There are few names as well-known as ‘Cropper ‘ in the sheepdog trialling world. One of the rising stars, and some predict will be the best Cropper yet, is 18-year-old Chloe. Chloe attends a community sports college in Lancashire. Although she doesn’t like school, Chloe enjoys physical education and mathematics the most. The school’s dictum is ‘Further. Faster. Higher. Achieving Success Together.’ It seems apt for Chloe to attend such a school since her family lives by the belief that although they compete as individuals, if any family member wins, it’s a win for the whole family.
Chloe lives with her mother, father and sister on a small holding in Dean on the Water and Bacup border. None of her immediate family members are actively involved in sheepdog trialling, other than supporting her in her endeavours. Chloe’s extended family, however, eats, sleeps and breathes sheepdogs, and Chloe follows closely in their footsteps.
Chloe was 12 when she visited Uncle Jim and Aunty Shirley’s farm (Jim and Shirley Cropper) and realised she wanted to work with dogs, particularly border collies. She would spend weekends and school holidays at their farm, watching and learning. She ran her first trial when she was 14 years old. Her first dog was Rap. Rap was given to Chloe as a gift from her Uncle Jim and Aunty Shirley. He was bred by John Harvey and is out of John’s Nell and sired by A. Gilchrist’s Mac. Chloe still owns Rap and uses him to do most of the work at home. She admits Rap is still her favourite dog for while he was not an easy dog to work, she learnt so much from him.
Naturally, Uncle Jim has influenced Chloe tremendously. She reveals that “Uncle Jim has taught me a lot about how to train and run different dogs in different ways. He has taught me to run my dogs quietly and calmly, and not flicking the dog around.” Things that Uncle Jim likes to tell Chloe are: “Running a dog is like driving a car” and “If you had a barrow full of muck you would go the shortest way, not the longest.”
Chloe will be running Ned, a 3 year old dog off F Cleary's Dan (ISDS 266797) and J S Harvey's Nell (ISDS 255408).
The best advice she has been given for the World Trial is “not to let pressure get to me and run my dog as if I was at home with no one watching me. “ In the minutes before she walks to the post Chloe admits she does get nervous, but once she is there the nervousness disappears and she can concentrate on her run.