SHEEP DOG TRAILS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 76, Issue 109, 11 May 1933, Page 11

SHEEP DOG TRAILS

THE paparangi club SECOND DAY’S RESULTS The Paparangi Sheep Dog Clubis annual trials were continued m tae weather yesterday. Visrtors from a over the North Island were present, thus reflecting credit on the ofliual of the club. The committee is few in number, but each member is a worker, and thus it is that the club is able to stage an annual event which attract; entries from such a wide field. Th catering was successfully earned out by the ladies of the club. The judge, Mr. F. King (Awakina) stated that a high standard had been reached in all events. Weather conditions on the opening day proved troublesome to both sheep and dogs, but the ideal weather yesterday saw a very high, standard of work set, ninety per cent, of the dogs yarding their sheep. This was a very fine percentage. . Points in the sheep dog trials arc awarded as follows; Heading, pull, drive, hurdles, work at yard, yarding and command, each section having its own point value. Heading events are run first and in these events the dogs are required to go from their master’s foot on the flat, away up the steep hillside to head sheep that are liberated near the top. The sheep are brought to where the master is standing in the ring, and are driven round the ring, once each way, while the dog keeps them from getting out. In the yarding event the competitor stands near the foot of the hill. The dog heads and pulls to the master as in the first event. Then man and dog drive the sheep about fifty yards, when the sheep are run through hurdles nine feet apart. They are driven another fifty yards to the pen, six feet square, and the dog’s task is then the difficult one of yarding, which completes the event. This is perhaps the most spectacular event of the trials, and yesterday some very clever w'ork was witnessed. The concluding event is the huntaway. The Paparangi course is in the forefront of course as a test to show up the solid type of huntaway, being very steep, the sheep having to be hunted from the bottom of the hill up over the top. This class of dog is the opposite in many respects to the dogs engaged in the heading class, in that they are bred to force sheep away from their master in much the same way as the heading dog brings them to the master, with the addition of < using plenty of neise. Originally, this y strain of dog was brought from the Old Country, some as far back as eighty years or more, and are being imported to the present day. Very few strains in Britain possess noise, but under the New Zealand conditions of big stations and big mobs of sheep and cattle, the New Zealand shepherds have, by the selection of intelligent dogs that can be taught to bark, evolved what is now known as the huntaway and handy dog. The huntaway comprises part of the shepherd’s team. Th-? long head medal for the Wanganui district competitors was won by Mr. M. M. Scott, and the short head medal was won by Mr. K. Guthrie. The short head and yard resulted as follows: F. Smith (Awakina), Highland King, 57 points 1 R. Guthrie (Kai Iwi), Queen, 55 points .. - M. M. Scott (Waverley). Bob, 54| points 3 T. Reilly (Elthsm). Nigger, 54 points 4 T. Allcock (Kai Iwi). Ben. 53 points 5 Next year’s trials will be held at FTavcrley.