A man named Bruce and a dog named Sue

Bob Bruce, Susan and the rest of the team at the trials in 2021. Photo / Supplied

Central Hawke’s Bay sheepdog triallist Bob Bruce can’t find any natural explanation, but somehow he and his dogs just keep on winning.

With his latest kennel star Susan, he won the North Island Tux Yarding title in Taupo at the weekend, just a week after the partnership won the Hawke’s Bay Sheep Dog Trial Championships long head title, as the Petane club opened the 2022-23 season at Ahuriri Station.

Bruce has now won 12 Hawke’s Bay championships long head titles and four in the short head and yard, with a now remarkable string of titles at four championships in a row.

There have also been a New Zealand championships title and a string of other national and island titles in a career stretching back to the 1970s, when his dad started taking him to the trials, despite himself not being a triallist.

“He must have seen something in me,” said Bruce, who was soon trialling a huntaway called Wag, but also following a more traditional path of rugby from Argyll School to playing for Central Hawke’s Bay in the Ross Shield Hawke’s Bay primary schools tournament, and off to Napier Boys’ High School and its first XV.

Hawke’s Bay Sheep Dog Trial Association chairman Rocky Hawkins, who won at the championships for a third year in a row, says Bruce is just “the consummate triallist” with his working relationship with the dogs almost beyond compare.

“He just always has the dogs going for him,” said Hawkins, who this year featured in a unique heading-dog double with Bruce.

It was the second year in a row that Bruce had won the long head with Susan and Hawkins had won the short head and yard with Jean.

Bruce thinks it could be something to do with the five dogs that have shared his Hawke’s Bay championships.

Susan is the daughter of Skip, who won Hawke’s Bay titles, while Cheat, who won the New Zealand championships long head title at Whangara in 2017, is the son of Trump, who won the North Island long head title at Ohaewai in 2012.

“Tom,” he says, “was the outsider.”

Whatever, Bruce needed all of it to claim the Hawke’s Bay title on December 11, having just scraped into the top five for the runoff, which did not include partnerships which dominated the club trial that serves as the preliminary round.

The three-day trials at Ahuriri Station were a consummate celebration of champions, with well-known names sharing the eight titles.

They included Wairarapa SHB Centre veteran Bernard Arends taking both Petane club heading titles with Parker, with which he won the South Island long head title in Central Otago last year, and Poverty Bay triallist Colin Baylis, who won the Petane straight hunt with Tahi.

The only Hawke’s Bay centre Petane events winner was Raupunga triallist Tom Manson in the zig zag hunt with Buck, the pair going on to win the Hawke’s Bay runoff as well, a pair they added to their hunts double at the North Island championships neat Taumarunui last year.

The Hawke’s Bay straight hunt title was won by Dan Jury with Chrystal.

While the next Hawke’s Bay centre club trial is not until Waikoau at the end of January, it’s a busy time, particularly for Bruce who, after the Tux yarding win at Taupo, represents the North Island in a national final on January 14-16.

Results from the Hawke’s Bay Sheep Dog Championships and Petane SDT Club trials at Ahuriri Station on Friday- Sunday, December 9-11, 2022:

Petane trials

Long head: Bernard Arends, Parker, 98.5pts, 1; Lindsay Schmidt, Jed, 96.5pts, 2; Grant Magee, 96pts, 3; Scott Wedd, Steel, 95.95pts, 4; Nigel Sinton, Sticky, 95pts, 5. Intermediate – Scott Wedd, Steel. Maiden – Tod Hunter, Bo

Short head and yard: Bernard Arends, Parker, 95.75pts, 1; Graham Ryder, Jacko, 95.5pts, 2; Rocky Hawkins, Jean, 95.25pts, 3; Laurence Rau, Dixie, 95pts, 4; Howard Inglis, Clyde, 94.5pts, 5. Intermediate – Howard Inglis, Clyde. Maiden – Colin Baylis, Spice.

Zig zag hunt: Tom Manson, Buck, 98.5pts, 1; George Shield, Molly, 98.25pts, 2; David Scragg, Jane, 98pts, 3; Colin Baylis, Ammo, 97.5pts, 4; David Scragg, Kate, 97.25pts, 5. Intermediate and Maiden – David Scragg, Jane.

Straight hunt: Colin Bayliss, Tahi, 98pts, 1; Ned George, Kruger, 97.75pts, 2; Tom Manson, Buck, 97.5pts, 3; Dan Jury, Chrystal, 97.25pts, 4; Colin Baylis, Ammo, 97pts, 5. Intermediate – Colin Bayliss, Ammo. Maiden – Shaun Littleworth, Ralph.

Hawke’s Bay championships:

Long head: Bob Bruce, Susan (93.5, 96) 189.5pts, 1; Grant Magee, Prince, (96, 86.5) 182.5pts, 2; Scott Wedd, Steel (95.75, 85), 180.75pts, 3; Bruce D’Ath, Honey, (94, 81) 175pts, 4; Jono Neilson, Boris, (94.5, 79.5) 174pts, 5.

Short head and yard: Rocky Hawkins, Jean, (95.25, 96) 191.25pts, 1; Graham Ryder, Jacko, (95.5, 90) 185.5pts, 2; Howard Inglis, Clyde, (94.5, 90.75) 185.25pts, 3; Peter Williams, Ike, (94.25, 90.5) 184.74pts, 4; Grant Magee, Prince, (93.25, 85) 178.25pts, 5.

Zig zag hunt: Tom Manson, Buck, (98.5, 95) 193.5pts, 1; Bex Scragg, Tom, (95, 95.75) 192.75pts, 2; David Scragg, Jane, (98, 94.5) 192.5pts, 3; David Scragg, Kate, (97.25, 94.5) 191.75pts, 4; Mark Loye, Stone, (96.75, 94) 190.75pts, 5.

Straight hunt: Dan Jury, Chrystal, (97.25, 97.5) 194.75pts, 1; Tom Manson, Buck, (97.5, 97) 194.5pts, 2; Stu McNeill, Stock, (96.5, 96) 192.5pts, 3; Ned George, Kruger, (97.75, 94) 191.75pts, 4; James Hemopo, Abbo, 96.25, 94.5) 19075pts, 5.