~ Submitted by Carol and DC Tessa This past weekend I took Tessa north to compete at a herding trial. Boy, what a weekend that wound up being. We compete on C course (boundary/tending style) and this trial not only offered C course on sheep but sheep/cattle and ducks on both A and B courses. A lot going on daily with a trial that filled so much that they needed to add an extra judge each day. Three different judges judged our runs over the three days and all three gave us very similar scores. Tessa was quite consistent and we wound up with scores of 93, 94 and 94 (out of 100.) We needed 9 points to finish our herding championship. Going Reserve High in Trial on Friday we got a four point major, High in Trial on Saturday gave us a 5 point major and not only a new herding championship title but a Dual Champion title as well. The club was offering silver belt buckles for high combined score (highest score total for all three days) so we ran again on Sunday and got an extra 4 point major and the big prize of a silver belt buckle for High Combined on sheep. Not a bad way to finish that championship in two weekends of trials with 3 High in Trials and 1 Reserve High in Trial. Tessa's mother Java was a silver belt buckle winning dual champion as well and I am thrilled to have Tessa following in Java's herding footsteps. Now on to the whelping box for Tessa in the hopes that she will produce a daughter for me to herd with in the future.
