World Sheepdog Trials 2011

The ‘original’ Ettrick shepherd, James Hogg, the Scottish poet and novelist, looms large in sheepdog history.

“Like no other literary figure, James Hogg had an appreciation of the role played by the shepherd’s dog in the sheep industry in Scotland,” writes Carole Presberg, the US-based freelance writer and editor, owner of The Border Collie Museum, founder of the North American Border Collie Rescue Network and president of New England Border Collie Rescue Club.

Over two centuries later, a modern day Ettrick shepherd is quietly revising sheepdog history and leaving his mark on a new generation of sheepdog triallists and shepherd’s dogs. This is three-time International Supreme Champion and five-time Scottish National Champion, Bobby Dalziel.

A bone fide Ettrick shepherd, Bobby and his close-knit, yet small team of dogs work the Scottish braes almost every day of their lives. It is 36 years ago on July 4 that Bobby started his trialling career – the day after his first child, Steven, was born. By all accounts, his first trial did not go so well. But that was then.

Now, Bobby has carved himself an enviable record on the trial field, and earned himself a reputation as a masterful handler, exacting competitor, and modest mentor. His dogs are legendary around the globe. Wisp and Dryden Joe are two whose names liberally roll off the tongue when talking about ‘great’ dogs.

Another gifted dog, and the one Bobby will run at the 2011 World Sheep Dog Trial, is seven-year-old Joe. At the age of two, Joe won the Supreme Championship, making him one of the youngest dogs to have ever won this prestigious event.

Three years later, he won the Scottish National Championship. No dog in the history of the World Trial has ever won a National Championship, a Supreme Championship and a World Championship.

Joe has a chance at this. Would there be anything more thrilling for the history of the shepherd’s dog to see an Ettrick shepherd and his dog, Joe, win this rare hat-trick?

 

 

Chloe Cropper - England

Home: Dean, Bacup, Lancashire.
Occupation: Self-employed sheepdog trainer.
Accomplishments: ‘One Man and His Dog’ Young Handler Champion 2008; English Team Member 2008, 2010, 2011.
Dog: Ned (ISDS 00/292887).

There are few names as well-known as ‘Cropper’ in the sheepdog trialling world. One of the rising stars, and - some predict - will be the best Cropper yet, is Chloe Cropper.

In 2008, then 16-year-old Chloe was the youngest-ever competitor at a World Sheep Dog Trials. Three years on, she is still the youngest World Trial competitor and among the most talented sheepdog handlers in England.

With countless trial wins to her name, Chloe’s trophies and list of accomplishments are rapidly accumulating. She has literally been born into the sport and she looks set to fulfill a destiny the family name bestows upon her.

Chloe was 12 when she visited her Uncle Jim and Auntie Shirley’s farm and realised she wanted to work with sheepdogs. ‘Uncle Jim’ is none other than Jim Cropper, who is probably England's best-known sheepdog handlers.

Chloe would spend weekends and school holidays at their farm, watching and learning. She ran her first trial when she was 14-years-old. Her first dog was Rap, who was a gift from her uncle. Naturally, Jim has influenced Chloe tremendously.

In 2008, Chloe ran her dog Roy (ISDS 262387) at the World Trial. It was with Roy that Chloe beat a talented field of all male handlers to win the world renowned BBC’s ‘One Man and His Dog’ Young Handler competition.

Now almost nine-years-old, Roy will be Chloe’s alternate dog for the competition, while her younger dog, Ned, will take centre stage. Ned is the first dog Chloe has trained by herself and from a young age he showed an extraordinary amount of natural talent.

Like Chloe, Ned got an early start to his career. He ran his first trial at 11-months-old, finishing second. It seems that in a sport where age, experience and maturity count, Chloe and Ned demonstrate there are always exceptions to the rule.

 

 

Guillaume Josien - France

Home: Picardy, France.
Occupation: Pharmaceutical Sales Representative.
Accomplishments: 1st and 3rd at the 2010 French National Championship.
Dogs: Killiebrae Gyp (Jip) and Bob

Guillaume Josien, from France, epitomises the saying: “There are no speed limits on the road to excellence.” In three short years, Guillaume ascended to the very top of French sheepdog trialling when he dominated the 2010 French National Championship by finishing first with his main dog, Killiebrae Gyp, and third with his youngster, Bob.

Where it is customary for one to take years to master the art of shepherding, Guillaume has joined a rare group of individuals who have an uncanny aptitude for the craft.

Perhaps most surprising is the fact that Guillaume has no farming background, works full-time in the pharmaceuticals industry, and owns very little land and only a handful of sheep.

Guillaume represents a new breed of sheepdog triallist. These are the ones who enter the sport as a hobbyist, fall head over heels for the sport and the dogs, and then compromise and rearrange their lives to suit their training and competitive schedules.

Guillaume was born in a small village in northern France, although he left his home region 20 years ago to work in Paris. One day, he saw a border collie working on sheep and this scene reminded him of a childhood desire for a black and white dog. He was hooked.

Three months later, Guillaume found himself standing watching a Welsh National Championship. His passion for sheepdogs saw him move to the south of Picardy, near the medieval town of Senlis, a small village in the Fresnoy le Luat just outside of Paris, where he could combine his work in the pharmaceuticals industry with his love of sheepdogs.

When Guillaume moved from Paris, he looked for a house with a nearby field for his sheep. A chance meeting with the owner of a nearby castle led to Guillaume being offered the opportunity to graze his sheep on the castle’s 140-acre surroundings.

In a deal with his partner, Alexandra, she got to pick the home of her dreams and Guillaume got the promise of the purchase of another dog. So go the negotiations with an ardent sheepdog triallist!

Guillaume got his start in trialling in Wales. He and some fellow French trialling enthusiasts spent a week in Wales at the height of the trialling season. They watched many top handlers and participated in as many trials as they could find.

Back in France, Guillaume bought many DVDs from the ISDS on how to train a sheepdog, enlisted the help of other French handlers and set about training his dogs with renewed purpose.

During the course of the last three years, Guillaume has also had the opportunity to visit and learn from many top handlers in the UK and on the Continent.

Killiebrae Gyp is Guillaume’s first dog. He is four-years-old and Guillaume says: “We have grown up together.”  He describes Gyp as a flashy dog, very consistent, good feel for sheep, and good listener.

In 2009, they finished 4th at the French Class 2 Championship before winning the 2010 National Championship in Toulouse, the double gather trial in Gremevillers, and representing France at the 2010 Continental  Championship in Liglet (France).

Guillaume’s second dog, Bob is a young talent with a lot of natural talent. Just two-years-old, Bob won his first trial at 11 months of age and then won three of his seven starts in Class 2 trials and was in the placings in the other four trials.

At two, Bob moved to Open competition and finished the year with a third place in the French National Championship, a win in the Double gather trial of Jully les Buxy, and a place on the French World Trial team.

It has been a marvellous 2010 for Guillaume with the qualification of two dogs for the French World Trial team  - and the birth of his daughter, Lisa.  

With this new-found knowledge, youthful enthusiasm for the sport and obvious talent, Guillaume looks set to well represent the new breed of sheepdog triallist.

 

 

Jim Wilson - New Zealand

Home: Feilding, New Zealand.
Occupation: Farmer.
Accomplishments: 2008 World Trial Finalist.
Dogs: Rose and Duffy.

From the far reaches of the earth, and from a country that runs a very different style of trial to those in the northern hemisphere, comes a finalist at the 2008 World Trial – Jim Wilson.

Jim and his dog, Tweed, almost single-handedly put New Zealand on the map for sheepdog trialling. They were the first ever ‘Kiwi’ finalists and served notice to the rest of the world that those from ‘down under’ are highly competitive in this sport.

A Scotsman by birth, Jim lived in Ettrick as a boy. His family moved to Geltsdale Farm in England, a hill farm situated within the North Pennines and not far from this year’s World Trial venue. Jim’s brother, Tom still farms there to this day. Cumbria is Jim’s boyhood stomping ground and an area in which he has spent many a day trialling. It will be a homecoming of sorts.

Since 1984, Jim and his wife, Marion, have lived in New Zealand and now run a 500-acre sheep and cattle farm. Jim first started trialling in 1986 with New Zealand Huntaways, a very intelligent dog that uses its voice to move stock. With Huntaways, Jim has been tremendously successful.

Soon, he also started dabbling with heading dogs, or what we call Border Collies. In 2003, he began running this type of dog more often and good results soon followed. By 2008 he was on his way to the UK with Tweed and the New Zealand team for the World Trial - and the rest, as they say, is history.

Although Tweed is now retired, Jim will be bringing with him to the UK a daughter of Tweed’s called Rose, and a grandson named Duffy. Travelling 11,500 miles to the other side of the globe with two dogs, at an enormous cost, all in the hopes of becoming the 2011 world champion might seem crazy. But to an avid sheepdog man, it’s all part of competing at the highest level.

Victory in any competition is seldom a matter of chance, and it rarely comes without sacrifice. The sacrifices Jim, and others, have made to be able to attend the 2011 World Trial is testament to the esteem with which this event is held globally.

 

 

Karin Mattisson - Norway

Home: Alvdal, Norway.
Occupation: Synnøve Finden, a traditional Norwegian dairy company).
Accomplishments: Top ranked woman at the 2008 World Trial (7th overall); top ranked woman at the 2009 Continental Championship; Continental Young Handler Champion 2006 and 2007.
Dog: Sammie and Lyn.

Swedish by birth, but now calling Norway home, Karin Mattsson burst onto the international sheepdog trialling stage in 2008 when she secured two places in the semi-finals at the World Trial with her dogs Sammie and Lyn.

She went on to place seventh in the final with Sammie - the only ‘all-girl’ team in the final. Although her results took many by surprise, Karin’s rise to prominence had been years in the making.

Karin has been somewhat of a pioneer for young woman triallists on the Continent. She represented Sweden internationally from 2004-2006. Twelve years old when she ran her first sheepdog trial, it took Karin only three years to reach a standard high enough to qualify to run in the Swedish National.

Since moving to Norway, Karin has been selected for the Norwegian team every year since 2007. Twice she has won the Continental Championship Young Handlers competition, all of these achievements with “super” Sammie.

If there were any doubts about the skill of young woman handlers, Karin has clearly laid these doubts to rest.

In 2011, Karin will once again bring her top team of girls, this time to Cumbria. It will be Sammie’s swansong, as she is now 10-years-old and nearing retirement. The effervescent Karin will be hoping Sammie can match or better her achievements from 2008 as it would be a fitting end to a remarkable career. Lyn has proved herself as a capable successor to Sammie, although she has big pawprints to fill.

 

Nigel Watkins - Wales

Home: Llanddeusant, South Wales.
Occupation: Farmer.
Accomplishments: Three-time Welsh National Champion (2002, 2005, 2010); Reserve World Champion 2005.
Dog: Jody (ISDS 290743) and Floss (ISDS 254392) – Reigning Welsh Champion.

A man who knows the agony and ecstasy of sheepdog trialling is 14-time Welsh National team member, Nigel Watkins.

A three-time winner of the Welsh National Championship, Nigel came within two points of winning the 2005 World Sheep Dog Trial in Tullamore, Ireland. Second that day behind Gordon Watt (England), Nigel well knows the pain of defeat.

But the rewards for those who persevere often outweigh the pain that precedes victory, and so Nigel has persisted. In fact, in 2010, he not only won the Welsh National Championship, he also qualified two dogs to run in this year’s World Trial in Cumbria – Floss, the matriarch of Nigel’s farm, and youngster, Jody. Nigel and Floss captain a star-studded Welsh team at the 2011 World Trial.

Nigel grew up in a farming family and farms, with his partner, Janet, more than 1,000 Brecknock Hill Cheviot ewes and 100 head of cattle on the beautiful Black Mountains. His trialling career now spans three decades and in this time, he has amassed a superb record on the trial field.

Nigel first qualified for the Welsh team back in 1988 and he has been a regular team member ever since. Peg, the Reserve World Champion in 2005, made the Welsh team every year from 1998 to 2004. She gave Nigel his first Welsh Championship in 2002. His second and third National Championships were won with Floss. With Floss, Nigel was 13th at the 2008 World Trial.

Now reaching an age where most dogs are happily pottering about the farm teaching youngsters, or sitting by the fire on a cold winter’s night, Floss is leading a canine campaign against age discrimination in the workplace.

She clearly has her own ideas on a mandatory retirement age and Nigel is happy for her to continue, so long as she is happy and healthy. In all likelihood, this will be one of her last appearances on an international stage and clearly Nigel will be aiming for the top prize.

After all, it would not only be a fitting end to an exceptional competitive partnership, but also it would represent a perfect juxtaposition between agony and ecstasy – a place Nigel knows only too well.

 

 

 

Salomo Näkkäläjärvi - Finland

Home: Inar, Finland.
Occupation: Reindeer Herder.
Dog: Tafie.

The Sámi people of Finland, Europe’s northernmost Arctic indigenous people, are renowned reindeer herders, often spending weeks and even months away from their families to tend the reindeer.

Reindeer, also known as the Caribou, have been herded for centuries by the Sámi. They are raised for their meat, hides, antlers and, to a lesser extent, for milk and transportation.

In traditional nomadic herding, reindeer herders migrate with their herds between coast and inland areas according to an annual migration route, and these semi-wild herds are keenly tended.

In the summer months, one traditional Sámi reindeer herder, Salomo Näkkäläjärvi, is a nomad of a different sort. Salomo regularly travels more than 25,000 km a year to attend sheep dog trials throughout Scandinavia. This year his travels will see him go all the way to Cumbria for the World Sheep Dog Trials as a member of the Finnish team.

Salomo and his dog, Tafie, who was a member of the 2008 Finnish World Trial team, will bring all their traditional reindeer herding skills from the frozen tundra of the Lemmenjoki National Park, one of the largest National Parks in Europe, to the green pastures of Cumbria.

While far away from his native lands, his reindeer, and the wolverines and wolves they have to contend with, Salomo and Tafie will be right at home with a small flock of sheep.