Albany Arena Trial 2010

So that’s it- last trial of the year. Phew.



We were hoping to be finished shearing, but showery weather, galloping gastro through the team and some other commitments meant we are still only half done. Then the rain that winter left behind straggled into town this week, and we had over an inch of solid soaking. Not great timing in general (although it might keep the wheat chugging along), but it did postpone shearing long enough for us to make the Albany trial.

Home away from home

 Doreen Hansen and Jandoree Molly (Boylee Sid x Boylee Elly)

So here we are- Albany Ag Show, a nice grassy little venue, in recent years host to some of the most feral sheep I’ve had the pleasure of working. Unfortunately they were quite a bit mellower this year, especially the Open sheep, who were some of last year’s ewes, but had actually been dogged down before the trial.

The Open sheep, in the v. spiffy letout yards, kindly loaned by Commander Ag-quip

I only had Bill and Fly to run this time- Queani stayed at home to change nappies and sing lullabies.
 I didn’t get a chance to work Fly at all since the last trial, so she still felt like someone else’s dog, and a generally out of control one at that. In contrast to Bill, Fly gets worse and worse as a trial goes on, so while I had a teeny bit influence on her in the Novice, where we penned for a 45, she just took over in the Improver and I ended up retiring to get her to stop. And her Open was a non-event when she came onto the sheep a bit too enthusiastically and they split, so she ended up crossing. That was a pity, because those older ewes were heavier and less inclined to run, which would have suited her much better than the usual.

Fly

Bill had a mixed trial. He was fairly hyped up in the Novice, had to come in and jazz them up and we spent a bit of time off course, ending up penning for a 68 which scraped us into the prize money with 4th. He did work better in the Improver to pen again for 76. I was worried about how he’d handle the Open sheep, because they were standing up a bit at times, but he actually did okay with them until the pen. I handled particularly badly, which made it harder for him and we had a fair loss of points, but the sheep were really keen on the obstacles (very, very strange). When we got to the pen they went in once, then one big ewe turned around and decided to leave. Bill tried asking nicely from a distance, but she was looking for a fight and I didn’t want him to feel beaten, so I asked him to get her, she blew out of the pen mouth and we were disqualified for gripping. Oh well.

On the bright side, it looks like the scabby patch that appeared on his eyebrow suddenly a few weeks ago and has been impersonating a scary growth is probably ringworm or similar. It’s going away with antifungals, which makes me happy, and R is able to call Bill ‘Fungus Face’ and I can’t argue with him, and that makes R happy.

Fungus Face

R had his young dogs entered here and there, and was happy with all of them. Esme had a nice run I think in the Improver, made an obstacle, but still too tight on her cast. Tom started nicely in both his runs, I think he got at least one obstacle before things went a bit screwy. Bonnie and Trim both had farm-dog crosses in the Novice, but Trim had another run in the Open and worked pretty well, getting her first pen. Tess also worked okay, and penned for a 72 which wasn’t too far out of the final.

R and Binnaburra Bonnie (Binnaburra Tuff x Binnaburra Tina)

Just Esme (Grassvalley Tippy x Boylee Ella) waiting her turn

and with R, on their way to the race

Torbay Trim (Boylee Fred x Torbay Tig) at the pen

Malcolm Seymour with Euroa Sue (Grassvalley Tod x Glenview Ruby) and Andrew Gorton with Just Martha (Grassvalley Tippy x Boylee Ella)

Novice

1)	Peter Gorman	Grassvalley Milo, collie	79	84	163
2)	Andrew Gorton	Just Martha, collie	70	X	70
3)	Jenny Nolan	Nolans Kade, collie	69	R	69
=4)	S. Weaver	Boylee Bill, collie	68
=4)	Ken Atherton	Ramulam Lad, kelpie	68

Grassvalley Milo (Grassvalley Moss x Pendalup Candy)

Peter Gorman and Grassvalley Milo at the pen

Just Martha (Grassvalley Tippy x Boylee Ella)

Ramulam Jude (Ramulam Gus x Olboa Merle)

Greg Dorrell in his Encourage run, assisted by Ken Atherton, with Ramulam Emma (Ramulam Gus x Olboa Merle)

Ramulam Smoko (Ramulam Gus x Olboa Merle)

Linthorpe Percy (Boylee Fred x Crowesdale Rose)

Improver

1)	Grant Cooke	Grassvalley Moss, collie	96	96	192
=2)	Tony Boyle	Boylee Mustard, collie	94	X	94
=2)	Peter Gorman	Glenmar Midge, collie	94	X	94
4)	Tony Boyle	Bellview Dale, collie	89
=5)	Gibb Macdonald	Boylee Poppy, collie	86
=5)	Gordon Curtis	Binnaburra Maggie, kelpie	86

Boylee Mustard (Boylee Pepper x Boylee Salt)

Glenmar Midge

Boylee Poppy (Dajara Woody x Boylee Sweetpea)

I think this might be Faraway Quinn? or Royal?

Mike Scott and Torbay Tig (imp UK)

Open

1)	Peter Gorman	El Shamah Ellie, collie	94	90	184
2)	Gordon Curtis	Binnaburra Tuff, kelpie	93	89	182
3)	Ken Atherton	Kiwi Knight, NZHD	82	86	168
=4)	Gordon Curtis	Binnaburra Jess, kelpie	79	78	157
=4)	Marianne Rogers	Bellview Obie (Bernie), collie	79	78	157
6)	Ivan Solomon	Perangery Jill, collie	93	57	150
7)	Jenny Atherton	Ramulam Don, collie	75	73	148
8)	Ivan Solomon	Perangery Sasha, collie	80	67	147
9)	Ken Atherton	Olboa Merle, NZHD/collie	77	69	146
10)	Phil Dorrell	Ramulam Patch, NZHD/collie	75	45	120
11)	Yvonne Haynes	Boylee Ceilydh, collie	84	X	84
12)	Peter Gorman	Glenmar Midge, collie	82	Ret	82
13)	Marianne Rogers	Faraway Royal, collie	76	DQ	76

Gordon Curtis and Binnaburra Jess (Binnaburra Tuff x Binnaburra Tina)

Bellview Obie ‘Bernie’ (Boylee Pepper x Christies Cocoacina)

Frank Sutherland and Rocky Roxy

Euroa Nell (Stoneyville Harry x Glenview Ruby)

Best work in Novice event by Novice worker: Karyn Buller with Kumbark Monty
Highest score by a Novice worker with a Novice dog in the Open event: Phil Dorrell with Ramulam Patch



Now what?

Shearing, selling more lambs, harvesting. Getting the house and garden sorted before I go back to work in January. Christmas, New Year, birthdays. Finishing the kennels, building a decent chicken coop and a proper orchard. Horses, horses, ponies. And somewhere in there, we might have time for training some dogs and the odd new pup…