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2001 USBCHA National Finals |
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Sunday, Final Day of the Open Finals: -We are using three judges today Ray Edwards, England; George Gardner, Scotland; and Herbert Holmes, Texas. -Each judge scores a 170 for a total high score of 510 for each run. -At 9:00 a.m. the weather is beautiful, the sheep are working good and the scores are starting to come in... -At noon we are through #8 and it is getting warm, the sheep are slowing down a bit, a few have challenged the dogs. -At 2:00 p.m. we are through #11 and Joy Crawford is up now. Things are going well and we are enjoying the day. We have a Winner! Our Champion is Alasdair MacRae and Bill with a score of 386.5 and our Reserve Champion is Scott Glen and Fly with a score of 385. Best Pen went to Amanda Milken and Eucher loosing only 1 point from all three judges. Best Gather went to Tom Wilson and Dot Best Drive went to Scott Glen and Fly Best and most spectacular Shed went to Scott Glen and Fly with a perfect score on the Shed from all three judges. This is one we will all want to watch on the video! Our Rookie of the year is Derek Fisher and Heidi with their first time ever in the top 20! -Check the Scores |
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Saturday, Day 4 of the Open Finals: The Top 50 dogs with Saturdays Scores |
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| Friday, Day 3 of the Open Finals: The 1st Run is Complete Top 50 Dogs | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Thursday, Day 2 of the Open Finals: The second day of the open finals is now complete and there remain 42 runs on Friday. The weather has been about perfect, cool, some clouds and some sun. The sheep still are about perfect. Challenging enough to separate the top 50 dogs to go into the semi-finals on Saturday. The most difficult part of the course is at the top. While almost all the dogs can complete the outrun and find the sheep they found it hard to stay back far enough to get a good lift. There is a hill about 20-30 yards behind the sheep and most of the dogs are drawn in tight making the lift difficult followed by a difficult fetch. The successful dog/handler teams have managed a controlled fetch which set the tone for the remaining part of the run.. The drive away and cross drive have been relatively easier for these experienced handlers and dogs. One run that had everyone sitting on the edge of their seat was done by Alasdair MacRae and his dog Sweep (number two dog in points for the year). Sweep and Alasdair drew one cantankerous ewe that continually challenged Sweep. Sweep had to fight this ewe much of the fetch and around the handlers post, stopping and starring down the ewe, then she would move a few feet and stop again. After turning the handlers post the four sheep headed toward the drive away panels, then the cross drive then the last panels a little on the fast side but at least they were moving. Rounding the last panels Sweep evidently had had enough with that ewe and gripped. Then came the dreaded Thank You! Stay tuned… we'll have more excitement for you tomorrow! Check the Scores |
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Wednesday, Day 1 of Open: Today was the opening round for the Open Finals contestants. Everything is going really great. The weather has been terrific. Cool, but not cold, no rain and no wind today. The setout crew has been terrific. All the sets have been very settled before the dog makes the lift. The sheep have been the best I have ever seen. Not too light and not heavy. The exhaust crews and all the volunteers have made this an extremely successful National Finals. Penny Tose is in first place with a score of 91. Ginger Zuppan is in second with a score of 89, and Ralph Pulfer is in third with a score of 85. Please check out the results page for more details. Again, like in the Nursery Finals, the ladies are cleaning up. Come on men, are you really going to let the women win? |
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by Patricia Cane Well the 2001 USBCHA Nursery Finals are over. This years Finals proved to be a real challenge for most of the young dogs. The outrun was 425 yards. This distance alone proved to be too much for most, but then there was the added difficulty of the high winds and on the final day, at times, heavy rain. These conditions would be difficult for even the Open dogs. The sheep were very honest. If the dogs were too pushy, the sheep would split or turn and fight. If the dogs stayed back the sheep moved true to the dog. This years Champion and Reserve Champion had many similarities, both were first time National competitors, both were from California, and both are young ladies. The 2001 National Champion is Haley Howard. She is from Alturas California. She is a 17 year old student. Yes, I said 17 years old. Haley says she has been working and training dogs for 9 years. For those of you that are math challenged that means she started when she was 8 years old. I don’t think I could blow my nose at 8 years let alone blow a whistle or think of commands. Haleys’ dog is a female named Diona. She is 36 months old and was purchased from Jeff Hunewill of Nevada. Haley says she trains Diona about 3 to 4 times per week. The Reserve National Champion went to Jennifer Clark from Campo California. Jennifer is 27 years old and is a controller for El Cajon Roofing. Jennifers'’dog is a 30 month old female named Fly. Fly was purchased from Newt Robertson in Kansas as a pup. Jennifer has been training dogs since 1993. |
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