Hypro Yallambee Yard & Utility

Report by Nan Lloyd
Photos by Nan Lloyd & Karyn Buller

Ken and Jenny Atherton’s property Yallambee, near Arthur River, was the venue for the first Yard and Utility trial of the year.  The event was run by the Mayanup sheep dog club.

The sheep were red tag composites and were tricky to work.

In the paddock section they were well and truly the winners, thanks mainly to a relentless easterly wind which became gale force at times, making conditions quite unpleasant.

No-one managed to pen the sheep, due to time running out.

The sheep tended to head towards the fence and needed a fast dog to head them off. Even after they had been gathered, one sheep would decide it was time to run and they could go far and fast.

In the yard, the first big gather was almost unachievable for some.

Dogs that lacked cover got into the most trouble. Once the sheep worked out that they could get past the dog, they took every opportunity.

The lead up to the race was also a little tricky for some, but the rest of the yard course flowed quite well, even the truck did not cause too many issues.

When the Open Yard event started, the wind dropped, the sheep settled, and scores went up.

There was a great atmosphere at the trial with enjoyable meals (and drinks) around the BBQ in the evenings.

Utility trialling is quite labour intensive, but most people happily pitched in, so it ran smoothly from start to finish.

The district has seen some of the driest conditions ever, so a distraction for a few days was a good thing.

It was great to see an entry in the under 18 section, with Kane Harries and his dog Lassie. He did a great job at his first trial.

Kane’s father Hayden also took out the Open Yard, and his mother Shelby placed in the Novice Yard and the Novice Utility.

There were 33 entries in the Novice Utility event, 37 in the Novice Yard event, 35 in the Open Utility event and 27 in the Improver/Open Yard event.

Next on our trialling calendar is the Hypro National Yard dog championships which is being held at Mobrup from the 10th to the 14th of April, followed by the National Kelpie field trial Championships at Kellerberrin from the 17th to the 21st of April.

Spectators welcome to these huge events for some fantastic competition.

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Novice Yard 50 points
Judged by Rod Forsyth. Rod judged by Neil Kristiansen and Ken Atherton.

	Handler	Dog	Score
1	Karyn Buller	Boonining Turbo	30
2	Gordon Curtis	Binnaburra Chloe	25
3	Neil Kristiansen	Badgingarra Oscar BC	24
=4	Shelby Harries	Just Buster	23
=4	Neil Kristiansen	Badgingarra Wilson	23
6	Tony Boyle	Boylee Gus  BC	22
=7	Gordon Curtis	Binnaburra Buzz	21
=7	Neil Eastough	Easties Ziggy	21
=7	Nan Lloyd	Boonining Brumby	21
10	Fraser Gordon	Ellerslie Max	19

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Novice Utility 100 points
Judged by Rod Forsyth. Rod judged by Neil Kristiansen and Ken Atherton.

	Handler	Dog	Score
1	Ken Atherton	Ramulam Fella	68
2	Neil Kristiansen	Badgingarra Oscar BC	57
3	Ken Atherton	Ramulam Prickles	49
4	Shelby Harries	Waterlea Tas	47
5	Karyn Buller	Boonining Turbo	46
6	Jason Crockford	Buntal Bull	45
=7	Gordon Curtis	Binnaburra Chloe	42
=7	Neil Kristiansen	Badgingarra Maggie BC	42
=9	Steve Wallace	Gibsons Sweep BC	39
=9	Steve Wallace	Rocky Roxie BC	39

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Improver Yard 100 points
Judged by Nan Lloyd. Final judged by Richard McGuire. Nan Lloyd judged by Neil Kristiansen and Ken Atherton.

	Handler	Dog	Score	Score	Total
1	Ken Atherton	Ramulam Fella	91	93	184
=2	Gordon Curtis	Binnaburra Marvin	90	90	180
=2	Neil Eastough	Easties Ziggy	95	85	180
4	Gordon Curtis	Kumbark Scotty	85	87	172
5	Gordon Curtis	Kumbark Tina	86	84	170
6	Ken Atherton	Ramulam Prickles	80	85	165
7	Nan Lloyd	Kumbark Lexy	80	84	164
8	Rod Forsyth	Yarralonga Forrest	79	–	79
9	Gordon Curtis	Binnaburra Buzz	78	–	78
10	Neil Kristiansen	Badgingarra Oscar BC	74	–	74

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Open Yard 100 points
Open Imp yard Nan Lloyd. Final judged by Richard McGuire. Nan Lloyd judged by Neil Kristiansen and Ken Atherton.

	Handler	Dog	Score	Score	Total
1	Hayden Harries	Waterlea Tas BC	96	94	190
2	Ken Atherton	Ramulam Charlie	92	96	188
3	Jason Crockford	Wyndora Strife	99	88	187
4	Ken Atherton	Ramulam Fella	91	93	184
5	Blake Robinson	Ramulam Kick	94	88	182
6	Nan Lloyd	Kumbark Ace	87	92	179
7	Rod Forsyth	Kumbark Todd	93	83	176
8	Gordon Curtis	Kumbark Tina	86	84	170
9	Karyn Buller	Boco Louie	86	80	166
10	Ken Atherton	Ramulam Prickles	80	85	165
11	Jason Crockford	Wyndora Dusty	76	88	164
12	Jason Crockford	Buntal Bull	36	95	131

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Open Utility 100 points
Judged by Gordon Curtis. Final judged by Hayden Harries. Gordon Curtis judged by Neil Kristiansen and Ken Atherton.

	Handler	Dog	Score	Score	Total
1	Neil  Kristiansen	Badgingarra Maggie BC	68	63	131
2	Gordon Curtis	Kumbark Tina	71	51	122
3	Ken Atherton	Ramulam Fella	69	46	115
4	Blake Robinson	Nap	53	59	112
5	Ken Atherton	Ramulam Charlie	67	42	109
6	Shelby Harries	Waterlea Tas	54	47	101
7	Karyn Buller	Boonining Turbo	49	42	91
8	Neil  Kristiansen	Badgingarra Oscar BC	55	30	85
9	Nan Lloyd	Kumbark Lexie	49	RET	49
10	Terry Martino	Marionvale Bo	46	–	46
11	Ken Atherton	Ramulam Prickles	45	–	45
12	Neil  Kristiansen	Pendalup Indigo BC	43	–	43

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