewer than about 50) they become wild as March hares. They have lots of experience with predators. Coyotes and cougars are regular visitors. The sheep are well accustomed to be handled through sorting and handling facilities and are loaded and moved quite often as they spend winter and spring grazing the seed fields (rye grass and clover) in the Willamette Valley. Summers are spent primarily on irrigated permanent pasture supplemented by harvest aftermath like fresh cull peas. The sheep are rarely consume stored feed except when they come through for lambing. Don Gnos has provided sheep for the Finals each time they have been held in Klamath. In 2006 the sheep were primarily aged ewes as Don hadn't kept back enough replacements to meet the number requirements for the Finals. These sheep should be lighter and faster than those in 2006.

What would you like to hear about next? Maybe some background information about the judges?? Let me know in the comment section and I will see what I can gather up! Until we meet again, good luck trialing!