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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.
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