It’s not just any old collie who can work the sheep on Dartmoor…
This August Dartmoor will host the English National Sheepdog Trials for the first time. Showcasing the practical work that Border collies do best, over 150 elite dogs from all over England will be competing for the honour of Supreme Champion.
Though one wonders what their native moor cousins will make of them. For the Dartmoor collie is rather a breed apart. It has adapted remarkably to its rugged home.
“It’s wild country out there,” says Colin Abel ,a fifth generation farmer, one of three brothers whose sheep graze about 14,000 acres of the Dartmoor Forest. “Those bogs have claimed many a life.”
On the moor, sheep are ‘hefted’; constantly shepherded because there are no physical boundaries. But they know their confines, these having been established over many, many years and generations of ewes teaching their ewe lambs their land limitations. Several times each year the sheep have to be taken back to their farm holding for flock management purposes.
When ‘gathering’ the sheep, the Abel family, from near Peter Tavy, rely on their large combined pack of dogs. Any number up to 20 dogs and six or seven Quad Bikes and riders will muster for a Gather. The bikes are able to skim over the top of much of the bog and the dogs are light footed and manage. Instinct cuts in if danger is around.
With currently less stock on the moor, under-grazing has resulted in more gorse and scrub, with a lot of old long grass. So, not only difficulties for sheep to graze, but also difficulties when dogs are gathering as the sheep will hide in the undergrowth and dogs have a problem flushing them out. Especially if it is a pre-shear gather, when their wool is long.
Their not your stylish collie
But these dogs used are not your stylish collie or trialling type Border collie. These dogs run long distances for anything up to eight or 9 hours a day, gathering small groups of sheep towards a central point from where they head home. Huge miles can be travelled by the quad bike in a day and the dogs travel twice that amount.
These dogs, basically Border collies, are now smaller, tougher, hardier, less physically rangy and not as long haired as the traditional collie. Because of all the gorse, scrub and long grass, long haired dogs can get snared up.
Having a big mob of dogs’ means that all eventualities during the gather, can be covered. The young keen dog is ideal for moving a mob along quickly while the old steady ones can bring up the rear.
“The dogs cannot keep going day in and day out,” Colin points out. “So added into the structure of the gather are days off so that the dogs can have a rest. From a welfare point of view, dogs feet can easily be damaged from running on the granite, cuts and bruises can also occur.”
‘Lowland dogs are never introduced’
Replacements to the pack are frequently home bred. One of Colin’s brothers keeps male dogs and another always keeps bitches.
“At the moment most of the offspring come from the one brothers’ best dog. Sometimes, when needed, we take a trip to Bodmin Moor for a new strain, the terrain there being somewhat similar to Dartmoor. Training is mostly alongside an experienced dog when the younger animal shows interest in sheep.”
Perhaps he’ll find an good breeding dog among the trial competitors?
“Never is a lowland dog introduced - too little stamina!”
And the Dartmoor collie certainly doesn’t want to risk losing any hardiness – for it is the stalwart of moor sheep farming and will continue to be so as long as there are sheep populating Dartmoor.
Caroline Woolley
Dog Day Afternoon
Sheepdogs trials and the Border collie have a long tradition in Britain dating back to the 1870s have always been a popular spectator event with over 200,000 people attending the International in Hyde Park in 1949.
The popular television series ‘One Man and his Dog’ brought trialling to a world-wide audience providing a showcase for British shepherds and upland farming in particular.
Today it continues to draw crowds and the four-day event on Dartmoor is expected to welcome between six and ten thousand spectators.
The local ISDS Organising Committee are also providing a small country fair and entertainment with ‘tug of war’ on Friday evening and live music on Saturday night plus a bar!
English National Sheepdog Trials: 8-11 August - Moorlands Farm, near Princetown (PL20 6SA). For information got to: www.englishnationalsheepdogtrials2024.org.uk
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