Held on 14th – 17th July 2022, at Esperence Clubs’s Pingelly ground.
Written by Nan Lloyd
Photos by Simon Wallace
This was the second trial for the year at Pingelly run by the Esperence club. This trial was run on a supreme course. Pingelly is a fairly central location and there was a good roll up of competitors.
The trial started at 12 pm Thursday, coinciding with some cold wet conditions which made life a little miserable. It fined up for Friday and Saturday, in fact becoming quite warm for a period in the afternoon. However the rain returned mid morning on Sunday and continued for the rest of the day, becoming bitterly cold as well.
The sheep for the novice were young Merinos. They were tricky to handle and caused some issues for most handlers. The same sheep were used for the improver event but they settled considerably on the second day, allowing competitors some more reasonable scores.
In the novice there were 52 entries with 14 scores and in the Improver 47 entries and 15 scores.
The open sheep were mixed aged Merino wethers, and they were some of the most difficult sheep many would have worked for a while. They could cover a lot of ground in a short space of time, often before the dog had a chance to get near them, sometimes splitting up as they went. They would not settle and were near impossible to keep on course. They were however, consistent for everyone, and certainly provided some entertainment and some challenges.
The gap was the most difficult obstacle, once they knew their way around it was then hard to persuade them to go through the middle. The pen also proved challenging, some people arriving there on a reasonable score only to run off many points trying to persuade the sheep to go in the pen and stay there.
From 77 runs in this event there were only 29 scores, which really tells the story. Despite the low scores it was a competitive enjoyable trial.
Encourage
Judged by Corey Rose
| 1 | D Beard | Boonining Digit (K) |
| =2 | C Neale | Amarillo Alfie |
| =2 | G Chenik | Pilbarra Daley (K) |
Novice
Judged by Tanya de Bijl
| 1 | D Lacey | Akoonah Roxie | 72 |
| 2 | J Cornish | Bellview Bailey | 58 |
| 3 | D Lacey | Akoonah Lilly | 43 |
| =4 | N Armstrong | Tumut Valley Roy (K) | 42 |
| =4 | P Doherty | Ramulam Sixpence (K) | 42 |
| =4 | N Kristiansen | Badgingarra Oscar | 42 |
| 7 | P Ostberg | Karridowns Zoftie | 39 |
| =8 | N Kristiansen | Bagingarra Sir Ben | 38 |
| =8 | T Boyle | Boylee Major | 38 |
| 10 | T Boyle | Boylee Whitie | 35 |
Improver
Judged by Carolyn Bell
| 1 | R Forsyth | Grassvalley Hazel | 88 |
| 2 | N Kristiansen | Bagingarra Sir Ben | 79 |
| 3 | R Forsyth | Barkervale Clark (K) | 74 |
| 4 | F Sutherland | Rocky Magpie | 73 |
| =5 | G Curtis | Binaburra Buzz (K) | 71 |
| =5 | N Lloyd | Binaburra Merlin (K) | 71 |
| =5 | S Leaning | Yarrabee Jack (K) | 71 |
| 8 | D Davies | Marionvale Bella | 65 |
| 9 | T Boyle | Boylee Cournel | 61 |
| 10 | P Gorman | Pendalup Lucy | 59 |
Open
Judged by Nan Lloyd
| 1 | S Leaning | Marionvale Di | 64 | 70 | 134 |
| 2 | K Atherton | Ramulam Fella (K) | 48 | 79 | 127 |
| 3 | G Cooke | Grassvalley Bluey | 59 | 64 | 123 |
| 4 | P Gorman | Coshie’s Dusty | 74 | 44 | 118 |
| 5 | T de Bijl | Ramulam Secret (K) | 62 | 38 | 100 |
| 6 | N Armstrong | Yarralonga Scope (K) | 46 | 52 | 98 |
| 7 | Steve Wallace | Gibsons Sweep | 69 | 28 | 97 |
| 8 | D Lacey | Akoonah Blondie | 65 | 28 | 93 |
| 9 | C Rose | Boylee Pick | 61 | 25 | 86 |
| 10 | G Curtis | Ramulam Scotty (K) | 64 | RTD | 64 |
| 11 | N Kristiansen | Princes Delta | 63 | X | 63 |
| 12 | I Solomon | Perangerry Trish | 58 | RTD | 58 |
