SOLDIER HOLLOW — Ever felt like you couldn't convince a very annoying someone to simply leave you alone?
Several dozen sheep in Wasatch County know that precise feeling.
During the second day of the Soldier Hollow Classic International Sheepdog Championship on Saturday, 42 bright Border collies spent 13 minutes apiece menacing and micromanaging the collective movement of five-sheep mini-herds across hilly terrain.
Ewes grew increasingly testy throughout the day as temperatures rose and winds picked up. But the dogs dialed into their preternatural intelligence and rigorous training to compensate with unscripted combinations of intimidating stares and savvy sprints.
In other words, at the largest annual sheepherding competition in the world, it was business as usual.
The Soldier Hollow Classic is the brainchild of event director Mark Petersen and venue director Howard Peterson. Launched in 2003, a record 24,600 people attended the four-day event last year. The 2010 attendance is on pace to shatter the 25,000 mark and perhaps reach as high as 29,000.
"Only as this evolved did we realize it was going to be a premier event here," Peterson said. "We had no idea in this short period of time it was going to be the biggest in the world, the best in the world, the most acclaimed. We're pretty happy about that."
In addition to the main sheepherding competition, other attractions at Soldier Hollow include a Splash Dog Championship where dogs jump into an elongated, above-ground pool (longest jump wins), as well as police dog demonstrations.
An unintended but welcome consequence of the Classic's rise to prominence is how the Utah community of sheepdog devotees has exponentially increased in quality and quantity since 2003.
"Eight years ago, I was probably one of three Utahns that traveled around the West competing," competitor Karen Stanley said. "Now there's probably 12-15. It's taken off."
Event director Petersen won't be surprised if this is the year when a native Utahn finally qualifies for the championship round. The top five dogs from each of the first three preliminary days of competition qualify for a 15-dog final on Labor Day.
"We've been very close on several occasions to having a Utah competitor break into the final," Petersen said. "But this year we have Karen Stanley from Eagle Mountain who won the Trailing of the Sheep Trial in Sun Valley, Idaho. We have Shauna Gourley (from Huntsville), who just missed getting into the finals last year. They're really on the cusp of being able to break into the finals of this event, and making the finals here really says that you've truly got one of the great dogs in the world."
The Soldier Hollow Classic is the only major sheepdog competition that allows each competitor two preliminary trials. Stanley's dog, Meg, missed the cut on Saturday, but she'll have another go at it this afternoon.
Faansie Basson trekked last year from his home in South Africa to compete at Soldier Hollow in large part because premier sheepherding competitions in the United Kingdom require African dogs to undergo a six-month quarantine in order to be eligible.
The cost alone of round-trip air transportation to and from Utah for his two dogs, feisty Jill and dependable Don, is more than $4,000. So when Basson guided Jill and Don to second- and third-place finishes, respectively, in the prestigious 2009 competition, an objective observer could've reasonably expected an ecstatic reaction from Basson. Quite to the contrary, however, it turns out he departed the Beehive State feeling deeply unsatisfied.
"I just came too far to be happy with not winning," he recalls. "If you feel you can (win), it's very disappointing when it doesn't happen. But it's a little bit of a cruel sport sometimes. Sometimes it just doesn't work out.
"But my goal is to win it. Every time you go out there, you go for a win."
Years ago when he was responsible for a herd of 1,500 sheep, Basson's initial foray into sheepdogs began when he couldn't consistently find adequate human labor to help care for the sheep on weekends.
His dogs understand commands in both Afrikaans and English. Basson says he prefers Don to Jill because Don "gives me more. He maybe isn't doing as well as (Jill), but he's a very honest dog who just gives 100 percent. Jill is a female, so she tends to be a little bit moody sometimes."
Soldier Hollow Classic International Sheepdog Championship
When: through Monday
Location: Soldier Hollow Ski Resort
Field: 63 dogs
Handlers: 41 people
Entrance fee: $200 per dog
Purse: $20,000
Event first held: 2003
2009 winner: Tom Wilson from Scotland and his dog Sly
Attendance: 24,600 people attended the four-day event in 2009. This year's attendance is on pace to exceed 25,000 for the first time.
e-mail: jaskar@desnews.com