Sheep well behaved at County trials

MAIDEN PROGRESS: Lyn Harvey and Chip won the maiden shorthead and yard title at the Hobson sheepdog trials last weekend. This photo of the pair was taken in the Mangonui trials at Aurere last month, Chip's first time on the longhead hill this season of which handler Harvey said, "I'm really pleased with his progress."

Well groomed sheep allowed some sterling runs to come to the fore at the Hobson County trials which were held last weekend in conjunction with the annual Northland sheepdog trial championships.

Before reviewing the results, local commentator Merv Cameron praised the hosting West family who went to some length - in spite of the recent drought stricken conditions - to ensure competitors were given great sheep to work.

"You would need to go far afield to find better sheep to work," he said, adding, "The Wests did all possible on the long head course which they have spent quite a lot of money on to make it suitable for the nationals. It certainly tested a lot of dogs in the runout and particularly on Saturday morning when a bit of rain came across, the sheep at the release point were hard to see many dogs failed to head in run after run."

Cameron admitted this was the point where he and fellow Far North triallist Leo Jecentho were among those who fell well short of the mark, while Owen Finlayson and Lady proved the standouts with an exceptional performance.

Moving on, and the work was very good on the nearby shorthead and yard course which saw the lambs just "trickling" down the hill. However, the dogs did not take advantage to get some grip or authority in many cases, so when they got to the yarding section where the first real contact is made, the lambs created problems by squirting off. The final of this event saw Murray Child's Dice and Ace again exceptional.

Also notable was property owner Grant West taking out a double in the hunt finals. Cameron described it as a fantastic result, just reward for the stirling effort his family had put into the Hobson club. "No doubt Grant will savour the winning pewter mugs he received and his deceased dad will be looking down and saying, 'Well done, son!"'

Noting there were 69 runs in the long head, 78 in the short head and 37 in each of the hunts held over the three days, Cameron doffed his hat to the West family on behalf of the organisers and also acknowledged all the sponsors, the small army of volunteers who worked behind the scenes, and the Hawkes Bay judges. Results from the Hobson County sheepdog trials, held in conjunction with the 2013 Bayleys Northland Sheep Dog Centre Championships, from April 5-7 were as follows.

Northland champs. Long head: O Finlayson and Lady 194.5 points, 1, I McKinnon and Tess 193.5, 2, M Child and Ace 193.4, 3, A Hargreaves with Steel 175, 4, P Campbell with Cash 174.5, 5. Shorthead and yard: M Child and Dice 195, M Child and Ace 191, D Gilligan and Tim 187.5, H Child and Tom 186, A Nisbet and Maggie 166.

Zig zag hunt: G West and Duke 190, R Dackers and Kate 189.5, N Child and Reign 189, S McRae and Otis 187, I McKinnon and Smoke 156. Straight hunt: G West and Duke 194, S McRae and Otis 189.5, M Child and Frank 182.25, G West and Code 179, N Child and Reign 146.

Hobson trials. Longhead (judged by Jeremy Berry) A Hargreaves and Steel 97, P Campbell and Cash 96.7, I McKinnon and Tess 96.5, H Ingles and Trump 96.4, M Child and Ace 96.3; intermediate: P Campbell and Cash 96.7, maiden: C Pearson and Jill 92. Shorthead and yard (Grant MacGee): Child and Dice 98.5, H Child and Tom 97.5, A Nisbet and Maggie 96.5, Child and Ace 95.5, D Gilligan and Tim 95; intermediate: Gilligan and Tim 95, maiden: L Harvey and Chip 87.5.

Zig zag hunt (Stu McNeil): S Child and Ra 96.5, S McRae and Otis 96, G West and Duke 95.5, R Dackers and Kate 95, S Child and Rhyme 94.75; intermediate: N Child and Reign 92, maiden: B Robinson and Rod 85.5. Straight hunt (not advised): West and Duke 97, M Child and Frank 96.75, K Robinson and Wake 96.5, Child and Reign 96, S McRae and Otis 95.5; intermediate: K Robinson and Wake 96.5, maiden: J Steadman and Oz 87.

Next trial on the Northland circuit is in Waiotehue Valley in Broadwood this Friday and Saturday.