September 7, 2008: Two MORE Silver Cups.
The rain persists in Wales. We've had heavy rain, floods in some areas, and cold, wintry conditions. Being ever generous, Wales has shared these horrible conditions with the rest of the country. Summer just continues to bypass us, although today we did see something resembling the sun for all of about 10 minutes. At least it has been dry today! The good news is that we are expecting sunshine tomorrow. The bad: rain on Tuesday and heavy rain for the first day of the World Trial. Well, at least sheepdog people are a hardy breed.

The International saw some horrible weather on the Friday, which abated somewhat for the Supreme Championship on Saturday but it was still wet and cold. Kevin Evans from Brecon (South Wales) managed to steal the win with a terrific display of handling. Kevin is a tremendous handler and a superb individual. He is a genuinely friendly fella, very upbeat and positive, and is one who makes friends easily. Although he has accomplished more on the trial field than many men twice or even three times his age, Kevin does not have a supreme sense of entitlement, arrogance and an over-inflated ego that so often befalls 'elite' sportspeople. He is refreshingly - and genuinely - nice! We are delighted to see him take home the silverware (and he probably needed a stock trailer to bring it all home from North Wales). (You can read more about Kevin here, if you have not already ready his profile on the World Trial website).

While Angie disappeared off to Scotland during the week, Kelvin and Mike (the two 'Brynberllan' lads) decided to head off to a trial. After being beaten by Angie in the last two trials, they stole their chance at the silverware in Angie's absence. And steal it they did. Kelvin and Kinloch Tina won the local (15 mile radius) South Wales style novice trial at Hafod Bridge on Friday, while Mike took home 2 silver cups for first placings in the Novice National and the local National class with Floss.

On Saturday, Kelvin WON his first Open trial with Tina and brought home a brand spanking new silver cup to go with the one he won the day before. Tina had a terrific run - not too shabby for an 18-month-old! They won on OLF from Venn Davies and Moss. One point behind was Tina's litter sister, Kinloch Sioux, with Angie at the helm. If there was a prize for the prettiest run, it would go to Tina. But, the fastest outrun would have gone to Sioux. She ran so fast we thought her legs were going to just fall off!

In the last 10 days, the friendly rivalry amongst the 'Brynberllan' crew (the farm where we live) has seen all three of us take home two cups each. When our Elderflower wine matures (in another week or so), we are going to have to fill up the cups and toast our good fortune to go to local trials that have terrific prizes! Thank you to Meirion Davies and his family for putting on such wonderful trials. It sure is nice to win a cup, or two, even if they are at smaller, local trials. It is at these trials that you really get to experience the depth of Welsh sheepdog trialling passion. The Hafod Bridge trial has been running for 103 years!!!

There are many nice things about Welsh trials - besides the sheer number of them (which is like being a pig let loose in a strawberry field). Perhaps the nicest thing is being able to socialize with people who we see at almost every trial. There is always someone to share a joke with or play a prank on. We also get to know people that a year or so ago were names and photos in the International Sheepdog News - you know, the 'good' handlers or 'famous' people. Now, the names and faces have personalities behind them, live 'performances' to watch, and 'real-life' stories of which you are an observer and perhaps, now and then, a participant in that story. But besides those 'famous' few who get their photos in the ISN, there are countless other interesting people who share a deep seated passion for their dogs, their sheep and sheepdog trialling. Few will ever grace the pages of the ISN, which is a shame as their stories are nonetheless remarkable.

The World Trial is at our doorstep. It's going to be a busy week. We are off to see a trial tomorrow that is only for overseas competitors for the World Trial. Hopefully we can get some photos but they likely won't be posted until after the World Trial when we have time.

Happy trialling.