East Coast’s Leo and Sky third at North Island sheep dog trial champs

Leo Edginton and his dog Sky placed third in the straight hunt at last week's North Island dog trial titles. He is pictured with another of his dogs, Roxy, after being named in the New Zealand team to take on Australia last year. Photo / Rebecca Williams

Mangaheia’s Leo Edginton and his dog Sky were the only team from Gisborne to make the podium at the Pro Plan North Island sheep dog trial championships near Taihape.

The competition finished on Friday.

Tolaga Bay triallist Edginton finished third in the final of event four – the straight hunt.

He and Sky had a qualifying score of 97.5 points, followed by 93.5 in the run-off for an aggregate of 191.

The same combination finished fifth in event 3 – the zig-zag hunt – with 91.5 and 85.5 for an aggregate of 177.

Other Poverty Bay centre triallists featured on various leaderboards during the week, but only Edginton made the finals.

Attention now switches to the Pro Plan South Island and New Zealand championships on Lochiel Station near Hanmer Springs, starting on May 25.

The Poverty Bay Sheep Dog Trial Association will be well represented and competitors will be looking to improve on their North Island efforts.