Today I spent the day at The Border Collie Convention - the first of its kind - which was hosted by The Midlands Border Collie Club. My close friend and business partner Lisa Lister (Havocsmill) has owned, worked, shown and bred border collies for a number of years and as you can imagine, I therefore have an interest in the breed as she does german wirehaired pointers.
Together Lisa and I had a really enjoyable day. All credit to The Midlands Border Collie Club who were such good hosts - tea, coffee, wine and food were in no short supply. The day started with a breed specific talk on movement and construction by Ross Green (Fayken) who owns the breed record holder Sh Ch Tomkory Palerston at Fayken, followed by a selection of demonstrations/talks - preparation for the showring and showring handling by Jo Ratcliffe (Grandver) and Rachel Spencer (Tobermoray); breeding by Penny Forster-Cooper (Sheltysham) and Felix Cosme (Beagold) and judging by Kathy Burnell (Fieldbank) and Toni Jackson (Elbereth). Lisa and I chose to attend the show and breeding talks. Speakers were both knowledgeable and entertaining.
The talk which Ross gave was very informative and to accompany his speech he showed a selection of pictures and videos which clearly demonstrated the effect of construction on movement.
Penny Forster-Cooper discussed the different methods of breeding - inbreeding, linebreeding, and outcrossing - their advantages and disadvantages and Felix Cosme demonstrated the effects of his breeding programme for fixing a 'type' to his line.
I would have no hesitation in attending another such seminar and feel that much of what I leant today can be applied to my own breed - the GWP. Hopefully, as these events become more common place, our breed club will hold a similar event.
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