Well, finally, the demos were here. It has been some slog leading up to these ditties, and I seriously wanted them over.... I tend to worry about the unknown, and there are a lot of unknowns in something you have never done before.
So, Friday morning came around and I met my friends, who were WONDERFULLY going to trailer my sheep to the demo for me. How GREAT is that? Anyway, they back the trailer up, I get some corn in a bucket, and I go and get the sheep with Lucy. The minute they heard my friend call for them, they spooked. They did not know her voice. But, we got them down. The trailer was close, but there were some spaces through which they could escape, but being that they love their corn, and we had someone in the trailer baiting them, I figured they would hop in. No, nada, no freakin' way. Great. They take off past me and up in the fenced cow area, and Lucy got them back. Got them to the trailer, we settled them for a little, tried again, nope, nada, past the trailer and into the yard, Lucy brought them back. Settle again. Then, try again, nope, up along the fence line to the pasture, but not IN pasture. Lucy brought them back. Then, settle, then they go back up the same place. THEN, we FINALLY got them in (I think they were tired of the whole process). I know I was. Thank God for Lucy.
So, then we get to the fair and we let them out in the arena. A bit before we were scheduled to demo, we all worked them. They were a tad bit light, but not bad. We then had our first demo, and we all tried to pen them, but they were having NONE of it. After the demo, I was talking with the crowd, and then I looked, and did no see the sheep. I asked a lady across the arena, where the sheep were? She pointed to the vicinity of the horse show going on adjacent to our arena, and said "over there". That was my first heart attack. They got through a 12" space in the pedestrian gate. I climb the fence and run over. I see one of my friends with one sheep, holding it, and am told that the other three are behind a barn. So, I run back there, and I see that some nice 4-hers are holding the three with lines. They have not been halter trained, so they are balking seriously. Then we start to move toward the arena, and one really starts to fight. That's when Lucy goes in to um, grip. I finally got her to leave it, and held her. Now, she had just finished her demo and was HOT. So, I ended up carrying her on her back, and she looked quite happy to be carried, with her head hanging down...
We get them back in the arena, and I use one of the pen panels to block that. Phew, I thought to myself, we got through that.... Little did I know....
So, onto the next demo, we are almost through, and a sheep takes the initiative to push the cheap plastic fencing up and slip out of the arena. You have GOT to be kidding. She runs right into the horse show, and causes an interruption. My friend uses her dog to get the sheep, but then the sheep would not walk back, so they had to carry her by her legs, upside down, back to us (the same 4-Hers) and push her on her side back in the arena. This happened TWO more times. Finally, on her last retrieval, I made the decision that she was going in the trailer, we were NOT using her. After she was out of the mix, everything went SO much better. She's # 23, and she's on my spit list.
As to the dogs, they all did well. Danny was a star. He had a couple slices at the end of some flanks in the beginning, but then, he just looked so good. I was so proud of him. Lucy did well too, and especially, on the last demo, I had her fetch the sheep at the escape area, while being held by another dog, and they were against the fence, and Lucy just slowed up, and and maneuvered herself so beautifully between them and the fence and allowed them to bust out toward me, it was seriously a thing of beauty.
At the end of the demos, I was seriously just wanting to get those sheep home, un-loaded and call it a day. When I watched them run up the pasture, it was a big sigh from me.
I went home, showered, and then met everyone for the best dinner I have had in recent history- crab cakes, garlic mashed potatoes, and veggie medley. Everything was SO good, that I was almost speechless.
Then, I went home and to bed.
That is done. Will I do it again? Jury is still out. Not with that fencing, and those sheep.
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