WOMEN SHEPHERDS AND JUDGES ROUND UP SHEEP DOG TRIALS

The oilskins were out and the sheep looked like drowned rats, but nothing could have held farmers back from a chance to work with their closest mates up in the hills.

Whistles, barks and banter filled the air at the Nelson Lakes Sheep Dog Trial Club’s annual competition on Saturday near St Arnaud.

While most in the drenched region were opting to stay indoors, the club’s president, Ken White said the only thing that could stop the event going ahead was fog.

“We enjoy the camaraderie … the weather doesn’t come into it.”

Adding to the day, White said for the first time in the club’s 18-year history, and in what he believed was a world first, the panel of four judges were all women.

White said things had changed since he started out in the male dominated industry many years ago.

“They’ve realised that the ladies are gentle with stock, and they’re more patient, it’s that mothering instinct women have got.”

As well as the women judges, four women shepherds joined the trials with their keen and loyal four-legged friends.

One of the biggest winners of the day was Otago shepherd Kelly Tweed, from the Waitahuna Dog Trial Club, who won event 3 and 4 with her dog Oak, and also placed third in the same events with another dog, Quake. Tweed’s sister, Stephanie was the first woman to win a New Zealand dog trial championship in 2019.

White said Tweed “really stuck it to the boys”.

As you would expect the dogs were well-behaved before the competition, with wagging tails indicating they were eager to go through their paces.

Some sat in kennels on the back of utes, others were glued to their owners as they walked around Speargrass Farm, with its majestic alpine backdrop.

When it got down to business the huntaways and heading dogs locked eyes with a small group of Romney sheep as they herded them around the steeply sloping course, vying for the most points to get their shepherd to the New Zealand Sheepdog Championships.

In each event, including zig zag hunt, short head, long head and straight hunt, the shepherd starts with 100 points and gets a penalty for every fault. Short head event judge from Hawkes Bay, Sheena Martin said when judging, she was looking for a dog “on a mission” but with smooth movements “trying not to upset the sheep too much”.

“It’s meant to be pretty much all about straight lines – trying to bring your sheep as straight as you can down the flat.”

Points could be lost by the dog stopping on the way out, sheep going in the wrong direction, or going too far out from obstacles, she said.

But it wasn’t all just for show.

She said a farmer’s dog was “majorly” important and the job couldn’t be done properly without one.

“They’re the tool of our trade.”

A competitor and semi-retired Cheviot farmer, Ian Stevenson, was with his 7-year-old huntaway​, RV.

He said while RV “had his moments”, he had qualified for New Zealand championships in the past.

The dogs learn about 10 whistle commands but Stevenson said the “good ones” instinctively knew the position to get into.

“They sort it out, they’re clever.”

RV had the perfect temperament for a working dog, staying by his side when he was just a puppy, he said.

“He’s very loyal. If I go mustering at home, catch the horse … him and another couple of heading dogs touch noses and say good morning. They all become part of a team, you’re the driver.”

But that team knew their place; they were all outside dogs, he said.

“They don’t watch tv or anything, [they’re] not cleaning up scraps under the table.”