Handhills Border Collie News

Catching up
What a busy few weeks we have had. Sorry for the delay in writing. We have met so many terrific people, and have seen so many wonderful things, where do you begin?

Old Chatham ended well. 73 dogs ran in round 2. Warren Mick pulled the older ewes out, leaving just lambs. The handlers and dogs were able to be more precise, giving Norman more to judge. Many retired or were D.Q. the day before. Beverly Lambert laid a beautiful run down and won the second day. I ended up somewhere around 20th. My out work was better than the day before, but I wasn't able to get a shed.

Off to Rob Drummond's house for 2 days of lessons.

Rob and Betsy Drummond are well known for their two businesses. Rob makes the Blaster Whistle (the best whistle on the market) and Betsy owns Bordercollics Anonymous. Their house is in Hillsboro, New Hampshire, and was built in the late 1700s, early 1800s. Rumor has it that our forefathers signed the Declaration of Independence, and then went to Rob and Betsy's house and hung out. I can't confirm that, but I can tell you it is old and fabulous. It still has the original door latches. We quickly abandoned the dogs and trailer and moved into their wonderful guest bedroom. It is a rugged land with weathered, wonderful, buildings. This is an image I made of Norm's Gwen. She is in a small building that was used to make "home remedies."

Lessons started for Norm at 8:30 a.m. The weather was red hot, in the 90s. The lessons went great, despite the heat. Betsy had cool drinks and refreshments to keep everyone going.

It was great to see Norm's old Cubb and Casey. Rob now runs them. We also finally met Natalie La'belle. We became fast friends on the phone when we sold her Kate.

Onward to Carol Campion's

Carol has a beautiful farm with the prettiest sheep I think I have seen. She has a big field to work in, with a river that runs in the front and a very old graveyard up on the hill. We could live there quite easily. Lessons began in the afternoon, more great people, nice dogs and fabulous meals. Larry, Carol's husband, is a great cook. We enjoyed a beautiful salmon dinner and easy dog talk.

Health issues started to creep up as Norman's Gwen ended up with an abscess on her teat. Fortunately one of Norman's lessons was a vet, and she was kind enough to write us a

prescription for an antibiotic.
Bev Lambert surprised me with a visit. She was on her way to work dogs with Sue Schoen and they invited me along. Bev gave me a history lesson on the way down to the field. There is so much history here, and she is a brilliant woman with a wealth of information.

It was a nice sized field and I was able to practice my first double lift. I dropped my first set of sheep off and gave Gale a look back. She turned around, and then I gave her a come-bye, and away she went, four hundred yards, picked the second group up, and brought them to my feet, in a perfectly straight line...I fainted.

Meanwhile back at the farm, a new set of lambs were born and Norm has been busy training people and dogs.

The next morning, we worked our own dogs at Carol and Larry's. It was wild, as their sheep are light and unforgiving. It was hard for our young dogs to know where to be. It will take them time to get the knack. Carol ran her Flossie for us and it was a treat, she is a nice little dog.