Not Our First Rodeo

Decades ago we worked for CBC Radio in Regina and our favourite time of year was the week we moved out of the studio to broadcast live from Agribition.   We’d talk with breeders, farmers, farriers, inventors, cowboys, farm machinery manufacturers and rodeo clowns.  We inhaled the perfume of livestock, leather and frying onions, and never ran out of stories or people to tell them. So this week was like coming home. 

We built our visit around the International Stock Dog Championship Trials.  The dogs, almost all of them Border Collies, work with the farmers to manage flocks that can run to over 1,500 sheep.

The stock dog trials are held in the dirt-covered hockey rink that’s home to the Regina Pats.  The sheep are released three at a time so each dog has a fresh trio to herd.  The dogs have four minutes to herd the sheep around two barrels, through a chute and into a small pen.  The handlers can’t leave their circle at the top of the field, except to open the pen gate at the end of the session.  But the handlers do coach the dogs through verbal commands or whistles.  The commands include “Come bye”, which means go left or clockwise around the flock.  “Away” means go to the right or clockwise.  Given the OCD nature of these dogs, the command most in use is “Lie down” (the Border Collie pause button).  The whistles are universal – the same in every language. 

It is a truth universally acknowledged that sheep are not the smartest of creatures.  The sheep in this particular flock were relatively tractable during the morning trials, although every now and then one would go rogue and try to squeeze through the fence. But they were feistier in the afternoon sessions, as if over lunch they had hatched a plan to thwart the dogs at every turn. 

The dogs performed brilliantly.  They stalked, chased, deked, out-manoeuvered and at times stared down the sheep.   But the ewes scattered in all directions.  They hid behind the chute or stopped stolidly against the boards, daring the dogs to attack.  Sometimes a pugnacious ewe even challenged the dogs with a head-down butt.   

More often than not, the dogs couldn't herd the sheep into the pen, and a few were disqualified for “gripping” the sheep.  They did the perp walk off the field with telltale strands of wool hanging from their incisors. More than a few sheep kicked up their heels in triumph as they scampered to the holding pen.

Agribition is mainly a beef cattle show and the barns were full of perfectly-groomed Galloways, Charolais, Shorthorns, Longhorns, Limousin, Gelbvieh, Angus and commercial cattle.  We were particularly taken with the Speckle Park breed – Speckle refers to the colour, while Park is a pattern of white with coloured points, as these ladies show. 

The breed was developed in Saskatchewan in the 1950s and ‘60s, and is well-suited to the extreme cold and heat on the prairies.   They calve easily, have gentle dispositions and are generally easy to keep.  They also make for pretty good eating.  The prize-winning beef is well-marbled and has a particularly big rib-eye section.

There may not be a better school field trip than Agribition. The kids we observed ranging around the barns and exhibits seemed comfortable around the lumbering cows and leggy horses, taking every opportunity to reach out and pet them. This Highland calf was a particular favourite.

There were also milking, sheep-shearing and hoof-trimming demonstrations, as well as a rodeo and full-contact jousting competitions.  During the day people could go to trade show sessions ranging from a panel discussion on grain transport to talks about soil fertility and cannabis opportunities for farmers.  

We left, as usual, with brochures, booklets, breed profiles, postcards, merch and a very rumpled program.   We love to see these animals up close, and to meet some of the people who are producing our food.