Trophy ruined in fire replaced at dog trials awards

Dog trailist Laurie Horsfall was given a trophy to replace ones lost in a house fire recently. Photo / Warren Buckland

It was an emotional weekend for sheep dog trialling champion and Hawke's Bay chicken farmer Laurie Horsfall as he and wife Shirley continued the recovery from a fire which destroyed their home three weeks ago.

At the Hawke's Bay Sheep Dog Trial Centre's annual awards night, Horsfall was presented with a silver tray to commemorate the North Island championships short head and yard title he won at Te Aute on May 11.

The original prize was one of about 30 trophies ruined in the June 6 fire along with a household of property including several tapestries done by Shirley Horsfall and a century-old silver tea set handed down from her grandmother.

But a flashback to the fire cost him a chance of winning another trophy when he and star dog Raid were competing in the first round of the Tux Handy Dog trial on Saturday at Ohingaiti, south of Taihape.

Donning the recently dry-cleaned Hawke's Bay centre blazer that was one of the few items salvaged from the debris after the late-morning fire, he was going well with Raid when disaster struck.

"I got a whiff of a bit of smoke...and I just lost it," he said.

"I told Shirley, just chuck the jacket back in with the rest," he said. "It's no good, you can't get rid of the smell."

But he's hopeful Raid will have more where the recent championship win came from, and dog and master will be running again at the Hawera Handy Dog event early next month.

"I've done nothing with him for a couple of weeks, I've just been too preoccupied," Horsfall said. "But he is going exceptionally well so I'll have another go in a couple of weeks."

The presentation on Friday night came as a "complete surprise" for the couple, who hope to be back in a new home by the end of the year, on their property off Mangaroa Rd, near Hawke's Bay Prison.

"They are talking five-to-six months," Horsfall said.

But, with building homes an era-removed from that when the burnt house was built more than 40 years ago and a new range of reports needed before building can go ahead he wonders. "A lot could depend on the council," he said.