Famous Border Collies. The incredible working abilities of the Border Collie have covered many centuries. In North America, one of the most prominent handlers and importers of these fine dogs was a fellow by the name of Arthur Allen. There were others, but Arthur was a great handler. Many of the Border Collies that Arthur imported came from a Scottish shepherd by the name of John Gilchrist. John had many well known dogs, but you may find in some of the older registration papers the name, “Gilchrist Spot”. This name was synonymous with the name, John Gilchrist.
On the 2nd morning of the qualifying trial I was asked to attend a press conference in the main tent. Here you can see the Welsh president, Merion Owen, addressing the crews and journalist as we all had breakfast. This was definitely the most organized International that I can remember going to in the past 15 years or so.
Once the qualifying runs begin, it is always a challenge to pick out the handlers and dogs that I figure I might well need for the video. By looking through the catalogue I usually pick out certain handlers to try to film. It’s impossible to get everyone, as I find myself waiting for an interview or I’m caught up somewhere. This year I wanted to film the run of Paul Turnbull and Sal. Paul is a great handler and I’ve known Paul since the early 1990s when I had a chance to visit his farm in Northumberland. If any of you have the 1990 Finals video from Alnwick Castle, it was Paul’s sheep and handling abilities that introduced and highlighted the video. So, I noted his run as a must. As it turned out, he ended up with the top qualifying run of the 2 days and so, as luck would have it, I was able to use it in the video. A fellow needs a bit of luck sometimes.
By about 6 pm in the evening, or possibly a little later, the final run of the first day was completed. It takes about half and hour to pack up my gear and another 20 minutes to get back to the hotel. I dare not leave my equipment in the car over night and so I drag everything up to my room and put my different batteries on charge, check out the cameras, dry them off if need be, mark all of the tapes, and seal the used tapes by wrapping them with duct tape.
Apart from the evening happenings, my day is usually changing gear at about 8 pm.
The ISDS International Sheep Dog Trials 2004 DVD
Information about Border Collies
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