Stevie gets a goal

We decided today to shoot for having Stevie ready to do a Novice-novice trial in the Spring of 2010.

Today we worked on her ’stand’, ‘that’ll do’, pacing and keeping the handler from getting clogged up in the sheep.

Everything went well, as usual, she’s got the ’stand’ and will come off the sheep reliably if the handler is between her and the stock. Her pace (trot) is quickening as long as the handler doesn’t get stuck in the middle of the sheep, she is still a bit tough on the Away side and will cut in if given the chance but a little body movement to cut her off corrects that easily enough.

She can do a 300+ yard outrun, but not widely, and she turns pretty well on a ‘there’ and she balances nicely. We’re going to work on getting her to take heavy sheep off a fence and get her used to regular farm work so she has more confidence in a variety of situations.