Woolorama 2011

Wagin: the Land of the Giant Sheep!

Well, not this year. The heavy, stroppy old ewes and wethers we all anticipate with fear and loathing were gone this year, replaced by some of the teeniest sheep I've ever worked in a trial. Many of them were smaller than the dogs working them, some I could have picked up with one hand, and all of them were little dynamos, pinging off the pressure of dogs and handlers left, right and centre- on more than one occasion, right through the middle of the tiny gap between let-out gate and fence. Rather than leaning on the dogs, they needed plenty of room and a gentle touch. To their credit, they were remarkably fit and forgiving of dogs that stirred them up, and they lacked the suspicious natures of the usual Wagin sheep, so they were quite happy to trot through and over obstacles without much persuasion.



We had a bit of a "blah" weekend. The kids were coming down with a cold, R had been flat out all week, I'd come straight from a busy couple of days at work and frankly we were both feeling pretty apathetic about the whole trial experience. As I stood at the post for my first run, with Bill, I honestly could not remember what I was there for, and had a brief moment of panic about what I would do if Bill got the sheep into the D. As it turned out, I ran fine on autopilot, and Bill got us to the bridge for a 55, which sounds utterly pathetic but was enough to get us 4th in the Novice. He did better for a 65 in the Improver, and was working well in the Open when his patience was over-tried by one obnoxious sheep and he had a whisper in its ear, so I retired before things got ugly.

I ran Fly in both Improver and Novice, which shows how little I was thinking about the whole event. I'd actually anticipated that the usual heavy Wagin sheep would suit her as they did last year, but surprisingly she handled these little runny sheep much better than anyone expected. She was still putting far too much pressure on, and overworking generally, but she seemed to be thinking and trying to work with me, which is an improvement, and we got most of the way around the course in the Improver before I messed up after the bridge and decided to retire. She has reverted to sticking on her cast though, so we'll have to go back to sorting that out.

Queani was on pretty good form again- we drew runs in the middle of the day for both Improver and Open, when the temperatures were hottest, the ground was dustiest, with gusts of wind and willy-willies battering judge and spectators alike, and the sheep were the most difficult. She penned twice, according to my program, but in all honesty I can't remember the details, except that she put the sheep over the bridge twice in the Improver. I was happy with her anyway.

Torbay Trim (Boylee Fred x Tig imp UK)

R's young dogs did okay- Trim was working unusually tight and was a bit fired up, Bonnie was a bit too casual, and Tom worked well but had a bit of bad luck and copped some tricky sheep, as did Tess in the Open.

Pendalup Tess (Braiston Don x El Shamah Ellie)

There was a bit of a treat for the triallers this year, courtesy of the Woolorama organisers and some sponsors, Midalia Steel. The Woolorama crew had built us a brand spanking new brick shed, with purpose-built office area and even a real loo! And Midalia had provided the gear to install shiny new sheepyards at the let-out, designed with trials in mind, including possibly a future yard/utility event.

Spiffy new office

Rocky Judy (Ramulam Gus x Rocky Bear) plugging the sponsors

One of the highlights of the trial was some new trialling youngsters making very impressive entrances into their careers: Ivan Solomon's Mac (Nolan's Jim x Perangery Jill) winning the Novice with Somerville Tully close behind, Neil Eastough's Grassvalley Tinky, who penned for 67 after a very professional run, and of course Tinky's full sister, Peter Gorman's Grassvalley Floss, reportedly only 7 or 8 months old, who ran a brilliant 86 to make the Open final and then nearly chucked it all away with some youthful exuberance as the pen gate shut. It's good to see that pups are pups, no matter how talented and expertly trained and handled.

Mac's Mabel (Boylee Fred x Daheim Queani), with hood ornament

Mac's Kevin (Boylee Fred x Daheim Queani): "No flies on me!"

Two young sons of R's Badgingarra Jake- massive pups!

My biggest thrill and disappointment for the event was the dog highjump. We'd left our best jumping dog (Spanky Angy) at home with a wounded ear, so we weren't really into it this year, but I've always find it hard to enthuse about the high jump when every year it is won by the same dog, a local kelpie who seems to be a professional high jumper, making appearances at all the local shows to carry off the prizes. Not this year! Nope, this year the famous Sam B turned up as usual to collect his booty, but he hadn't reckoned with the soon-to-be-famous Patch Dorrell (aka Ramulam Patch- Kiwi Knight x Perangery DJ), from far-off Gairdner, who took a moment in between his runs to casually leap a record-breaking 2.something metres up and over a vertical wall. I was thrilled to see a trial dog win it, and disappointed that I missed it (I was so sure Sam B would coast in again that we went sightseeing instead of spectating).

The final highlight of the trial was the very tight Open final, where a number of high scores and variable sheep meant that it was anyone's game. Watching the top triallers in the state try to control their nerves and their dogs to hold on for the best score possible was a real thrill, and as it came down to the last few runs, no-one was sure if Ivan Solomon and Beck's early run could be beaten. But Grant Cooke and Candy, who is not always an easy dog, kept her head and managed to nail it.

The grail

Eventual victors, Grant Cooke and Pendalup Candy (Braiston Don x El Shamah Ellie)

One of Candy's pups, Grassvalley Jet (G. Moss x P. Candy)

Novice

1)	Ivan Solomon	Perangery Mac	collie	80
2)	Ivan Solomon	Somerville Floss	collie	74
3)	Marianne Rogers	Christies Cocoacina	collie	59
4)	Sam Weaver	Boylee Bill	collie	55

Trim's sister, Torbay Badger

Jim McNabb's Cobber

Swagman Frankie

Ramulam Maddie

Improver

1)	Tony Boyle	Boylee Mustard	collie	94
2)	Peter Gorman	Grassvalley Milo	collie	89
3)	Ray Sutherland	Swagman Cyndy	collie	85
4)	Tony Boyle	Bellview Dale	collie	84

Boylee Mustard (B. Pepper x B. Salt)- a new perspective at the bridge

Ramulam Ripper (R. Jacko x R. Malley)

Open

1)	Grant Cooke	Pendalup Candy	collie	90	97	= 187
2)	Ivan Solomon	Perangery Beck	collie	88	95	= 183
3)	Ken Atherton	Ramulam Gus	collie	90	88	= 178
4)	Gordon Curtis	Nolans Minnie	collie	85	91	= 176
5)	Ray Sutherland	Swagman Cyndy	collie	88	74	= 162
6)	Wayne Hall	Hudsons Tasha	collie	86	74	= 160
7)	Peter Gorman	Grassvalley Floss	collie	86	70	= 156
8)	Judy Jones	Bellview Teddy	collie	88	64	= 152
9)	Tony Boyle	Boylee Mustard	collie	91	56	= 147
10)	Peter Gorman	El Shamah Ellie	collie	90	47	= 137
=11)	Grant Cooke	Grassvalley Moss	collie	91	X	= 91
=11)	Wayne Hall	Boylee Wal	collie	91	R	= 91

Pendalup Candy

Perangery Beck

Grassvalley Floss (G. Moss x Pendalup Candy)- probably the youngest dog on the ground- 8 months-ish?

Christies Duke- probably the oldest dog on the ground- at least 12 or 13, I'm sure

Faraway Royal (Nolans Roy x Glenview Laydee)

Mac's Finbar (Boylee Fred x Fly imp UK)- maybe next year, Finn?

Remember wee Janie (Bellview Teddy x Glenview Ruth)? She's raring to go!