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Headstrong romney ewe lambs kept competitors on their toes at the Canterbury sheepdog trial championships at South Canterbury’s Waihi Gorge Station.
Handling the challenging sheep better than others were eventual winners Marlborough’s Eion Herbert and his eye dog, Charlie. They captured the provincial long head title with a combined tally after two runs of 175.5 points in the run-off.
Banks Peninsula’s Ben Manson finished first and second in the short head and yard run-off, winning with Rob on 172 points and runner-up with Billy on 169 points.
Fairlie’s Steve Kerr and Rich distanced themselves from the field with a healthy nine-point gap in the zig zag hunt after amassing a total of 188 points, while St Andrews’ Tom Bell and Brew claimed the straight hunt on 190.25 points.
The winners had to contend with another distraction at the picturesque venue of Waihi Gorge on the course that was the scene of the national championships in 2014.
Fine weather cut short the scheduled three-day event hosted by the Geraldine Collie Dog Club (GCDC) to two days.
GCDC secretary Tim Sowden said the balmy weather couldn’t have been better for a large turnout of about 100 dog trialists, with only a few scratchings among entries.
"The sheep were a bit challenging and a bit slippery at times on some of the courses. But they came right at certain periods and the cream does sort of rise to the top. The general comment was they were challenging enough, but again it’s dog trialling and you can’t expect everything to roll out in front of you."
He said it was good to see a younger brigade coming through the grades and competing with older hands.
"We had a local lad from Orari Gorge Station, Cam Russell, and he made the run-off for the long head. He’s a young shepherd in his 20s and he made the top five, so that was a real good effort."
The top five finalists in the run-offs for each class automatically qualify for the South Island championships.
Among those with whistles in hand were veterans Graeme Loe and Paul Cottrell, who are both in their late 80s.
Mr Sowden, who is the farm manager at Waihi Gorge Station, said many volunteers and sponsors made the event happen.
He said special mention should go to students in agri-classes from Geraldine and Timaru Boys’ High Schools for selecting and getting the sheep to their starting point.
Canterbury Sheepdog Trial Association president Steve Blanchard said there was strong interest in dog trialling from families and supporters, with good crowds in inter-club events.
"The standard of dog trialling is very strong here. We have a lot of young competitors and young female competitors and they are certainly keeping the older people honest.
"It’s going from strength to strength across the whole length of Canterbury and that’s shown in the size of entries in this competition."
Final placegetters:
Long head: 1st Eion Herbert and Charlie (Marlborough), first run points 91.5, second run 84, total 175.5, 2nd Stuart Millar Laddie, 96, 76, 172, 3rd Cam Russell Tom, 91, 69, 160, 4th Andy Clark Millie, 90.5, 54, 144.5, 5th Mike Brown Meg, 93, 50, 143.
1st Ben Manson Rob, 95, 77, 172, 2nd Ben Manson Billy, 94.5, 74.5, 169, 3rd Johnny Templeton Frank, 93.5, 72.5, 166, 4th George Adams Bill, 92.5, 61, 153.50, 5th Scotty Hunter Lucy (North Otago), 96, 22, 118.
Zig zag hunt: 1st Steve Kerr Rich, 95, 93, 188, 2nd Ben Butterick Gus, 94, 85, 179, 3rd Dan Broughton Louie, 92.5, 80, 172.5, 4th Robin Quigley Mark (North Otago), 92, 66, 158, 5th Grant Plaisted Coke, 93, 63, 156.
Straight hunt: 1st Tom Bell Brew, 96.75, 93.5, 190.25, 2nd Ben Butterick Frank, 99.5, 89, 188.5, 3rd Ben Butterick Gus, 97.25, 86, 183.25, 4th Steve Blanchard Meg, 95.75, 83, 178.75, 5th Zadye Blair Albert, 97, 60, 157.
The Canterbury championships were run alongside the Geraldine club’s home trial.
