December 31st 2009: If the Queen Can, So Can We: Part 3
After not doing a real 'year end' message last year, we decided to have a go at doing our 'year in a nutshell' blog. If the Queen can do a year end message, so can we. Can't we? (WARNING: LONG BLOG)

If you are vaguely interested, here are the predecessors.
2007 Year End Blog
2008 Year End Blog (sort of)

It is now almost 3 years since we left 'life as we knew it' in Canada and embarked upon this crazy adventure to 'go trialling in the UK.' Although we hail from New Zealand, we had been living in Canada for a number of years and decided we were ready to do something different. As we noted in our 2007 message, some of our friends told us we were "inspiring" and “brave.” If we didn't know it then, we do now know that we were stark raving mad! The real adventure started in Scotland where we spent time on a 5,500 acre farm with 2,200 Scottish Blackface sheep. That was baptism by fire!

Scotland was fun. We loved it. Aside from the incredible experience we had on the farm, one of the best things was living only 2 hours away from Bobby and Shiela Dalziel. We first went to Bobby's place in August 2007. It was a pinch-me moment to be standing in a field in Ettrick, the middle of nowhere in Scotland, with one of the world's best - and incredibly nerve-wracking to be asked by Bobby to 'show me your dog.' There were no gopher holes to swallow us up, so we did the only thing we could...show Bobby our dogs, and that was the start of what has blossomed into a wonderful friendship with Bobby and Shiela. They have our respect and admiration for they are two of the most modest, kindest and down-to-earth people you will ever meet.

It was with Bobby's help that at the end of 2007, Angie stepped onto the trial field with Roy. What a blast to finally be out on the field giving it a go. I had been in a couple of trials before this but the end of 2007 really was the start of this trialling 'bug' - if you'd like to call it that. The first time I went to the post was in Canada at Scott and Jenny Glen's place. Scott talked me into it. I ran my speedster, Jet (Bee's mother). As I went to the post, I was worried that I might not like trialling. To put yourself 'out there' for all to see your blunders was nerve-racking. "Come-bye", I said to Jet and off she went up the field at warp speed. All I remember is hearing someone using many expletives to describe Jet's speed. My knees knocked as loud as a woodpecker on a calm day...and the only thought on my mind was how the heck I was going to stop this dog at the top. I used to whistle with my fingers but at this point, I only had one whistle - STOP! As Jet got to the point of balance, I stuck my fingers in my mouth and prayed my one whistle would work. To my utter shock, Jet stopped. But that's about where my trial ended as it was a train wreck after that. The only good thing to come of it was that I was hooked! I did learn, though, that neither me nor my dog were ready for the trial field. It was not until Roy and I stepped to the post on December 15th 2007 that we were even close to being ready (although that is quite debatable in hindsight). We were 8th that day and yes, there were more than 8 in the field. I was hooked!

Two years on, and a move to Wales in 2008, and it would be fair to say that we LOVE trialling. There is nothing more thrilling than going to the post with our best pals and trying to get those sheep around a course in some semblance of order. It is a moment in time when the rest of the world melts away and it's just you, your dog, some sheep and a set of obstacles - testing yourself to see if your skills and the intelligence and working ability of your dog can demonstrate the fruits of your breeding (and training) program. That's what trialling is all about to us.

2009 was a good year, not that we have many to judge this by! In the nurseries, Ace, from our first litter, had a great start to her trialling career with 3 wins and 2 placings from 6 starts. She is now in the USA with our good friends, Susan and David, and just had a litter of 4 lovely pups to Kinloch River (who qualified for the USBCHA Nursery Finals in 2009).

The second litter we bred produced Sioux, Tina and River. Sioux, a daughter of Meg, had a terrific year and what a heck of a surprise that was. Many people said her early success at 14-15 months of age would be the ruin of her. Sioux had other ideas and managed 6 wins and 12 top six placings. She taught us some invaluable lessons - never judge a dog too soon, and don't listen too much to the opinion of others. If you like the dog, that's all that counts. And one thing is for sure, you could not meet a more loyal and willing partner. In an age where medical reports for HD, CEA, CL, CH, TNS, MDR1 etc (surely I missed something in this 'alphabet soup') seem to be sacrosanct, I'd take a dog with the heart of little Sioux anyday. When the veterinary scientists develop a genetic test for what's between a dog's ears and what is in its heart, please someone let me know?

Roy had a super year too with something like 16 top six placings including a couple of wins. Not bad for a dog who got such a bad prognosis from a vet that he was summarily written off as a trial and work dog. There are no words to describe how gutted we felt to hear this prognosis but having been athletes for many years, we know that injuries are part of sport and the best sportspeople are ones who deal with their injuries and carry on to see what they can do, not what someone says they can't. We took this approach with Roy and one can only point to the dog's performance this year to show what the dog can do. And heck, Roy is such a sweetheart who loves sheep. Who were we to mouthball him on the advice of someone who knows the dog less than us?

The most gut wrenching time of the year (so far as dogs were concerned) was losing Meg to a serious injury for most of the season...just as it felt we were starting to really click. For a long time it was as if the sky had fallen in. Certainly this was a huge disappointment but she'll be back in 2010 (cross fingers).

In our 2007 Year End blog, we wrote that our friend Diane from the USA had come to visit and she had tried to buy Bobby Dalziel's Jamie from him. At the time we felt that would have been the steal of the century. Well, Diane (sorry) it was us who got to 'steal' Jamie away from Bobby. This wasn't a planned purchase but the result of a chance text message from Bobby. It wasn't until about an hour after I responded to the text that the light bulb went off that Bobby was even thinking of selling Jamie. Never in our wildest dreams did we think Bobby would sell Jamie, or sell him to us. The first question I had for Bobby was "would you sell him to someone like me?" It took about a week for Bobby to respond! As thrilling as it was to purchase Jamie, no-one could have prepared us for the criticisms that followed. Who were we to go off and buy a "good" dog? The best one was "does she think she's as good as Bobby Dalziel?" Ha, ha, ha...only in my dreams...and believe me, going to the post, I'm wide awake!

At our first trial together, someone said to me that it must be enormous pressure to run a dog of Bobby Dalziel's. Heck no! It's a lot of fun. Jamie doesn't seem to mind that most of the time he is right and I am wrong, and he doesn't hold a grudge. Sure the dog is too good for me, and just as well it's that way and not the reverse. As Pablo Picasso once said "I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it." Jamie and I did manage to sneak into the placings a couple of times, and it was a huge thrill to get a second placing at the Myniddislwyn trial. This is one of my favourite trials and it was the first time I have completed a national style course. Hey, and we did steal second place away from Richard Millichap and Tweed (2009 Surpreme Champs). Sorry Richard, can't let you live that one down too quickly! (Just so you know... Richard was one of the first to congratulate us. A Champion attitude on and off the trial field). Whatever Jamie and I do from now on is second in importance to the enjoyment we get from him. He is lovely!

Kelvin did not fare as well on the trial field this year although he managed to get both Blade and Tina into the top 6 on a few occasions. Training suffered with the start of his new job, and he was not able to go to the Ettrick trials due to a job interview. With Blade developing arthritis in one hip, his trialling days are numbered. Zoe is one of Kelvin's new dogs and hopefully he'll have another soon.

Amazingly, we did qualify 5 dogs for the Welsh National! We truly are spoilt for choice. With Bee, Cian and Steffi starting to shape up nicely, we could be spoilt for choice for sometime to come.

We would be remiss if we did not mention the people who helped us in our trialling pursuits during the year. Bobby Dalziel and Kevin Evans, especially, but also Nigel Watkins and Aled Owen who all provided us with advice and encouragement during the year. We are grateful to them for remembering we are new to the sport and we thank them for giving us moments of their busy days to help us in a constructive and selfless way. They truly are exceptional talents, and generous in sharing this. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you, it means a lot to us. We would be negligent if we did not also thank Scott and Jenny Glen who, from afar, have always been very supportive of our crazy ambition to 'go trialling in the UK.' They have helped smooth the bumpy road that goes with the 'reality' of this. We sure have learnt a lot about the competitive side of trialling this year and we have Bobby, Kevin, Scott and Nigel to thank for 'keeping it real.'

Trialling aside, the highlight of 2009 was finally (!) finding a home. After a two and a half year search, we, at long last, found a small farm in Wales. We are no longer waifs and strays. It was darned difficult to buy the place but we finally got there. We absolutely love it here and the dogs appear to like it too. The training is great and we finally have our own sheep. There's lots of work to be done but a lifetime to do it....although a lifetime to us means we want to do it now! The nicest thing about living here is being able to share it with others. We have enjoyed people stopping by to train and there is never a dull moment. We still spend lots of time at Mike and Nora's place and we miss not living at their place. They are lovely, lovely people.

Oh, and how could we have forgotten this...please, a huge thank you to everyone who suppported my little book project. What started out as my desire to own a coffee table book of beautiful border collies ballooned into something much bigger. THE BOOK! Yes, 'The World of Sheepdogs' became a reality and is now, incredibly, sold out. A million thank yous to those who helped make the book a reality, and to all of you who purchased copies. You may never know just how much this means to us for your support of the book, but please know it is truly appreciated. We hope you enjoy the book and perhaps now I should purchase a coffee table on which to place it. Will I ever do another one? You just never know!

Well, that's about the highlights of our 2009 trialling adventures. Were we mad to leave Canada to 'go trialling in the UK'? Without question, it was the silliest thing we have ever done. Thank goodness!