As an amateur sheepdog handler in Colorado, I try to learn about sheep and dogs whenever I can and wherever I can. This past Spring I was able to escape the cold weather of snow country and traveled to South Africa to visit my friends, Faansie and Elmarie Basson and their girls, Christie and Jana.

Last summer, the whole Basson family stayed in Meeker, Colorado, while Faansie competed in sheepdog trials and taught clinics around the mountain region. Only an hour and a half away, I took every chance I could to get down and take a lesson and I found his techniques very different than I had seen with other trainers. Needless to say, I couldn’t get enough and thought maybe I could learn a lot more if I visited them in South Africa. Early March found me on a plane bound from snowy Steamboat Springs to Cape Town and warm, sunny weather. I traded 30 degrees and layers of coats and boots for 80s and shorts and sandals.

After hearing stories of the dangers of the crime in South Africa, imagine my relief when Faansie and Elmarie met me at the airport with their two daughters, Christie and Jana. Completely turned around (the sun is on the north side all day but it still sets in the west) I had the hardest time getting my bearings until I was able to recognize certain mountain ranges in the distance. And, yes, there are very large mountain ranges all through the area. It seems they are even bigger than ours in Colorado, steep and extensive throughout the country.

It was such a relief to see them when I arrived at the airport! All the scary stories of Jo’berg and Cape Town had me nervous about negotiating my way in this new place. Greeted with hugs from the girls, I was grateful for Faansie who carried my 1 large, carefully packed bag. I was ready for an adventure in AFRICA, 4 weeks to work dogs, sheep and a little “touristing” thrown in. I think I lasted halfway to the farm before nodding off, the 27 hours of flying and transfers finally taking their toll. I woke up to farmland, dry after a long hot summer, but beautiful endless rolling hills of grain stubble and sheep by the hundreds. There were very large mountain ranges in the distance and these were going to be my bearings for the rest of the trip.

The family lives on a farm named Goodroesoe in the Overberg region. This is between Swellendam, one of the oldest settlements in the country and Bredasdorp. Through a combination of owners, Faansie is responsible for the management of approximately 2500 sheep. The flocks vary according to ownership but consist of South African Merinos, Dohne Merinos, Dorpers and some Dorper Merino crosses. This area, known as the Western Cape, is the top producer of wool in South Africa and sheep can be seen grazing in fields for miles. Since most of this area produces grain, there aren’t the large tracts of public land like we see in the U.S. Sheep graze pastures and there are few predators to deal with other than the occasional curacao, a cat very much like our mountain lions though not as large. The weather is mild, South Africa’s tip is not nearly as south as South America’s, so sheep can cycle and lamb all year. Faansie has about 400 sheep in each cycle, so there is always lambing, shearing, ultra sounding and weaning going on. However, March and April are pretty dry and this is probably the toughest time of year for animals and their owners. While waiting for the winter rains to start, spells of extreme heat are mixed in with cooler days and nights. Huge brush fires burning over mountains, whipped up by the dry afternoon winds fill the skies with smoke. Depending on each farmer’s breeding program, lambing takes place year round, some flocks once, others on a shorter schedule. In four weeks time, I was able to participate and help with chores that are normally spaced out over a period of 12 months. This included: putting out the rams, ultra sounding, shearing, lambing, weaning and selecting those for butchering.

Faansie manages his daily chores with the help of a couple of hired hands but mostly with the help of his 3 border collies. They spend most of their waking moments in the Bakkie, the most efficient farm tool I have ever seen. Simply another name for pickup, every farmer has a Bakkie, usually white, with a stock rack of some sort on the back. There are Fords, Nissans, Toyotas and more but you will never see a regular sized pickup. The advantage of these is that they are low to the ground so you can throw sheep in the back by hand. Faansie’s had a compartment where he could put lambs or dogs, depending on what was in the back. Far surpassing the usefulness of a 4 wheeler, the Bakkie had a system of racks that allowed us to carry 4-5 dogs, animal feed, sick sheep and lambs while at the same time herding sheep back to the flock, and leading lost lambs back to their mothers (a white Bakkie looks just like mom to lots of lambs). But the bakke was hard worked and not without its rattles, the rocks in the fields are brutal on tires and hinges! A generator to air up tires was a must-have piece of equipment in the truck.
Faansie’s dogs are all border collies who earn their keep and help with every farm chore to do with sheep. Each one had its own area of expertise it seems. Don, a beautiful dog, was unbelievable at catching and holding lambs, never biting down but using his mouth to hold them to the ground. He could catch a single like no other and go on a 500 yard outrun to gather 500 sheep by himself. Jan, an older female and very singularly minded, could take a band of sheep on a straight line for miles while Faansie attended to other chores in the meantime, catching up to her later. Each dog had its own set of commands, words and whistles, so they could be worked independently yet together. He had two sets of English commands and a set of Afrikaans. The dogs were so well behaved that, even with 3-4 dogs in the truck, no one got out unless their command or name was used.

Pens in So Africa are open, not solid walls as seen in Colorado. Dogs can then work the sides of the alleys and chutes if there aren’t people. With voice commands, we loaded from the corrals to the inside pen and the chutes. The dogs just needed us to work the gates, their dexterity just isn’t there to open and shut latches or they’d do it without us! In the corrals, since the sheep are a little shorter, the walls are low enough so dogs can jump pen to pen easily and faster than any 2 legged help around. Don, the young guy in the group, handsome, gentle and always ready, is a little more willing to help the tourist on occasion. Jill, on the other hand, has her own agenda and it doesn’t include me! Bring out the other dogs, and she’ll let you know that she’d rather work alone. Jan, older wiser, lets the youngsters do most of the running work and pushing and shoving in the pens. But she may look like she’s taking it easy when suddenly, a sheep challenges one of the dogs and Jan immediately puts it in its place. She’s just a little wiser on preserving her energy as she gets older. And finally, there was Bonnie – a young female that was just getting started in the routine. We worked together most of the time, made lots of mistakes but had lots of fun. Faansie helped me with her in her regular training sessions in the evenings and, by the end, we were actually useful and did quite a bit by ourselves.

By the end of each day, when most people would be finishing up, Faansie’s second job would begin. With 4 dogs in training along with his own young dogs, there was still a couple of hours of training to get in at night. Faansie has risen to the higher end of sheep dog handlers, and all of his working dogs have to tune up and tone down to work on the trial field as well. Even though they have to work hard every day, getting the necessary jobs done, they still “clean up and go to town” to compete internationally in field trials.

The training is done in the evenings, on young sheep and sometimes difficult rams. The dogs, depending on the “lesson”, need to know when they can bite a nose or not. The gates for the trial are merely panels in the field, not like the real gates in big fence lines. While trials have similarities to daily chores, they require a precision that would not normally be necessary in everyday work. The pressure put on the dogs to be so exact can have a lot of negative effects and so, it is only exceptional dogs and handlers that can make it to the top. It is the combination that truly makes everything work. This is one reason why so many dogs that can’t take the pressure of trialing still make good farm dogs.

South Africa is a land of huge diversity. There are farms, coastal resorts, wineries and incredible game preserves. For the local and tourist there is hiking, biking and climbing, shopping galore and absolutely great hospitable welcoming people. B & Bs are the accommodations throughout the country and every town is full of them. In the whole trip, I saw only one hotel on a beach resort and it was extremely expensive.

There were many Europeans, few Americans. Perhaps it’s still the stigma of apartheid that keeps the American tourist away and there are certainly still signs of the old system’s repercussions. The townships are still on the edge of every town, people coming in from the whole African continent, trying to escape wars, poverty and bad governments. But the beauty of South Africa is well worth experiencing, English is spoken almost everywhere and the roads are good. I never felt afraid and would go back in a heartbeat so see more of the country. South Africa is a remarkable place, a beautiful land of incredible variation and fascinating history.

E & F were excellent hosts and are starting to offer their own style of farm stay for guests. Near enough to small towns, the farm gives you a sense of what it is truly like to live in South Africa. Jana is proud of her chickens and the rooster is sure to get you up in the morning so you don’t miss a beat. Christy speaks beautiful English and is one of the best translators you’ll meet on the trip. South Africans like their coffee and know how to sit down for a cup. No coffee on the run in paper cups mind you, just real, freshly brewed coffee in mugs at a table. Whether discussing plans for the day or slowing down to see the kids when they get home from school, they still know how to stop, breathe, and enjoy a cup of coffee with friends and family, something we should all give a try….