MEEKER | Tom Wilson is a Master Shepard who has been traveling the U.S. for decades to compete with his dogs in sheepdog trials. He found his way to Meeker for the first time to compete in the 1990 Meeker Classic Sheepdog Trials, and as he puts it still to this day, “I love coming to Meeker. I like the people, the countryside, the challenge of the trials. And the running of the Meeker trials is second to none.” That is what has kept this man coming back year after year and made him one of the cornerstone characters of the Meeker Classic.
Tom and his dog Bet won the 2023 Meeker Classic Sheepdog Trials. This was Tom’s third time winning in Meeker, and his dog Bet’s first time. Tom also won in 2006 and 2007 with his dog Sly. And according to Tom, “It does take some luck. The right run, the right shoot.” It obviously also takes a great dog and a strong bond, but that is something Tom has shared with dogs since his upbringing in Scotland.
Tom’s father and two brothers were also shepherds, and the work was something Tom saw as his past, present, and future, even when he was still in school. He competed in, and won his first trial when he was 21. Then eventually moved to the United States in the 1980s, and today he lives in West Virginia with his wife Florence still raising sheep and dogs.
Tom hopes to return to Meeker again for the 2024 trials, but also plans to compete in the other trials he frequents in Colorado, Virginia, and Kentucky.
The Meeker Classic will be held at Ute Park Sept. 4-8, 2024, and the board has been hard at work preparing for the event. Thus far 330 dogs have entered to compete, only 135 of these will be asked to participate. For more information on the trials and to read more about Tom please visit meekersheepdog.com.
By ADRIENNE WIX
