Guide to Meeker Classic Sheepdog
Championship Trials
 

Directions: Take I-70 to Rifle, CO (exit 90) and then drive approximately 41 miles north on State Highway #13 to Meeker.  The Meeker Classic has an excellent web site: www.meekersheepdog.com

This year we ventured up the road to Meeker, Colorado for the semi-finals of the Meeker Classic Sheepdog Championship Trials.  It was the 20th anniversary of the event which has developed a world renowned reputation mainly due to the quality of the sheep used for the trials.  The sheep are brought down from their high mountain summer ranges near Aspen where they have been free of contact with either humans or dogs for a long period of time.  The resulting stock is feisty and unpredictable, which makes for a challenging trial for even the most experienced dog.  

Any herding dog can be entered into the competition but the field generally consists solely of Border Collies which are friendly, bright, eager and intense herding dogs.  Although sheepdogs have been know for centuries throughout Britain and Scotland, all Border Collies we know today have descended from dogs developed around 1894 in Northern England by a Nothumbrian farmer named Adam Telfer.  The internet is full of references on the ancestry of sheepdogs.

We had a great time but sadly we could only attend one session.  Next year we plan to go back for the finals as well as the semi-finals if time will allow.

Enjoy the Album,

Trekker