The III Grazing Championship took place in Camp d’en Brull in Pollensa on Sunday and 25 dogs took part in the event which was organised by the Associació Balear de Border Collie de Pastoreig.
"The rural world is alive and well and the goal is to publicise the work of dogs in the field,” says ABBCP member, Jaume Coll. “There are two disciplines: young farmers who have dogs helping with daily tasks on their farm and people with dogs who participate in the agility sector and use grazing as a means of de-stressing their dogs.”
Competition
The championship started at 09:00 with a total of 11 sheepdogs and 14 border collies from Santa Margalida, Pollença, Alcúdia, Artà, Selva and Alaró.
“The Association values the variety of participants; from older people who have been a benchmark for us to young people who are just starting out and also women whose presence is not usually very common at this type of event,” says Jaume Coll.
To qualify for the final test, the dogs had to round up the sheep and guide them through three doors in a linear way until they were motionless in front of the shepherd, who then had to corral them without making physical contact.
The 6 shepherds with the highest scores went through to the final and the dogs had to guide the sheep through a cross with 4 openings, without them straying to the sides.
Harmony and tranquility for the welfare of animals is a priority and jury members, Jordi Tornila and Amanda Herranz confirmed that the route was linear and that the sheep were not stressed during the tests.
After all the tests were complete, Jaume Coll and ‘Pat’ were proclaimed Balearic champions.