borough farm sheepdog and falconry display

wednesdays 6pm

The Borough Farm sheepdog and Falconry displays will be starting on June 13th this year, once again the sheepdog display will be  with myself, David Kennard accompanied as ever by Mist, star of Channel Five’s ‘Sheepdog Tales’. This years falconry display will be provided by Exmoor falconer George Pile, with his array of Hawks, Owls, Kestrel and Buzzard.

Our displays will take place every Wednesday evenings at 6pm, starting on the 13th June and running through the summer until September 5th. We hope you’ll be able to join us for an evening of amazing sheepdogs and breath-taking falconry.

View this season’s flier here

Adults £5 Children £2.50 under 5’s free   no need to book in advance

Well behaved dogs are welcome

We now have under cover seating available at the farm, for those occasional damp evenings

With each year there is a new order for the dogs over the display season. This year ‘Fly’ will have to take on the role of ‘top dog’. She is nearly four years old and although she is still quite head strong she has become a good sheepdog and I’d be lost without her. Fly’s son Alfie is not quite 2 years old, and couldn’t be more different to his mother. He likes to take things easy, always ready to take a back seat and let the rest of the dogs take the strain. Alfie is likely to start the shows this year, providing, that is, he can be bothered to turn up to work!

I always have a couple of dogs in training and this year Fly’s off spring ‘Zola’ and may be even ‘Colin’ will be making appearances. They were a year old in the middle of March so area long way from being properly trained, but can alway be relied upon to add a little chaos to proceedings.

Jake is nine years old this year, and although he doesn’t do so much of the sheep work anymore, he’s a very talented ‘duck dog’.  The ducks are a big hit with the children and with a series of obstacles to negotiate they provide Jake a different sort of a challenge.

Mist.

With her recently diagnosed diabetes, Mist won’t be able to work at this years shows, but she will be out at the end of the show to meet the children and to pose for photographs

George Pile falconry

Exmoor Falconer George Pile is fast making a name for himself in the falconry world. From his remote home deep in the Exmoor countryside, he has been training and flying his birds of prey from the age of 9. His team now includes falcons, harris hawks, owls, kestrel and buzzard.  Just  as with David’s sheepdogs each of George’s birds is very individual and excel at different parts of the display.

Harris hawks are unlike other birds of prey in that they naturally live in small groups. They are at ease with human company which means that they are happy to fly to the hand of members of the audience

Kestrels have a charm all of their own, these tiny birds weigh only a few ounces but  are a delight to audiences with the ability to hover a few feet over head. Kestrels are a common site as they hunt along the grass roadside verges, but to see such a bird flying at such close quarters is just wonderful.

These are a few of the highlights of the Borough Farm sheepdog and Falconry displays, David and George look forward to seeing you at one of the displays this summer

WEDNESDAY EVENINGS 6pm, JUNE 13th to SEPT 5th

Learn more about the Dunster Castle displays here