August 25, 2007: Sheep Spa and Nationals
The last 10 days or so have been devilishly busy. We have been out gathering almost every morning at the crack of dawn. Of course, gathering has its purpose. After a couple of hours of bringing various packets of sheep in off the hill, the rest of the day is spent sorting, marking, tagging, dipping and trimming the feet of the hundreds of sheep we have brought in.
Marking sheep is done with a great big bucket of crayon - red and blue, mostly. Each heft has its own mark - 20 unique marks in all, along with 15 different horn marks made with a saw or a file. The sheep finish their day looking like they have had a day at the spa - although with the crayon marks being smudged all over, one would think the markup artisit should be fired! Many a ewe is sent off home with smudged red 'lipstick' after it has nuzzled into the shoulder or behind of the ewe in front of her. A tell tale sign of a dog having done something naughty is when it arrives home with the same red lipstick!
One of the best parts of the day is taking the sheep 'home' at night. Being a hefted flock, each packet of sheep lives in a particular area of the farm so once the gates are open, they pretty much know the way home. The dogs like this chore as all they have to do is follow and, occasionally, flank left or right to keep the sheep on the right path.
We managed to get a couple of days off to go to the English and Scottish Nationals. What fun! Our favourite was the Scottish National. The sheep were tough! Mostly Texels. Texels look a little bit like pigs on stilts. They have short but thick necks which makes it difficult for them to see the dog unless it turns and faces the dog. Which is exactly what they did. Frequently. There were many standoffs between sheep and dogs - at the top of the outrun, around the post, through drive and crossdrive gates, but especially at the pen. Some dogs won the standoff, but many didn't. Bobby Dalziel's dog, Joe, put on a magnificent display of bravery, courage and composure in the face of intense pressure. It is no surprise this dog won the International in 2006. The English National was quite tame, by comparison. There were some good runs there too. The run-off was exciting.
How lucky we are to live within a reasonable driving distance of these events! One can learn a lot by seeing the top handlers duel it out for national honours and places on national teams. Of course, as in any 'sporting' event, there are some colourful characters - we won't mention any names! There are a few newcomers to the various national teams with smiles wider than the Mississippi River is long. There are a few hard luck stories. Of course, there are several who thought they should have made their respective teams but didn't. Finally, there were several classy competitors who perhaps did not do quite as well as they hoped but who could reflect on their performance with great acuity. How refreshing to see people with such insighful self-reflection - who see the start point, see the end result, and understand that their actions created the consequence.
The Scottish National gave us the opportunity to drive through some incredibly attractive countryside. We went through Wanlockhead - the highest village in Scotland (1531 ft above sea level) - and the Highlands, with its heather in full bloom. Scotland is truly a beautiful country.
Archives:
August 14, 2007: Roy goes Gathering for the First Time
August 7, 2007 Foot and Mouth Scare
August 3, 2007 Country bumpkins go to London
July 28, 2007 Whales and Wales
July 21, 2007 Blood sampling ewes.
July 16, 2007 A week of gathering sheep
