A rural tradition to rival rugby
Forget your Super Rugby and your one day cricket.
If you want to watch skilled, tense sporting action, look no further than dog trialling.
Before moving to the country my only insight into the sport that pits shepherd, dog and sheep against each other was watching A Dog’s Show with my grandpa which, if nothing else, gives you an indication of my age.
Back in the days before reality television was invented, A Dog’s Show was riveting Sunday night viewing, as the nation tuned in to watch dogs herd sheep into a pen.
While the show was axed in 1992, the sport of dog trialling is a much loved activity in rural areas. It turns out there’s far more to it than meets the eye and, for the still-being-initiated like me, it’s almost a bit daunting.
Collie clubs all over the country take turns at running trials, and shepherds rock up in their utes with their dogs in the box on the back (collies, or thistlepeepers, and huntaways, known as barkers) in the hope of winning points - and some serious cash. That’s when the rivalry begins. It’s not just a case of whistling at a dog that’s moving a group of sheep into a pen or up a hill. There’s a bit of an art in even mastering the whistle. I gave it a go and I was quite frankly useless at it. There’s also the lingo to get up to speed with. There’s your long head, short head, yarding, and your zigzag and straight hunts, which are the courses the dogs compete on.
Good trialists spend years training their dogs, and a good dog is worth thousands of dollars.
It’s all about the dog having the ‘eye’ apparently, so it will glare at the sheep and move them sometimes over long distances or hilly terrain.
One trialist I watched at the weekend gave up on his run early because the sheep were ‘heavy’. That means they’re a bit stubborn, and would have wrecked the dog’s confidence, so he chucked in the towel early.
Early, because there is a time limit for each course and if those sheep aren’t where they’re meant to be by then, it’s game over.
Sound complicated? But wait there’s more. After chatting to a clerk of the course at the weekend (that’s a judge) I learnt that there are all sorts of other rules too.
For example, shepherds have to stay behind the shoulder of the first sheep at all times, and there are only certain places they are allowed to cross the course. And once they’ve opened the pen (or gate), they can’t take their hand off it again until they’ve closed it with the sheep tucked up inside.
And you thought rugby had some obscure rules.
Later, over a few quiets, the day’s sport is discussed, along with the weather, what the lamb price is doing and how the grass is growing.
Trialling is one of our great rural traditions. And judging by the number of young competitors at the weekend, it’s one that is set to continue for a long time yet.