October 20, 2008: Trials...and, well, trials
We are a bit behind on the 'happenings' around here. We've been sick, busy looking for a farm, worrying about the economy and all that jazz. But, of course, we have been out trialling as well.

We've been to three nursery trials - Kinloch Ace being the only one of our dogs eligible to run nurseries. Now nurseries here are quite different from those in the US or in Scotland. To be eligible for nurseries here, a dog must not have finished 1st, 2nd or 3rd in an Open trial. There is no age restriction on the dog. To run in the Puppy class, the dog must be basically competing in its first season with again no age restriction. So, this means 18-month-old Ace is competing against dogs much older in some cases, and there are one or two younger than her as well. That is the fun of our nurseries!

Ace missed the first nursery trial as we were galavanting around Scotland having a merry old time. In her first trial, Ace won (!) the puppy class and the nursery class which was a huge surprise. Even though she is only just starting to learn to shed, and we have never done any penning together, Ace got both the shed and pen! Delightful! This trial was held at Brynberllan Farm, where we live, so perhaps we had a bit of homefield advantage. In the head-to-head battle with Mike and Chip, Angie and Ace lead the 'Brynberllan Nursery Challenge' 1-0!

Our second trial was held at Aberglasney and was hosted by Meirion Jones. The trial field was superb and the weather fantastic (for a change). It was a much bigger outrun for this trial - about as far as Ace has ever been asked to run out. But run out she did and nicely too as she was looking for her sheep as she went. After a few wee bobbles around the course, Ace ended up winning the Puppy class but was beaten in the Nursery class by Dai Barclaycard's (AKA Dai James) 5 year old, Fly. Another good performance for this wee bitch. 'Brynberllan Nursery Challenge' 2-0 to Angie and Ace.

Yesterday we went to our third nursery event for the season, once again on our homefield at Brynberllan Farm. Ace put in another solid performance despite drawing a tricky ewe. She once again outran well but a handling error, coupled with a tricky ewe, saw us miss the fetch gates. She had a nice drive although hampered by more handling errors (!) and finished the course getting the shed and the pen (but not without a lot of work at the pen). Ace finished 3rd in the Puppy class and 4th in the Nursery. Nigel Watkins put on a very good performance with his bitch, Jan, and deservedly took home top honours. Mike and Chip put their noses in front of Angie and Ace this week finishing 2nd in the Puppy class and 3rd in Nurseries, while nipping at our heels was Ace's brother, Kenny, with Meirion Owen. It was Kenny's first placing in the puppy class (4th) and nursery class (6th). Yahoo!

The Brynberllan Nursery Challenge currently stands at 2-1 to the girls. Chip is improving though! Rapidly. We are in for a battle. Mike is pulling out all the stops even doing some 'secret' training too (although if we hide behind the hedge, we can spy on him!). Ace, well, she's just a youngster so we'll just tick along in her training and see where the 'chips' fall (excuse the pun).

We are making an impression on our local Nursery Trials Association. Last week Mike got the look just right.

This week, Meirion Owen thought 'if I can't beat 'em, join 'em'.

Nursery trials at Brynberllan are a family affair as all the kids and grandkids join Mike and Nora for a day of fun. The grandchildren and neighbouring kids make for an enthusiastic exhaust crew....so enthusiastic that at one point they decided to exhaust sheep that were running round and round the pen...before the handler's time was up. Oops!

Everyone is invited back to the farmhouse for Cawl, a traditional Welsh stew. Nora is an exceptional cook so this is a real treat. If any watches X-Factor in the UK, or American Idol in the US, Cawl is pronounced like Cowell, as in judge Simon Cowell. Of course, there are other goodies as well so it is a huge treat indeed to attend trials at Brynberllan. And people have been attending trials here for generations. Meirion Owen (above) competed in one of his first trials ever at Brynberllan when he was knee-high to a grass-hopper. His son, Iestyn, is now carrying on the tradition. Same for Meirion Jones and his son, Ioan. The nice thing about living at Brynberllan is we get to hear all the stories about the two Meirion's when they were little lads so if you ever need any 'dirt' on these two, we've got it!

Three generations of the 'Hemmings' clan turned out for their trial. Nora...

...daughter Maria, and granddaughter Fflur.

...and grandchildren Ffion and Iestyn (yes, he fell off the quad bike). Ffion is better on a horse than a quad bike!

..and grandsons Aaron (in red) and Iestyn (trying to retrieve his cap from Ioan Jones)

We had a very enthusiastic exhaust crew - Iestyn Owen and Aaron sprinting to
see who can open the exhaust gate first.

We had, of course, a few studious spectators - Wynford Japp (Left) and I. Glyn Jones (right).

...and puppy socializing recruits - Fflur with Kinloch Bee.


...and some trial dogs too.

Wynford Japp's Fly

Tony Draycott's Fly

I.Glyn Jones' bitch, Jess (we think)

We managed to get a sunny day here this week, so we dragged out our old video camera and caught a couple of our dogs on video. As we were taping, a couple of aggressive and yappy Jack Russell terriers came up the road and between them and Bailey's barking, it just about did our heads in! Poor Roy, who was working at the time, wondered what the heck was going on as he could hear all the commotion as he drove sheep down into the valley.

The pups are all doing fine and are growing like weeds. They are of the age (10 weeks) now when they are starting to have disagreements so we have had to split a few of them up. All of them have been out and about, and amazingly (or should we saw, thankfully), all of them recall to a whistle. A few of them have discovered our chickens... We took Bee to the trial yesterday and she was very interested in the sheep coming down the fetch and around the post. None of them like the car, yet, but they are getting rides around so they get used to it.

Well, that's all the news for now.