Wagin Three Sheep. March 7th, 8th 9th.   

Wagin trials are run on a small ground in conjunction with the Wagin Woolerama, a huge sheep and machinery show. Wagin as a farily small town about 2 1/2 hrs south of Perth.

Wagin is known for its hot weather and  fairly difficult sheep, perhaps made more so by the showground distractions and size of the ground. The weather this year was better than usual, reaching a top of about 32 on the Friday instead of the usual 40 odd degrees.

The sheep however were not easy. They were mixed age Merinos ewes with some wethers thrown in for good measure.

However at odd times over the three days they settled nicely for reasons known only to themselves and those fortunate to have runs during this time fared much better with their scores. Most of the open finalist came from a ‘settled sheep’ period, but in the open final when the sheep were once again very tricky, these dogs struggled to hold their sheep. In fact of the 13 open finalists only 5 managed a second score. 

Also in the novice event during a ‘difficult sheep’ time  the last 22 dogs did not score a point and in the Improver during a ‘settled sheep’ time, half of the top ten were in the last 12 runs.

Due once again to large entries, there was a 40 point ringoff and only novice dogs that got a score where permitted a run in the open.

For the novice there were 11 scoring runs from 61 entries, in the improver 19 scores from 50 runs and in  the open there were 26 scores from 57 runs. 

The hightlight of the weekend was the fabulous meal provided by the Central Districs club on Friday night and followed by some entertainment in the form of demo trialling under lights. All done in fun, with Jenny Nolan managing to put her sheep over the bridge from the casting peg but then failed to pen them in the time allowed. Frank Sutherland was judging but was heavily bribed by the offer of delicious pavlova. Wayne Hall showed how fast he could run by heading the sheep almost before his dog did.

All in all a great evening.

Results. 

Novice judged by Jenny Whitelock.

1st. Tony Boyle. Boylee Sugar. 89

2nd. Dave Lacey. Akoonah Henry. 87.

3rd. Phill Dorrell. Ramulam Patch. 86

4th Jane Dorrell. Rocky Dusty. 79

5th. Frank Sutherland. Rocky Judy. 76

6th.Jenny Nolan. Nolans Phebe. 65.

7th. Karen Buller. Badgingarra Barney. 57 (Kelpie).

8th. Rick Janitz. Badgingarra Izzy. 56

=9th. Frank Sutherland. Rocky Nikki. 54.

=9th. Colin Cosh. Tippers Sting. 54.

Improver Judged by Jenny Nolan.

In this event there was a tie for first but the winner was decided by their open score.

1st. Frank Sutherland. Rocky Judy. 86.

2nd. Jenny Whitelock. Jandoree Kinta. 86.

3rd. Rick Janitz. Jandoree Dot Com. 84.

4th. Jenny Whitelock. Boylee Sugar. 82

5th. Gordon Curtis. Binnaburra Johnny. 75. (Kelpie)

=6th. Sam Weaver. Boylee Bill. 74.

=6th. Tony Boyle. Boylee Stephanie. 74

8th. Neil Eastough. Grassvalley Tinky. 73

9th. Rick Janitz. Badgingarra Izzy. 70

=10th. Greg Dorrell. Ramulam Emma. 67.

=10th. Karen Buller. Kumbark Monty. 67

Open judged by Gordon Curtis.

1st. Ivan Solomon. Perengary Jill. 90+83=173

2nd. Ray Sutherland. Swagman Cyndy. 85+81=166.

3rd. Peter Gorman. Grassvalley Milo. 70+66=136.

4th. Ivan Solomon. Somerville Tully. 73+42=115.

5th. Malcolm Seymour. Euroa Nell. 79+15=94.

6th. Peter Gorman. Grassvalley Floss. 91+X=91.

7th. Peter Gorman. Princes Sally. 89+X=89.

8th. Ivan Solomon. Perengary Sasha. 85+Rtd=85.

9th. Wayne Hall. Avalon Sox. 84+X=84.

10th. Jenny Nolan. Faraway Quinn. 77+LS=77.

11th. Peter Gorman Badgingarra Nell. 73+X=73.

12th. Andrew Gorton. Just Sam. 71+Rtd.=71. (KelpieXCollie)

13th. Frank Sutherland. Jamiesons Sleet. 70+X=70.

Jane Dorrell's Rocky Dusty.

Malcolm Seymour's Olboa Jess.

Frank Sutherland's Jamieson's Sleet.

Jenny Nolan and Nolan's Eddie waiting for their run.

Nan Lloyd's Just Otto, first time on the trial ground. (Thanks Sam Weaver for this photo)

Peter Gorman's Grassvalley Polar, with her foot in the wrong place.

Roland Pollette and Matilda waiting for their turn.

Malcom Seymour's Euroa Nell.

Two ladies awaiting their turn, Germaine Seymour and Euroa Zoe, and Marianne Rogers and Belview Obie.

Neil Eastough's Grassvalley Tinky.

Jenny Nolan's Ryans Mallee.

Richard Mcguire wasn't happy with the trial sheep so he bought his own. Here he is giving her instructions, and below, sneaking her onto the ground.

Photos and article by Nan Lloyd