SHEEP DOG TRIALS

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28436, 16 November 1957, Page 8

SHEEP DOG TRIALS

The finals of the sheep dog trials were held yesterday afternoon in the main judging ring, three contestants having come forward from the preliminaries held on Wednesday. The winner was a roughcoated border collie owned by Mr E. G. Milne, of Rakaia. The dog. Bruce, made an almost perfect run, losing only one point through missing a peg at the end of the long pull from the start. The judge, Mr A. Mathieson of Middlemarch, said that a determined sheep which faced the dog, persistently stamping its foot, could have caused trouble for a less capable dog and handler. However, Mr Milne’s handling of the situation was excellent and he showed a fine sheep sense. Mr T. E. Barwell’s Trim, a smooth-coated black and tan collie bitch, was second. It made a very definite run but allowed the sheep past the race, which cost the handler two points, said the ■judge. Third in the trial was Mr A. Curtis's Rose, a smoothcoated black and white collie bitch, which made a sweet run. The judge said that points were lost through the sheep scattering at the bridge because of overeagerness on the part of the handler. He had expected this because the sheep had been taken too fast from the pegs to the bridge approach.

There were 34 entries in the trial and 18 completed the course in the preliminaries. The three finalists all made good runs on Wednesday with Mr Curtis’s Rose qualifying with top points; Mr Barweirs Trim only a point behind: and Mr Milne’s Bruce, third qualifier. The quality and standard of the work were high throughout the preliminaries, and the judge considered that the performances were as good as any he had seen.