A couple of days ago Sooz and I were clicking through the channels on the TV and came across a sheepdog competition. We had never seen anything like it and were glued to the TV until the end of the broadcast. Sheepdogs, all Border Collies, were herding a group of sheep through gates and pens in a large open field. The human owner was in the field also, guiding their dog using a collection of different high-pitched whistles. It was wild, so we started poking around on the internet and found where a sheepdog competition was being held today close to where we are now staying.
So, we got going this morning and found the Udny Open Sheepdog Trial about 30 miles north of Stonehaven Harbor, where we are staying for a couple of days. We had a lot of fun meeting and talking with some of the competitors and getting up close with their humans owners. The dogs are incredible, smart, full of energy and friendly.
The International Sheep Dog Society is a member organisation and registers over 6,000 Border Collie pups every year on behalf of its members. The ISDS Number and Dog Certificate are a guarantee of pedigree that, for most dogs, can be traced back over 100 years.
We spent about 3 hours watching the competition and then rode to the Dunnottar Castle which is less than a mile from our B&B. The weather today is gorgeous, sunny, warm in the 70s, light wind. The sun shining on the castle made for great pictures, looking almost fake.
- It is not known exactly how long ago the site was originally inhabited, it is believed that the Picts established it between 5000 BC and 700 AD.
- In 1276 William Wishart, Bishop of St Andrews, consecrated a stone chapel at Dunnottar, parts of which remain.
- In 1297 after the invasion of Scotland by English forces, William Wallace attacks an English garrison at Dunnottar, taking it back under Scottish control. Legend has it that Wallace showed no mercy to the soldiers and set fire to the Chapel where they had taken refuge, condemning all inside to a terrible death. Others were driven over the cliff edges, with no survivors.
This is the town we stayed a couple of nights.
This is our B&B with the GS covered and ready for the night
Sooz sitting in front of our B&B
Low tide in Stonehaven Harbor
One of the young collies on high alert watching the competition. She's only 14 months old and not yet ready to compete.
Sooz getting her pup fix. The field where the competition was held was basically a clover field.
The parking area for the competition with a converted Airstream being used as a food trailer
You can get a feel for how thick and high the clover field is
Me with the Dunnottar Castle in the background
It looks fake, but I took this picture of the castle
Sooz having second thoughts about walking down 200 steps and then up another 200 just to get to the castle, and then repeating to get back
No comments:
Post a Comment