Herding Sheep & Breaking Arms

Yep, it was pretty eventful last weekend!  :)

First, the good news: Stout earned his 2nd herding title! Stout JHD! 

I'll say it again, it was not this easy when I started with Porter... Our JHD looked NOTHING like this:

But of course, I was a beginner back then. We have a come a LONG way!

For instance, this was Porter's first trial beyond a beginner level. He had to drive. In public. 

And he didn't too badly. At least on Saturday:  

He actually earned a leg in HTAD II & HRD II. He had to drive in both, and while they weren't perfect, they were better than I had thought they'd be.

Sunday was a whole 'nother story...

For some reason he couldn't push them out into the field in HRD. It had begun with trouble in the chute, I should have helped him sooner. So when he kept failing to cover, I waited for him to blow a "drop" then removed him (it wasn't a long wait...)  :)

Then in HTAD, he was a real jackass. I sent him on an outrun, he came charging up the middle. I tried pushing him out, he barely gave. When I asked for the "drop" after the lift, he didn't even break stride  :)  Jackass. So I called our run, took him straight to the xpen & got Stout out. He was pissed. But so was I.

Then on Sunday, Stout's JHD run was the very last run of the trial. John showed up to watch, he has never saw Stout herd. Just as we were fetching the sheep through the last panel, I stumbled and fell backwards. I hit the ground, but not before I tried to catch myself...

Yep, broke my arm :(  Well, I didn't know that at the time, but I had a pretty good feeling.

I stood up, went to pick up my stick to finish the run, and my hand wouldn't work. So I just grabbed it with the other & finished  :)

On the way back to the barn, my ears started ringing. I told John that I should go to the hospital. Just like last time I broke something, he told me it wasn't broken since I wasn't screaming on the ground. He always underestimates how tough I am!

That afternoon they told me it was only a sprain. By Monday afternoon they had finally looked at the xrays & confirmed it was a radial fracture. Tuesday afternoon I acquired the bright orange cast  :)

This is not the summer I was planning on...