Dogpro Plus Homebush Arena 2023

Report by Nan Lloyd
Photos by Nan Lloyd & Simon Wallace

This was the third arena trial held at Homebush, owned by Rod and Judy Forsyth, run by the Northern District club.

Ballidu was the home ground for the club but trials could no longer be held there so it was moved to Homebush in 2022.

Homebush is just out of Kellerberrin in the Wheatbelt of Western Australia. The trial ground was surrounded by a stunning golden Canola crop which created a lovely backdrop for photos.

The weather was chilly with some light rain on Saturday, but was quite pleasant when the sun emerged.

The sheep for the Novice and Improver events where quite tricky and hard to settle. Some people struggled with them, but the sheep were workable and most people had a crack at them. The Open sheep were woolly wethers.

On the Saturday Afternoon when the open started it was almost impossible to convince the sheep to enter the bridge. Many people’s run came to an end here, as they just stubbornly refused to go over, preferring to turn and face the dog, and if pressured would split and run around it.

On the Sunday morning they changed their tune and became much more amenable. In fact most of the Open finalists came from the runs on the Sunday, and there were some high scores achieved.

In the Novice there were 14 scores from 40 runs. The Improver 12 scores out of 39 runs and the Open 40 scores from 60 runs.

The winner of the Lovegrove Trophy for the Northern District club member with the highest score in the first round was Len Morton and Perengary Maudie. The Aggregate winner was Frank Maynard and Rocky Nikki.

The winner of the Glenvar Trophy for the highest score in any event was Ken Atherton and Ramulam Charlie. Ken also won the AJC perpetual trophy for winning the open with his Kelpie Ramulam Charlie.

This trial was the decider for the West Australian state representatives to compete in the interstate challenge at Strathalbyn in SA this September.
Ken Atherton and Ramulam Charlie were on Top and second rep is Ivan Solomon and Perangery Trish.

Encourage

	Worker	Dog
1	Trish Genoni	Boylee Peggy

Novice
Judged by Corey Rose

	Worker	Dog	Total
1	Ken Atherton	Ramulam Oak (K)	80
2	Jan Cornish	Bellview Bailey	70
3	Peter Gorman	Badgingarra Missy	65
4	Steve Wallace	Rocky Roxie	64
5	Rod Forsyth	Kumbark Todd (K)	60
6	Simon Leaning	Marionvale Woody (K)	59
7	Peter Doherty	Ramulam Sixpence (K)	57
8	Jane Dorrell	Cloverlea Dot	52
9	Grant Cooke	Grassvalley Palmer	55
10	Danial Beard	Boonining Digit (K)	51

Improver
Judged by Peter Doherty

	Worker	Dog	1st	2nd	Total
1	Frank Maynard	Pendalup Nikki	78	79	157
2	Rose Cassidy	Nolans Shana	78	SCR	78
=3	Nan Lloyd	Kiumbark Ace (K)	77	–	77
=3	Simon Leaning	Yarrabee Jack (K)	77	–	77
5	Brad Rose	Bellview Flier	75	–	75
6	Jane Dorrell	Cloverlea Dot	72	–	72
7	Simon Leaning	Marionvale Woody (K)	67	–	67
8	Grant Cooke	Grassvalley Palmer	64	–	64
9	Neil Kristiansen	Badgingarra Sir Ben	57	–	57
10	Nan Lloyd	Binnaburra Ruffy (K)	54	–	54

Open
Judged by Jane Dorrell

	Worker	Dog	1st	2nd	Total
1	Ken Atherton	Ramulam Charlie (K)	93	90	183
2	Len Morton	Pendalup Maudie	91	89	180
=3	Gordon Curtis	Kumbark Scotty (K)	88	84	172
=3	Grant Cooke	Grassvalley Palmer	88	84	172
=3	Simon Leaning	Marionvale Di	84	88	172
=6	Rod Forsyth	Grassvalley Hazel	75	90	165
=6	Rod Forsyth	Barkervale Clark (K)	89	76	165
8	Nan Lloyd	Kumbark Lexie (K)	73	67	140
9	Ivan Solomon	Perangery Trish	90	40	130
10	Nan Lloyd	Kumbark Ace (K)	74	51	125
11	Frank Maynard	Pendalup Nikki	79	24	103
12	Simon Leaning	Marionvale Andy	73	X	73