Editor’s Note:

I had seen another of Esther’s dogs before she brought out Ella, Maeve, this beautiful white border collie.  When she ran had elegance about her, her movements so smooth and fluid, it was if she was dancing the tango with these sheep. It was hard to imagine I’d see something better than what I just watched, I could sit and watch Bree run for hours on end yet I’ll never forget the first time I saw Ella spring into action. There was a flock of sheep a few hundred yards out in the field and what seemed like a flash of lightning she fell upon them.

It’s hard to find words that can describe her, mesmerizing is to say the least. The athleticism this dog possesses, the drive within her eyes – there is without a doubt something different about this animal. While we would be proud to sponsor any dog at the Bluegrass Classic we are exceptionally excited to sponsor Esther and Ella.

My name is Esther Gates, and I was lucky as a child to visit Scotland with my family and ever since then I have been enamored by the working border collie. I raised sheep in 4H and loved the idea of herding sheep.

In 2016, I got Maeve, my first border collie and she was so smart and energetic I had to find an activity for her – herding.  I was hooked on my first herding lesson and here we are 9 years later with 5 border collies and small sheep farm in Ohio.  I love the world of herding!

For me, there is nothing as special and alive as being outside in the dance between the handler, dog and sheep. The time I get to spend connecting deeply with the dogs is a joy and I enjoy caring for the sheep.  The border collie’s intelligence, responsiveness and natural instinctual abilities are stunning to watch.  I love being consumed by the dynamics between the dog, sheep and me as the handler.

In December of 2021, I had the treat of meeting the joyful Ella, as an 8-week-old puppy, at my trainer’s.  From the beginning, Ella was a breeze to work with her natural talent and easy-going nature. We spent many a day exploring and building her natural talents with the supportive guidance and instruction from one of the top trainers in the country and with some of my good friends and colleagues in the herding world.  The community of handlers and their dogs is one of the joys of this passionate pursuit of herding.

While being a gentle spirit, Ella is also a rockstar on the herding field and we won 1^st place in our first pro novice trial together! Although she had barely any training at that point, she was so natural with the sheep and so easy to work with and impressed all who saw her. While we have our ups and downs on the trial field, I come off smiling every time. She is an impressive and stylish dog.  In the herding world, she is known as “biddable”, or one that is easily trained and willingly follows commands.  She has a natural feel for sheep. Off sheep she is happy to lay around the house and relax and is playful and spirited.

Though a young dog, Ella has already had quite the record of placing well in top competitions around the country.  At just over a year and half old, in 2023 Ella ran in her first National finals in the Nursery class in Carbondale, CO.  The following year, in the spring of 2024, Ella quickly moved up to the more advanced Open class and surprisingly accumulated enough points from placing in competitions to uniquely run in both Nursery for her second time and Open for her first at the nationals’ finals in Virginia in the fall of 2024. It takes a special and talented dog to run in Open at the finals at that young age. Ella and I are looking forward to the challenges of her first time running in the Open class of the BlueGrass Classic, in May 2025, one the most challenging trials in the US and are grateful for their generous sponsors for this event.