Report by Nan Lloyd
Photos by Karyn Buller

held by Mayanup Sheepdog Club at Sunnyside, Arthur River.
April 16th – 19th, 2026
The Mayanup Sheepdog club hosted the first yard and Utility trial of the year at Yallambee, Ken and jenny Atherton’s property, near Arthur River.
The weather was a little warm for the first day, then cooled down reasonably well for the rest of the trial.
After early rain last month, a dry spell has persisted, and paddocks were looking dry again.
The arena sheep were white tag ewes, and they worked very well, with most people managing to complete obstacles and gain a score.
The first obstacle was a gap, followed by a trap and a pen. The trap is similar to a race but with a gate at one end.
The dog must work the sheep into one end and then hold the sheep while the handler walks to the front and opens the gate to let them out.
The sheep were generally quite good here; however, there were not many pens, as the pen proved to be the most difficult obstacle, and usually time was running low at this point for most people.
The yard sheep were weaners that were tricky to work in the big gathers, constantly splitting and breaking at the gates and testing the dogs.
For the rest of the course they generally flowed reasonably well, and there were some high yard scores.
Novice yard and utility was judged by Rod Forsyth .
The Open/Imp yard by Allan Dunn and Open Utility by Gordon Curtis.
Thanks to Richard McGuire, who didn’t run a dog but came up to judge both open utility and open/improver yard finals.
Yard and utility trialling is very labour intensive, with let-outs at both ends of the ground and mobs of sheep needing to be moved in and out of the yards for each event.
Everyone pitches in and helps, which makes for a friendly social event.
As usual, the highlight of the event was the fantastic BBQs at Ken and Jenny’s home each evening, with lots of laughs and a few drinks.
After the presentations, everyone reminisced a little about the loss of a stalwart of yard trialling, Rex Hocking. Rex was a well-known and respected yard and utility trialler from South Australia, who recently passed a short time after the loss of his lovely wife Kay.
Kay and Rex had been to WA many times competing in the National Yard Dog Championships and the NKFTC. He was a true gentleman and Kay a lovely lady who had struggled with many health problems without complaint.
Both will be sadly missed.





Novice Utility
Judged by Rod Forsyth
Final Judged by Richard McGuire
| Place | Worker | Dog | Reg # | Round 1 | Run Off | Total |
| 1 | Neil Kristiansen | Badgingarra Maggie (BC) | 2054-19 | 75 | 82 | 157 |
| 2 | Hayden Harries | Marionvale Penny (BC) | 2210-22 | 75 | 62 | 137 |
| =3 | Fraser Gordon | Thorpe | 73 | – | 73 | |
| =3 | Karyn Buller | Boonining Turbo | 2065-19 | 73 | – | 73 |
| 5 | Hayden Harries | Just Coke (BC) | 2208-22 | 72 | – | 72 |
| 6 | Karyn Buller | Taworri Clancy | 2174-22 | 71 | – | 71 |
| 7 | Gordon Curtis | Binnaburra Chloe | 2206-21 | 70 | – | 70 |
| 8 | Jason Crockford | Buntal Bull | 67 | – | 67 | |
| 9 | Shelby Harries | Claire (BC) | 2340-21 | 66 | – | 66 |
| 10 | Nan Lloyd | Kumbark Pocket | 2262-23 | 65 | – | 65 |
Novice Yard
Judged by Rod Forsyth
| Place | Worker | Dog | Reg # | Round 1 | Run Off | Total |
| 1 | Fraser Gordon | Thorpe | 34 | 22 | 56 | |
| 2 | Shelby Harries | Claire (BC) | 2340-21 | 34 | RT | 34 |
| 3 | Neil Kristiansen | Badgingarra Maggie (BC) | 2054-19 | 33 | – | 33 |
| =4 | Hayden Harries | Marionvale Penny (BC) | 2210-22 | 31 | – | 31 |
| =4 | Neil Kristiansen | Badgingarra Oscar (BC) | 2053-18 | 31 | – | 31 |
| =4 | Shelby Harries | Just Ali (BC) | 2214-23 | 31 | – | 31 |
| =7 | Nan Lloyd | Kumbark Pocket | 2262-23 | 29 | – | 29 |
| =7 | Gordon Curtis | Binnaburra Chloe | 2206-21 | 29 | – | 29 |
| 9 | Peter Roberts | Jindi Macca | 2277-19 | 27 | – | 27 |
| =10 | Peter Roberts | Badgingarrra Dave | 2298 | 26 | – | 26 |
| =10 | Shelby Harries | Riche Dig (BC) | 2329-24 | 26 | – | 26 |
Improver Yard
Judged by Allan Dunn
Final Judged by Richard McGuire
| Place | Worker | Dog | Reg # | Round 1 | Round 2 | Total |
| 1 | Shelby Harries | Just Ali (BC) | 2214-23 | 87 | 94 | 181 |
| 2 | Karyn Buller | Boonining Turbo | 2065-19 | 84 | 86 | 170 |
| 3 | Neil Kristiansen | Badgingarra Wilson | 2172 | 80 | 86 | 166 |
| 4 | Fraser Gordon | Reiny | 2359-24 | 76 | 79 | 155 |
| 5 | Lee Crockford | Drycreek Zarin | 2149 | 78 | 62 | 140 |
| 6 | Peter Roberts | Jindi Macca | 2217-19 | 71 | – | 71 |
| 7 | Hayden Harries | Marionvale Penny (BC) | 2210-22 | 70 | – | 70 |
| 8 | Neil Kristiansen | Badgingarra Maggie (BC) | 2054-19 | 69 | – | 69 |
| 9 | Nan Lloyd | Binnaburra Ruffy | 2120-21 | 67 | – | 67 |
| 10 | Fraser Gordon | Jyp | 2241-22 | 51 | – | 51 |
Open Yard
Judged by Allan Dunn
Final Judged by Richard McGuire
| Place | Worker | Dog | Reg # | Round 1 | Round 2 | Total |
| 1 | Hayden Harries | Just Buster (BC) | 2209-22 | 98 | 90 | 188 |
| 2 | Ken Atherton | Ramulam Charlie | 2020-18 | 87 | 98 | 185 |
| 3 | Jason Crockford | Buntall Bull | 2151 | 85 | 92 | 177 |
| =4 | Hayden Harries | Just Coke (BC) | 2208-22 | 79 | 91 | 170 |
| =4 | Karyn Buller | Boonining Turbo | 2065-19 | 84 | 86 | 170 |
| 6 | Allan Dunn | Dunn’s Chopper | 2066-19 | 79.5 | 88 | 167.5 |
| 7 | Allan Dunn | Barkervale Mate | 2175 | 73 | 92 | 165 |
| 8 | Nan Lloyd | Binnaburra Ruffy | 2120-21 | 67 | 90 | 157 |
| 9 | Rod Forsyth | Kumbark Tod | 1947 | 67 | 86 | 153 |
| 10 | Karyn Buller | Boco Louie | 1866-16 | 76 | 74 | 150 |
| 11 | Rod Forsyth | Yarralonga Forrest | 2171-21 | 74 | 74 | 148 |
| 12 | Ken Atherton | Ramulam Fella | 1957-18 | 90 | RT | 90 |
Open Utility
Judged by Gordon Curtis
Final Judged by Richard McGuire
| Place | Worker | Dog | Reg # | Round 1 | Round 2 | Total |
| 1 | Ken Atherton | Ramulam Charlie | 2020 | 80 | 93 | 173 |
| 2 | Ken Atherton | Ramulam Fella | 1957 | 78 | 85 | 163 |
| 3 | Nan Lloyd | Kumbark Lexie | 1982-17 | 85 | 72 | 157 |
| 4 | Shelby Harries | Just Ali (BC) | 2214-23 | 81 | 70 | 151 |
| 5 | Gordon Curtis | Binnaburra Marvin | 2153-21 | 75.5 | 73 | 148.5 |
| 6 | Neil Kristiansen | Badgingarra Wilson | 2170 | 72 | 72 | 144 |
| 7 | Rod Forsyth | Kumbark Tod | 1947 | 71 | 70 | 141 |
| 8 | Karyn Buller | Taworri Clancy | 2174-22 | 72 | 58 | 130 |
| 9 | Hayden Harries | Just Coke (BC) | 2208-22 | 73 | 54 | 127 |
| 10 | Karyn Buller | Boonining Turbo | 2065-19 | 75 | 49 | 124 |
| 11 | Shelby Harries | Claire (BC) | 2340-21 | 67 | 41 | 108 |
| 12 | Hayden Harries | Just Buster (BC) | 2209-22 | 74 | RTD | 74 |









