James McGee and Silver at the Pre-International Sheepdog Trial, at the Curraghmore Estate

the Pre International sheepdog trial was conceived of and held by Ned O'Keefe. Ned manages the sheep and cattle on the Curraghmore Estate in Portlaw, Waterford. it is the home and lands of Lord Waterford (who hosted the event)
60 Irish sheepdogs and their handlers competed in a qualifying trial on Saturday, that was the equivalent of National Sheepdog Trial. So that entailed the sheep being held 400 yards from the handlers post and aswell as having to complete the course, the sheep had collars like in the Narional, so handlers had to shed two sheep with no collars, then pen the sheep and afterwards, take a single choosing one of the two, collared sheep.
James McGee won the qualifier on Saturday, losing only 2 points. 15 of the best scoring dogs were chosen to go through to the final on Sunday.
the Sunday trial was the same course as an International, which consisted of a double fetch and two packets of 10 sheep.
the the sheep were gathered, and the course completed, the handlers proceeded to shed the 5 collared sheep from the 15 uncollared ones. when that was completed, the handler then needed to pen the 5 collared ewes.
This video is of James McGee's winning run with his dog Silver. james and Silver are former International winners. the won the Supreme in 2014. James won an earlier World Trial in 2011 with Silver's mother, McGee's Becca
.