A 10-time member of the German team for the Continental Championships, and a two-time World Triallist, Gisela Norrman is no stranger to international competition. She started trialling in 1990 and hasn’t looked back.
Born in Sweden, Gisela’s family moved to Dusseldorf in Germany when she was just a year old. Her father was a saleperson and her mother a teacher. Like many young girls, Gisela loved dogs and horses. Her first dog was a Boxer. But her real passion was horses – racehorses. Gisela was nuts about racehorses. She watched horseracing at her two local tracks and had memorized all of the horses’ pedigrees, performances and breeding details. With no computer available at the time, Gisela had a hand-written database of some 5,000 racehorses.
It was no surprise to her family when Gisela expressed an interest in studying veterinary medicine. In 1976 she moved to Gießen to attend the University of Gießen, which was founded in 1607 and is among the oldest institutions of higher education in the German-speaking world. After qualifying as a vet, Gisela worked near Bonn. In 1986 she bought her first sheep, a German heather breed named Graue Gehoernte Heidschnucke, which is a black sheep with grey wool. Along with her neighbours, who contributed one or two sheep each, a communal flock was established. Over time the interest of her neighbours waned so Gisela found herself in charge of her own flock of sheep.
In 1988 her first border collie called Leslie came along and that was when her life changed. Leslie was a natural and a dream dog for Gisela as she established herself in the world of sheepdogs and trialling. Leslie won the German Championship at the age of ten years and was on the German team six times. She also became the matriarch of Gisela’s ‘Capricorn’ kennel. A great grandson of Leslie’s, Capricorn Razu, is the dog Gisela will compete with at this year’s World Trial. This is Razu’s second World Trial. He has also represented Germany at two Continental Championships and made the final of the German Championship on several occasions. His litter brother, Capricorn Jake, owned by Martina Czylwik, has also qualified for the German World Trial team for the second time. Razu is a very happy and friendly dog. He was bold as a youngster and he has a great will to please. He is better on heavy sheep, than light but either way, he knows his job well. According to Gisela, she and Razu are ideally suited. Gisela credits much of her success to Simon Mosse from Ireland. Simon was right beside her when she started Leslie, and he has helped her with all her subsequent dogs. He has helped improve her training and handling skills, and has forced Gisela to be more consistent and precise in her decisions. Gisela said: “I can´t put into words how glad I was when Simon won the Irish National with Dark, who was bred in Germany and includes my Leslie in her pedigree”. She also mentions and thanks Glyn Jones, Bodfari, whose hospitality and advice she has enjoyed on several occasions. She has also learned from Alun and Glyn Jones in the Ceiriog Valley, and John Jones, Prion. We wish you and Razu the best of luck, Gisela. |
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