Author Nan Lloyd
Images by Nan Lloyd and Simon Wallace

Ballidu is a small town in the eastern wheatbelt 220 km north east of Perth. The trial was run by the Northern District Sheepdog Association.
The sheep were 16 month old woolly wethers, supplied and delivered by Malcolm Sutherland.

Trialling commenced at 1pm Thursday. The weather was fairly mild but strong winds caused a few issues. The sheep were workable though, and there were some reasonable scores. They were happy to go into the obstacles and were quite settled.

Friday was wet and windy. The sheep deteriorated as the day wore on and became more difficult to work. They were touchy and could run very fast.
On Saturday the weather eased a little but was still cold with some wind and rain.

Sunday however the bad weather was back, with strong winds and heavy showers. The sheep became even more difficult to work.

It was cold and miserable and most people were wondering what the heck they were doing at a sheep-dog trial.

However there was a delicious buffet meal on Saturday night at the Ballidu Hotel, and along with a few drinks, this helped bolster most people.

There was a tie in the open, so there was a run-off between Gordon Curtis’s Kelpie Whites Joe, and Peter Gorman’s Border Collie Coshies Dusty.

Peter won the event after Gordon retired in his final run.

Despite the conditions it was an enjoyable three and a half days of trialling.

In the Novice there were 19 scores from 47 runs. The Improver had 25 scores from 51 runs and in the Open there were 29 scores from 73 runs.

Encourage Placings
Judged by Frank Sutherland

1	Tara Herbert	Marionvale Tess (K)
2	Sarah de Bueger	Marionvale Possum (K)
3	Nicole Ford	Dryandra Thunderstruck

Novice Placings
Judged by Peter Doherty

1	Rod Forsyth	Grassvalley Hazel	90
2	Nan Lloyd	Kumbark Lexie (K)	86
3	Grant Cooke	Nolans Drake	81
4	Peter Gorman	Badgingarra Sir Ben	79
5	Marianne Rogers	OK Anwenelle	72
6	Gordon Curtis	Kumbark Scotty (K)	71
7	Tara Herbert	Marionvale Tess (K)	68
=8	Len Morton	Perangery Maudie	67
=8	Jenny Nolan	Nolans Nitro	67
10	Tony Boyle	Boylee Pickles	64

Improver Placings
Judged by Len Morton

1	Peter Gorman	Pendalup Cloudy	91
2	Andrew Gorton	Olboa Mae	88
=3	Nan Lloyd	Kumbark Ace (K)	79
=3	Simon Leaning	Marionvale Di	79
5	Peter Gorman	Badgingarra Sir Ben	78
6	Tara Herbert	Marionvale Tess (K)	75
7	Jenny Nolan	Nolans Jedda	73
8	Carolyn Bell	Bellview Tug	71
=9	Ken Atherton	Ramulam Charlie (K)	70
=9	Rod Forsyth	Grassvallley Hazel	70

Open Placings
Judged by Dave Lacey
Open Final
Judged by Grant Cooke

1	Peter Gorman	Coshies Dusty	88	87	58	233
2	Gordon Curtis	Whites Joe (K)	92	83	Ret	175
3	Tony Boyle	Boylee Sugar	88	84		172
4	Andrew Gorton	Olboa Mae	88	75		163
5	Simon Leaning	Marionvale Di	89	73		162
6	Simon Leaning	Marionvale Lad	79	78		157
=7	Gordon Curtis	Kumbark Scotty (K)	80	66		146
=7	Simon Leaning	Marionvale Andy	76	70		146
=7	Steve Wallace	Gibsons Sweep	77	69		146
=10	Neil Kristiansen	Pendalup Sambo	89	51		138
=10	Frank Sutherland	Pendalup Sue	79	59		138
12	Nan Lloyd	Kumbark Ace (K)	76	59		135
13	Ken Atherton	Ramulam Fella	76	49		115