Graham Wellington and Rachel penning for fourth place at Mangamahu.
Graham Wellington and Rachel penning for fourth place at Mangamahu.
The annual Mataroa sheepdog trials took place at the weekend on the D Coogan estate and P&D Mickelson property just north of Taihape.
The sheep were supplied by Gavin Drake and Shane Collier and on the heads they were very difficult, particularly on Saturday afternoon when it was really hot.However, there were still some excellent runs, and high scoring on the hunts.
Rob Mather, from Foxton, with his intermediate dog Sonny Bill, notched up his sixth longhead win and his ninth win overall.
Geoff Glover (left) and Tallisman have come all the way from Mudgee in New South Wales.
Secretary Dan Kirby and his team put on a well-run event, and it was good to see a lot of young people pitching in to help out.
Entries were up on last year with 173 heads and 223 hunt runs.
The Young Guns were in action at Mataroa and Mark Farrell, James Alford and Phillip Palmer are all going well in the hunts, while Hamish Mead is in front in the heads.
James Alford and Mate were second in the zig-zag hunt and won the maiden.
Pete London (above) and Stomp ease three lambs into the hook at Mangamahu.
Today and tomorrow is the Parapara/Makirikiri club trial.
The Raetihi sheepdog trials took place at the end of February, along with Waverley's annual trial, and these were followed by the Mangamahu with some competitors managing to get to all three events.
Raetihi had a very successful trial with more than 400 runs put through the four courses. The sheep worked well on all courses, the sheep on the shorthead and zig-zag hunt, were off the actual farm and were excellent.
Aussie Geoff Glover, from Mudgee in New South Wales, has been travelling to several North Island hill trials with Wanganui Centre president Paul Evans.
Geoff, who has 150 acres (60ha) at Mudgee and is a fitter and turner by trade, has been dog trialling in Australia for 25 years.
It has been on his bucket list to come to New Zealand to try out our hills.
He said after only a short time here, his dog Tallisman was already starting to look up the hill for his sheep — pretty good when neither one of them has competed on hill country like ours.
Graham Wellington, from the Parapara/Makirikiri club, won the longhead at Raetihi with Rachel and was second with Murphy, and then won the shorthead at Mangamahu with Seamus and was fourth with Rachel.
Results
Mataroa:
Class1: 1, R Mather & Sonny Bill 96; 2, J Shrubsall & Whip 95.5; 3, W Clare & Trac 95; 4, P Evans & Bryte 94.5; 5, D Mullins & Jay 94.
