Wagin Arena Sep

Wagin Arena 19-21st of September

Wagin had a new trial this year, run by Central Districts Sheepdog Club. Centrals run their annual trial in conjunction with the Wagin Woolerama in March but this trial was run in conjunction with the Wagin Gymkhanarana.

The Gymkhanarana is a fairly new event which also featured a dog and handler obstacle race as well as many horse events.

WA had experienced some warmer than usual temperatures of late, but for this trial the temperatures plummeted to below average. Wednesday before the trial it was wet cold and miserable. On the first day of trialling, although the rain had cleared, the max temperature hovered around 10 degrees. The next two nights saw some chilling frosts followed by slightly warmer days, but all in all it was quite good trialling weather thankfully, as the sheep were not easy.

They were 18 month old merinos with about 2 months wool on them, and they were very hard to settle. They could run very fast and did so regularly. They would also split and due to this there were many crosses as they ran around behind the dogs before the dog could decide what to do. Getting past the winding pegs was difficult, as they made every effort to get back to their mates behind the fence. Many battles ensured here, some winners and many losers. The kelpies handled them better, with two wins, two seconds and a third.

The open final was an exciting affair, and came right down to the wire. There was a tie after the first round with the third dog only a point behind. Peter Gorman eventually taking out the event on the last run of the day.

Thanks to Wagin Grainfeeds, Midalia Steel and Chris English for their sponsorship of this event.

In the Novice there were 39 runs with 12 scores, the improver saw 36 runs and 13 scores and the open had 60 runs with 29 scores

Results

Novice judged by Rick Janitz.

1st. Nan Lloyd. Kumbark Ace. 87 Kelpie.

2nd. Peter Gorman. Pendalup Cloudy 85.

3rd. Neil Kristianson. Princes Delta. 84.

=4th. Tony Boyle. Boylee Major. 72.

=4th. Jenny Nolan. Grassvallay Scout. 72

6th. Jenny Nolan. Nolans Soul. 70.

7th. Neil Kristianson. Pendalup Sambo. 67

8th. Marianne Rogers. Marionvale Aykera. 64.