By MICHELLE MILLER
Staff Writer
Sheep handlers from all over
the world will be coming to Cooperstown
for the 13th annual Leatherstocking
Sheepdog Trials that will
be held in a field off Beaver Meadow
Road from Aug. 16 through 18.
The trials will start at 8 a.m.
each day and will run until about 4
or 5 p.m., rain or shine. Admission
charges will be good for the whole
weekend. The cost is $5 a person
and children are admitted free.
The sheepdog trial is put on by
the Leatherstocking Sheepdog Trials
Committee, which is sanctioned
by the North East Boarder Collie
Association (NEBCA). The event is
a competitive dog sport in which
dogs move sheep around a field,
fences, gates, or enclosures as directed
by their handlers. According
to committee member Linda Hotchkiss,
the handler instructs the dog
with a whistle or with voice commands.
For this trial, three sheep
are used and one dog goes through
the course at a time.
Hotchkiss said there are bleachers
for people to sit on during the
event, but she encourages visitors
to bring chairs and blankets because
there is limited seating. She
said the event typically attracts
about 200 people each day, depending
on the weather.
Hotchkiss said organizers are
expecting approximately 70 dogs to
participate in the event each day.
She said the novice class, which
usually is a four-minute course,
will be held on Friday and the more
experienced classes, which can
take close to 10 minutes, will be
held on Saturday and Sunday.
Each test element is assigned a
maximum score, and a judge will
deduct points for each fault made.
For example, during a drive the
judge may deduct points when the
sheep move off line. Competitors
must negotiate each element in sequence
before proceeding to the
next. There is a set amount of time
for the whole course; there is no advantage
in completing the course
in a short amount of time, but if
the competitor runs out of time,
points will be lost for the element
they were in the process of completing
and all those that they have
yet to attempt. The competitor’s
score is the sum of their score for
all completed elements, and the
competitor who receives the most
points wins.
According to Hotchkiss, awards
will be given out at the end of each
day to the top 10 competitors. This
year’s top prize will be a pet portrait
painting by Barbara Armata.
Hotchkiss said the committee tries
to come up with something a little
different to give out with the ribbons
each year.
Hotchkiss said Armata is also
providing the sheep for the event.
She said Armata will lease approximately
80 Scottish Blackface
sheep from her farm.
Hotchkiss said not every breed
of sheep work well for sheepdog trials
because they cannot be too big
or too small.
The event is open to any breed
of dog, but mostly border collies are
used. According to Hotchkiss, border
collies seem to work best, and
are fun to watch because there is
no set standard for the breed.
Hotchkiss said border collies can
be black and white, brown and
white, all white, short haired, long
haired, and look different in many
other ways. However, Hotchkiss
said a German shepherd was used
in the event in the past.
Hotchkiss said the sheepdog trials
are a fun and inexpensive event
for people to enjoy.
``It’s close by so people won’t
have to spend a lot of money to
come have fun,’’ said Hotchkiss.
She said if people grow tired of
watching the dogs they can go visit
the many vendors that will be at
the event. New this year will be
Reiki Master Ellen Sokolow, who
will be providing a form of pet therapy.
Leashed pets are welcome.
To get to the trial, follow the
trial signs in Hyde Park off Route
28 South of Cooperstown. The
event is sponsored by the Farmers’
Museum and Blue Seal Feeds. For
more information, call (607) 293-
8385.
Local Sports
Related Photos
-
The 13th annual Leatherstocking Sheepdog Trials will be held in a field off Beaver Meadow Road from Aug. 16 through 18. Photo by Michelle Miller.
Discussion
Welcome to our story comments feature. We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including the unpopular ones. We only ask that you keep your conversations clean, civil and on the topic of the story you are commenting on.
Coinciding with our websites redesign, we launched our new story comments feature through Disqus.
Disqus gives users the ability to log into our story comments feature so that they may be able to track their conversations, receive emails when their comments get a reply or to even have your comments update onto your Facebook or Twitter accounts.
For the time being, our story comments feature will continue to have the ability to post comments anonymously. We reserve the right to require registration in the future using your name and verified email address.
Not all comments are deemed printable. Some are disqualified at the newspaper’s discretion for a number of different reasons. Please follow our Online Rules of Conduct at all times.
RULES OF CONDUCT:
We reserve the right to remove comments that are unacceptable, to wit:
1. False and inacurate statements.
2. Personal attacks. Explicit name-calling.
3. Harassing, harmful, vulgar, obscene and defamatory language.
4. Threatening statements or statements that suggest violence.
5. Hate speech of any kind.
6. Intolerant comments on religion, race, age, gender, sexual preference or disabilities.
7. Accusations of criminal activity.
8. Content that is harmful to children and minors in any way.
9. References to any type of sexual activity and other private matters.
10. Random and inflammatory statements that are off topic.
11. Advertising of any kind.
12. Typing in all caps.
WE ENCOURAGE REASONABLE AND COURTEOUS COMMENTS THAT:
1. Create conversation on issues of interest and concern to fellow readers and local community members.
2. Express opinions and contrarian views.
3. Stimulate debate with respectful language.
4. Stay within the boundaries of these rules.
WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO SUSPEND OR TERMINATE ACCESS FOR:
1. Violating any of these Online Rules of Conduct.
2. Deliberately disrupting discussions with repetitive messages, meaningless messages or spam.
3. Misrepresentation of identity or impersonating another user.
WE WELCOME:
1. Flagging violations of these rules that you observe to our attention.
MONITORING:
We monitor comments regularly Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Approval of comments outside of this time will be sporadic.
Sheepdog trials will begin Friday
- Local Sports
-
-
MCS girls take advantage of Patriots’ off-night
PEGGY PAFFENROTH PULLS IN a defensive rebound during the Wildcats’ Tri-Valley League win over the Patriots on Friday.
It may have been unseasonably warm outside, but for Cherry Valley- Springfield’s girls, it was a cold night in Milford on Friday. The Patriots went on long stretches without making baskets and the Wildcats took advantage for a 55-31 victory.
Continued ... -
Cooperstown boys show up to play
Cooperstown’s boys scored 33 points in the second quarter and cruised to a 79-58 non-league victory over visiting Sherburne- Earlville in a matchup of Center State Conference division winners Saturday.
Continued ... -
Lady Redskins get non-league win
Nicole Cring had 12 points, eight blocks and seven rebounds as the Cooperstown- High girls basketball team took an early lead and beat visiting New York Mills 55-44 on Tuesday in a non-league game.
Continued ... -
Hall to offer tools to teach dangers of drugs
Students will be taught about the danger of performance-enhancing drugs through a national education and outreach program announced Wednesday by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown. The use of such drugs could affect upcoming balloting for several Hall of Fame candidates.
Continued ... -
Baseball Hall of Fame releases calendar of events
With the crack of bats and sounds of the ballpark beginning to return to Arizona and Florida this week organizers are getting geared up for another season at the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Continued ... -
Unatego wrestlers beat C’town, UV; Sidney’s Stafford among top seeds for class tourneys
Austin Ryan and Nate Wilsey won two head-tohead matches apiece last Thursday, helping host Unatego to dual-meet wrestling victories over Cooperstown and Unadilla Valley.
Continued ... - Thursday, February 2, 2012
-
CCS swimmer finds diving challenging
After a day of highs and lows, Cooperstown’s Aaron Idelson finished in the middle.
Continued ...
The sophomore diver scored a 285.15 and finished eighth out of 16 divers at the Frontier League Diving Championships in Carthage on Saturday. -
Brothers compete in the pool
Sometimes things are not always as they seem. Just look at Cooperstown’s varsity swimming brothers Sean and Erik Mebust.
Continued ... -
Volleyball team wins tournament at home
The host Cooperstown volleyball team won a six-team round robin tournament last Saturday. The Redskins tied Stockbridge with identical 7-3 records, but owned the tiebreaker by a single point in head-to-head match-ups, winning 25-22 and losing 23-25.
Continued ... -
Lady Redskins come out strong in second half
Nicole Cring’s double, double helped Cooperstown make a decisive second-half run and beat visiting Mohawk 45-28 in a Center State Conference game on Monday. Cring had 12 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots as the
Continued ...
Redskins scored the first seven points of the second half, stretching a 17-14 lead to 24-14. “There wasn’t much to say.” -
CCS wrestling team competes in championships
Cooperstown teammates Michael Boyle and Jacob Miller had runner-up finishes in the Center State Conference Championships on Saturday at Adirondack.
Continued ... -
Niekro, Ozzie to return for Hall of Fame Classic
The Knucksies and Wizards will go at it again this June in Cooperstown. The Baseball Hall of Fame announced Monday that Hall of Famers Phil Niekro and Ozzie Smith will return as team captains for the fourth annual Hall of Fame Classic at Doubleday Field.
Continued ... - Monday, January 30, 2012
-
Redskins hit century mark
If at first you do succeed, try to do even better next time. Dave Bertram led the Cooperstown boys basketball team to its highest points total in his 10 years as head coach Tuesday, when the Redskins thumped visiting Morrisville- Eaton, 106-51, in a Center State Conference Division III game.
Continued ... -
Davine, king of Cooperstown assists
If you need help, try calling Jay Davine. Senior point guard Davine broke Cooperstown’s all-time assists record last Thursday and scored 13 points to lead the Redskins to a 71-43 boys basketball thumping of visiting Westmoreland in a Center State Conference Division III game.
Continued ... -
Fox has big night for Hartwick women
Cooperstown graduate Samantha Fox scored a varsity-high 14 points Friday to lead the Hartwick College women’s basketball team to a 59-49 victory over visiting St. John Fisher in the Empire 8 Conference.
Continued ... -
Patriots hold off Gilbertsville-Mount Upton with score of 59-53
A varsity-high 27 points from Kyle Jaquay led host Cherry Valley- Springfield to a 59-53 Tri-Valley League boys basketball victory Monday over Gilbertsville-Mount Upton.
Continued ... -
CCS wrestles with the ‘Big Dogs’
Cooperstown’s wrestling revival got a reality check on Saturday in the form of visiting Dolgeville. Both teams came in undefeated in the Center State Conference, but only the Blue Devils left that way after a 64-10 win over the Redskins. “Dolgeville is definitely a tough team. Top to bottom, they really don’t have any weak spots on their roster,” Cooperstown coach Micaiah Abts said.
Continued ... -
Coach says he thinks his girls will return to top of their class
Close, but not there yet. That’s the story of Cooperstown’s volleyball team this season, and it played out again on Monday in a 3-1 loss to visiting Waterville in a Center State Conference match.
Continued ... -
Clark Sports Center hosts tournament
The Clark Sports Center recently held its eighth annual Pat Fetterman Memorial Tournament. There were six girls’ teams and six boys’ teams from as far away as West Philadelphia, according to a media release from the sports center.
Continued ... - Thursday, January 19, 2012
-
Boy one step closer to seeing football dreams come true
Since Cowboy Stadium in Dallas opened in 2010, football fans have marveled at the massive, modernstadium. Over the holidays, Cooperstown Central School freshman Michael Perrino got to play two games in it himself.
Continued ...
-
