Trial Information
TSDA Sanctioned
- 2018 Finals Schedule
As luck would have it, the wet weather that we’ve been seeing for several weeks has impacted our Finals. The ground at Ashcraft Ranch is saturated, and some more rain is likely during the week. This has caused some modifications to our Finals and revisions to the what we had planned in an earlier Update. We’re afraid that any more rain will make the “upper field” unusable to vehicular traffic (if it’s not already). Consequently, we have revised the plan to now use the fields as we did before we changed the layout a couple of years ago. This means the Open classes (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday) will be in the field north of Pat’s house. Access to the Open field will be via the road that runs in front of Pat’s house. The lower classes (Friday and Saturday) will be held in the field adjacent to Pat’s barn that contains the round pen. The “upper field” from last year will not be used.
Camper parking will be in the area between Pat’s barn and the county road, which is where we have traditionally parked. Please do not park (or drive) past the line of T-posts or drive on any areas that have been planted.
For Open, the handlers’ meeting on Thursday and Friday will be at 6:45 am, with a first dog at 7:00. The handlers’ meeting on the Novice field will be 8:00. The class order on the Novice field will be Open Ranch, Ranch, Novice, Nursery. Depending on time, Nursery may be run on the Open field.
For the both Friday (Silent Auction) and Saturday (banquet/awards dinner) evening, the plan is to begin gathering around 6:00 pm and serve the meal about 6:30. Pat is hosting the meal on Friday and the proceeds from the Silent Auction is paying for the banquet. The Friday night meal will start with wine and cheese and be followed by barbecue and all the trimmings. The banquet this year will be chicken fajitas, rice, beans, etc. There is nothing official planned for Thursday evening.
For points and premium money, each “go” will be treated as a separate trial. Points earned will go to the current (2018) year, so it is possible end of year standings could be impacted by performance at the Finals. For premium money, each class will have a separate pool which is $55 of your entry fee (the other $20 goes to TSDA expenses) multiplied by the number of entries in that class. For all classes except Open, the 20% of the premium pool will be paid out for each of the first and second goes. The combined scores will be averaged over the two goes, and these will be ranked and treated like a go. The remaining 60% of the class pool will be paid to the high combined scores. Our shorthand is “20/20/60.”
Since Open has a double-lift final, the payout is a little different: 20/20/40/20. Twenty per cent will paid to the top scorers in each of the first and second goes. The combined (or average) scores will receive 40% of the Open pool, and the remaining 20% will be distributed to the winners of the double-lift. In every case, the distributions will be according to TSDA guidelines.
The Open field will be set up Wednesday afternoon. All assistance is welcome and appreciated. Brent Phelps is responsible for that field, so follow his lead. During the Open trial on Thursday (the only class running on Thursday), the Novice field will be set up. Jack Christensen is in charge of that one. People assisting should bring gloves and a pair of pliers. We’ll need ty-wraps to put up the burlap. If you need to buy ty-wraps, the 8” length works best. With enough help, we can get the fields taken down Saturday afternoon, and everyone can head for home Sunday morning. John -
- TSDA Finals are closed.
- Class Orders: Thursday (11/8): Open1 running on the Upper field.This will be the only class running that day.
Friday (09): Open 2, OR1, Ranch1, Novice1, Nursery1 Open2 will run on the Upper field, and all the lower classes will run on the Lower field
Saturday 10TH: Double-Lift Open, OR2, Ranch2, Novice2, Nursery2
The class order will be announced later. -
- Entries open September 15th and closes October 15th (ENTRIES MUST BE IN OFFICE BY OCT. 15TH0 Entrry fees deposited November 1st and NO refund after 10/15/18 The reason being the premium checks will be given at banquet on Saturday evening. Directors and committees need time to set up clerks, set out, pen help, etc.
- NO REFUND AFTER OCT. 15TH. GO AHEAD AND SEND ENTRY IN EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE YOUR 5 QUALIFYING TRIALS. IARMADILLO IS LAST QUALIFYING TRIAL.
- TSDA Sanctioned
- Trial Secretary: Francis Raley
- Send entries to: TSDA, 2915 Anderson Lane, Crawford, TX 76638
- Start Time: 7:00 Handlers meeting each morning 6:45
- One entry fee pays for both runs.One entry fee - One trial, 2 go-rounds.
- Premium payback in 1st go round, 2nd go round & average.
- Sheep replacement fee: $250.00
- Added money, when received, is added to the premium pool. Unless the donor places some conditions on it, the added money will be distributed to each class proportionally to the number of entries in that class. If there are some conditions on the money, e.g., the added money is to go to a particular class, then the donor’s wishes are followed.
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Judge: Paddy Fanning, Northern Ireland
I started trialling sheepdogs in 1997 and I finished again in 2001. When Foot & Mouth disease struck in the England, Irish sheepdog trialling was suspended for a time and in that time I moved away from competition. Even though I had been competing for only a short time, of the 60 dogs in the international in 2000, 3 were dogs I had trained. I was on the Irish team with one in 2000. In 2014 I attended the Irish national and I decided to return to trialling, albeit now i would only return as hobby handler as I have a new occupation away from agriculture. In 2015 I had no dog for the Irish national so they asked me to be course director. I am a director in the International Sheepdog Society and am an approved ISDS judge. I judged Polish and Danish qualifiers for the continental for the last couple of years and again this year. I judge my first trial in the US in Oregon this coming August.
I will be running 2 dogs in the Irish national this year. my website is www.churchmountsheepdogs.com
here is a video that shows the environment I have and the kind if ground I school my dogs on https://youtu.be/ElVAnIsxEyI
I hope this is useful as a bio.
Regards Paddy Fanning
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Judge: Colin Gordon, Stembridge Farm, LLanrhidian, Wales. Colin is a Welsh farmer of sheep and cattle, He has enjoyed many successes at sheepdog trials throughout Wales, England, Ireland and Scotland. Colin has won the Welsh Doubles Championship five times. He is the only man to win the “The One Man and His Dog” series in singles and doubles in the same year. Colin has been on the Welsh team several times and has judged the father of all sheep dog trials “The International” along with numerous local trials in his country. Colin judged the USBCHA National Finals two times and the Texas Sheepdog Finals twice along with judging many other US sheep dog trials. Colin authored “One Man’s Opinion” the single most sought after book on Sheep Dog Trial Judging