Border Collies officially entered the competition world at the first Sheepdog Trial in the 1880s at Bala, in North Wales. The hills and mountains around Bala are all worked with the power and intelligence of a canny little Border Collie.

At midday on the first day of the Qualifying trial, the first 4 runs of the Brace Finals are held. I’ve learnt in the past that I should try to catch parts of these Brace runs on both the Thursday and then the Friday. Last year at Starnraer I missed the winning run of John Griffith with Nan and Fan, as I had been working away trying to get my stand set up for the final day. John was pretty disappointed when he found that I didn’t film his winning run. This year I made a point of filming the whole of his run, just in case, and of course John’s brilliance at competing in the Brace finals shone through and he won again. But this time I had it on camera.

For anyone who has not had a chance to watch the Brace championship, the final part of the run is a little different. There are 2 pens and the handler has to pen the one group of sheep in an open mouthed pen with one of his Border Collies and then head over to the other pen, the same as used in the rest of the trial, whilst the first dog remains at the open mouthed pen and hold the sheep in the pen.

The ISDS International Sheep Dog Trials 2004 DVD

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