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| Date Added: 6th September 2008 |
Hi all,
Just letting everypone know that the next generation of the Longton family was born on 6th Sept 2008 (yes...Supreme final day!!!) by emergency C-Section at 7.56 am at Rhyl Maternity ward in North Wales.
Michael and Holly would like to thank everyone for their good wishes and the staff at the hospital who have been fantastic! |
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| Date Added: 1st September 2008 |
Fylde Sheep Dog Society held their annual Charity trial and Double Gather Championship after twice rearranging the venue. The original venue of Hall Trees Farm, Chipping was too wet and the second venue on a high hill field at Rooten Brook Farm, Quernmore was shrouded in low cloud so a low land field also at Rooten Brook was used. The trial was reset early on the Friday morning with the top 8 runs from the first two days going into the double gather championhsip on Sunday.
The first days trial of 32 dogs was judged by Keith Preston from Kirkwhelpington, Northumberland. The dogs ran on a 300 yard outrun and gathered 4 swaledale ewes - for the first part of the fetch the sheep were out of sight for 70 yards and they were brought up round the handlers feet on to an extensive left hand drive, with a pen and a split.
Tim Longton ran Jake at no 11 gaining 96 points. Alf Kyme with Sally had a careful run at no 25 gaining 95 points with only 2 seconds to spare.
On Saturday Ian Murdoch from Sutton-on-Forest judged 28 dogs with Richard Hutchinson and Roy winning gaining 89 points and John Palmer and Shep gaining 87 points.
The field was reset for the Double Gather Championship with the course being turned the opposite way. The first gather was 300 yards to the right with the dog having to cross to the other side of a brook. The sheep were brought back across the brook to the middle of the field where the dog was redirected to the left and through a gate in the wall to gather the sheep off the skyline 500 yards away. The sheep were then brought in a direct line to the handler through a second gate reuniting the 12 sheep for the drive element of the course returning to the shedding ring where 4 sheep (3 collared and 1 uncollared) were shed off before penning. The Championship was very keenly contested with the top 4 runs separated only by 4 points.
The double gather championship was very much appreciated by all as a very testing course despite the weathers attempts to disrupt proceedings.
Thank you to all of the sponsors and competitors who helped Fylde SDS raise £500 for Multiple Sclerosis.
See results page
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| Date Added: 28th June 2008 |
The two day trial at Rooten Brook farm was this year held over two weekends due to the weather. The sheduled weekend brought with it gales and wind. After a fair morning on the Saturday the wind and rain came in the afternoon making the hearing impossible, both for the dogs and the people letting sheep out.
In the morning the running was good with the sheep and the weather being good and the best runs of the day came then. With the first run of the day Tom Huddleston gained 91 points and reached the championship. Run 11 was next to make it through with Tom Lawrenson running Zac and gaining 96 points and 3rd place in the trial. Run 13 was James Burrow with Jim. With Jim taking control of the sheep and taking them round the course with autority they took the lead with a near perfect shed pen and single finishing on 97 points. It seemed a good time to run as with number 15 David Carleton made it to the campionship with Finn on 90 points. The last dog to get in the top 5 was Michael Longtons Don. After a good course points were dropped in the ring and at the pen but finishing with 96 they finished second.
As the day went on the wind and rain picked up and although the sheep stayed good throughout the comunication to the dogs got so bad that many dogs just didn't know what to do so just stayed still. With the forecast for the following day worse the decision was made to run the second day the following weekend.
With the weather being much better the runs should have been better. Again the sheep were good and again the first run of the day got in the championship, Thomas Longton with Cap went on to win the trial with 96 points, 6 clear of the next contender. With run number 3 Charlie Cutler gained 87 points, enough to get them 3rd and with many runs round the course being of a high standard what let the runs down was the shed pen and single with many coming unstuc here. Wayne Allen and Astra Jasper gained 90 points, enough to get 2nd prize and a run in the championship.
In the championship two packets of 5 sheep were picked up from the corners of the field, with the left side being first picked up. As the first packet of sheep and dog came over a broken wall in the middle of the field the dog was sent for the second packet of sheep. Following the sheep being reunited there was a drive then shed (last 4 sheep held allowing 6 to leave the field) then pen the four and finally back into the ring to take the last sheep single.
First to the post was Thomas Longton with Cap. Losing marks on both gathers for extra commands he had a steady run round the course not losing many until the shed where he took the front four rather than back four sheep. After a good pen the single again let them down with the last sheep being held but not until all the sheep were out of the ring, resulting in most points being taken off.
The winning run came at number 6 with Tom Lawrenson and Zac, clean outruns and lifts on both gathers were the cornerstones of his success, losing points on both fetches for being slightly high on both occasions. A good drive finished with all the sheep missing the second drive obstacle, which made no difference to the final result as after a good shed pen and single they took the title and the crook donated by George Smithson for the winner.
Over £500 was raised to go to the Pendlebury Childrens Hospital. Thank you to everyone that helped us out, including the judges, David Harrison and Richard Hutchinson, and all people who helped let out over the two days and George Smithson for the crook and Brian Sellars for the CSJ dog food for all championship runners! |
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| Date Added: 1st July 2007 |
| The second of two trials again went well with everyone liking the testing course. Today we had 48 runners and over the two days trialling and the raffle we raised £556 for the charity of the stroke association. Todays trial was won by 15 year old Chloe Cropper. With a midday run she had a very good steady run, if anything a little too steady as the judge took 2 points off for going very slowly round the drives. She had a good start and good finish and only lost 11 points all the way round the course. She just beat Larrie Cowper into second place with 98 points and Michael was again in the prizes with Monty getting 3rd with 97 points. All of the prizes for the raffle and the trial were sponsored with the prizes for the raffle coming from Farmers weekly, George Smithson (stick), Tim and Linda Longton (Bodywarmer), David Oldham Garage of Glossop (Dog food) and Michael Longton (a whistle). The trial prizes came from CSJ dog food for the top six plus first prize of a pair of Muck boots (courtsey of J Hatton Agriculture of Lancaster Auction 01524 62480), second prize was a photograph of the Fylde coast from Clougha (from David Whittaker of Quernmore) and 3rd prize of a boiler suit (from R Taylor and sons of Bentham). We would like to express a great thanks to all of the people who helped over the weekend and who sponsored the trial and raffle with prizes! For links to websites of the people who sponsored us please see our links page. |
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| Date Added: 30th June 2007 |
| The first trial at a new venue at Rooten Brook Farm went well with 40 dogs competing over a good course with 4 Swaledale hogs running over the large course. The gather was uphill all the way to the sheep where the field levelled off for where the lift took place with rushes all over the course making it a tricky but good and testing course. The sheep were on the whole very even throughout the day even though they had to go back half way through the 40 dogs to make it so there was enough to last the whole day. The winning run came towards the end of the day and was taken by Jim Cropper with Don. He took a left hand outrun needing a few whistles at the top of the outrun to bring him onto his sheep. After a good run round the course the sheep were a little tricky to shed where he lost 6 points. After a little trouble at the pen he got them in loosing 2 points. With a clean single he took the lead from Michael Longton on outrun, lift, fetch and drive as in the OLF the points lost were the same. |
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| Date Added: 8th January 2007 |
Although it is not our place to put this on the Internet (it should be on the ISDS News page) we thought that this should be public knowledge for all to know and not just the directors and people that see the directors. For the English team to qualify for the world trial here are the rules:
1. The top 16 dogs plus handlers from the 2007 English National will automatically qualify to enter if they so wish.
2. The remainder of the dogs/handlers, if not already qualified at the National in 2007, will be chosen from their open trial results during the period 1.1.2007 to 31.12.2007. Their best 6 (six) results will count (the points total will be scored in the same way as the National entries are) i.e maximum possible points from 6 trials is 36 points.
3. No more than 2 dogs per handler.
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| Date Added: 15th August 2006 |
| The English National was a very successful event set on a parkland course by the banks of the river Lune at Underley Hall near Kirkby Lonsdale by permission of Mr Simon Pease. The sheep were off the estate and for the first day and until lunchtime on the second day were Texel cross and for the rest of the trial were North Country Mules. They were testing, but fair for everyone and were well presented by the shepherd Ken Williams
The organisation of the trial and Country Fair was excellent, led by the local Chairman John Palmer, his secretary Carol Palmer his wife and treasurer Christine Clarkson and their committee.
Ray Edwards with Jim won the championship, from Arundel, West Sussex on 199 points
The Rooten Brook Sheepdogs had a very successful National with Michael and Monty finishing in reserve on 195 points. Timothy was eleventh with Jake on 175 points and twelfth with Carrie on 174 points. Michael ran his young bitch Peg, also by Moss, and finished on 158 points just out of the team
Full results can be found on results page.
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| Date Added: 17th June 2006 |
| Timothy and Michael have had their entry into this years National accepted. Timothy is to run Jake at number 8 and Carrie at number 128 and Michael is running Monty at number 18 and Moss at number 126. Timothy also has his young dog Glen (a son of Moss) entered as an alternate and Michael also has his young bitch Peg entered as an alternate (litter sister of Glen). |
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| Date Added: 18th September 2005 |
1 Neil McVicar, By Dunnon, Scotland, SPOT, 64 Merit, 521
2 James McGee, Balleybofey, Ireland, BECCA, 60 Merit, 513
3 MICHAEL LONGTON, QUERNMORE ENGLAND, MOSS, 56 Merit,472
4 John Maginn, Newry, Ireland, FLY, 50 Merit, 458
5 Toddy Lambe, Enniscorthy, Ireland, SWEEP, 50 Merit, 457
6 Jim Cropper, Bacup, England, DAN, 44 Merit, 428
7 Craig Davidson, By Dunoon, Scotland, JET, 40 Merit, 405
8 Roger Handy, Settle, England, BET, 36 Merit, 381
9 Tim Flood, Clonroche, Ireland, BERT, 32 Merit, 354
10 Robert Malcolm, Castle Douglas, Scotland, MIST, 25.5 Merit, 329
11 Jocky Welsh, Dalrymple, Scotland, FLY, 24.5 Merit, 329
12 Bobby Dalziel, Selkirk, Scotland, SPOT, 22 Merit, 325
13 Glyn Jones, Llanadog, Wales, CAP, 16 Merit, 302
14 Paul Turnbull, Morpeth, England, NAP, RETD
15 Raymond MacPherson, Carlisle, England, ROY, DISQ
15 Kevin Evans, Libanus, Wales, JAFF, DISQ
Team Shield won by England
Driving Champion Ray Edwards, England
Young Handler Michael Galagher, Ireland
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| Date Added: 6th September 2005 |
| Todays finals were a great success with many of the qualified dogs managing to pick up both lots of sheep. The shed was made easier by having 8 collared sheep and leaving you with 5 of them for penning (so the crowds saw finished runs). Michael even got a go at the course due to the early finish and had a respectable demonstartion run. The trials have been a very fun time and I hope that I will be able to come again to compete soon!
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| Date Added: 5th September 2005 |
| Today was a much better days trialling with the sheep learning more and more every day. Michaels run went well but he missed the cross drive hurdle then lost quite a lot on his pen as well. He finished with a score of 74 with the cut off point being a few more than that. Won't be as much fun tomorrow as he will be desperate to be running while knowing he wont be!
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| Date Added: 4th September 2005 |
| Today has been another good days trialling. All of the UK competitors ran but did not shine. Michael with Monty did best but still only achieved a score of 48. The sheep did improve on yesterdays and should improve again on tomorrows runs so there should be more high scored runs. We are all hoping for some more luck with the sheep and praying for some cooler weather!
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| Date Added: 3rd September 2005 |
| Today has been another lovely day. Been meeting lots of people from around USA and watching them run their dogs. The running was tricky today with the sheep being heavy and needed a lot of pushing round the course with many running out of time before completing the course. I hope I have an easier time at it with my run tommorow!
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| Date Added: 2nd September 2005 |
| Today has been a good day (if a little hot!). We were taken to the practice field where they had some range ewes for practice with a field that was a MILE long!!! They had set up a full National style course for us to use but we just used the dogs close to had for us to get used to the sheep as much as the dogs. Tomorrow the trials will start for real so here comes the test!
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| Date Added: 28th June 2005 |
| There is now semen available for use in Artificial Insemination. There is semen available from Jake and Monty. If you are interested in using some please contact us and we will put you in touch with the relevant people. |
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