Finally off work for a few days and catching up on bills, housework, yoga. Last week was rough---the 12 hour shifts are good because there are more days off, but I'm beat at the end of a run---the first day off isn't too productive. Next roster (schedule) I'm going to try some 8 hour days/evenings instead and see how it pans out. I may also go to a slightly lighter employment status---right now I'm full time, 40 hrs/week. Only one other midwife is at that level, most are at 0.8 or 0.7 time. Which could be nice---0.9 is 36hrs/week, 0.8 is 32 hrs/week. If I work more nights and weekends the $ will be similar to what I'm making now. Vacation won't be as much, but if I work holidays it'll all come out in the wash.
Okay, on to the dog trials. Got up Saturday and headed over to V's place---she's a nurse at the hospital, her husband manages a huge farm/station about 15 mins away. 3400 acres huge. The trials are held on the land of the station, and they use sheep from this same place. We had a cup of tea and V whipped up pancake crepes that we ate with homemade apricot jam, then off to the trials. We were just about the only onlookers who weren't competing (and who weren't farm folk). There were 4 trial areas, each with it's own challenge. We went to 3. When I say trial area, I mean a marked off part of a grassy hill, with maybe a couple of barrels standing up on it. Only one of the areas had a pen to corral the sheep into, which I thought would be the hardest part. Well, it was a hard part, but many competitors got knocked out way before they got near the pen. Looks simple at first---they let 3 sheep out at a time and the dog has to keep them herded and take them either uphill or downhill, staying within the boundaries, which often include a zigzag path of sorts. The downhill one, once they got down they then had to be brought across a green, though one gate, across another green, then into a pen which is opened by the dog's master. The master has to stay in particular areas and can only whistle or call instructions to the dog to do all this.
We saw 2 breeds: the huntaways, who look and sound like hunting hounds---and deal with the sheep by pretty much barking at them non-stop, and the 'eye-dogs'---who literally control the sheep by staring them down. First shot is a huntaway, the rest are my favorite eye dog.
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| huntaway barking its way uphill |
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| eye dog and mistress herding sheep toward the pen |
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| 2 out of 3 eye contact |
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| 3 for 3 |
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| into the pen! |
It's not rugby, but we had fun.
Halfway through the day we took a break to check out a nearby horse show. We arrived just in time for the final competition---how many kids can you fit on the back of a horse before everyone falls off? I kid you not.
people here take their horses seriously, and start riding real young.
