Michael and Mirk earn place in Scottish sheepdog trials team
Caithness farmer Michael Shearer and his two-year-old collie Mirk have secured a place in the Scottish sheepdog trials team after finishing in ninth position at this year’s national championships.
Held at Farr Estate, just outside Inverness, the Scottish national is the annual showpiece event for sheepdog trialling enthusiasts, with the top 150 dogs in Scotland fighting it out for a chance to represent their country at the prestigious International Sheep Dog Society trials.
Taking to the field on Saturday morning at run position 115, Michael and Mirk finished on a score of 156 points.
Sending Mirk out to the right, Michael lost zero points on both his outrun and lift. After having to fight hard with the Blackie sheep on the fetch and drive, Michael and Mirk entered the shedding ring with only 99/160 points secured.
Despite this, two excellent sheds and a strong pen saw Michael and Mirk gain 57 out of the remaining 60 points which resulted in the pair finishing in ninth position overall.
It will be Michael’s 29th Scottish national cap.
Michael, of Lythmore Farm, said: “In all honesty, Mirk is not 100 per cent ready for these bigger trials just yet. If he had not already gained open points this summer, Mirk would have still been eligible for this season’s nursery trials.
“However, I was pleased with the way he worked away from home at his first national, especially in the shedding ring.”
Had it not been for the stubbornness of the Blackface ewes across all three days of the trial, Michael could have been heading to the international at Syde Farm, Biggar, Lanarkshire, with two dogs from his kennel.
On the first day, Michael ran Mirk’s kennel-mate Viking Cap and was on a score of 155 points going to the pen. Unfortunately for Michael, a testing ewe resulted in Cap being disqualified for a grip before the clock ran out.
This was by no means an exception, though – a total of 61 out of 150 dogs competing at this year’s national either retired or were disqualified before the allotted 15-minute time period for completion had expired.
The international takes place from September 12-14 when Michael will be hoping to replicate the success of Mirk’s father, Jim, the dog Michael last appeared with in the international supreme championship in Wales in 2016.
The supreme championship sees the top 15 dogs from across the four home nations of Wales, Scotland, Ireland and England compete in a double gather final with 30 minutes set on the clock. In 2016, Michael and Jim finished in eighth position in the supreme final after being timed up in the shedding ring.
However, Michael and Mirk will be looking to better that result if the pair can make it through the qualifying trials for the supreme championships on Sunday.
