2006 Results and Reports

September 2006
September sunshine, good trialling, on a good course with good sheep, what else could one ask for?
The South Swedish Championship which was a qualifier for the Swedish Championship was held
on the Military base on the outskirts of Malmo, presently farmed by Jonas and Hans Gustafsson.
The qualifying course was set up with a gather of 600 metres over slightly undulating ground.
The handler stood on a rise which sloped and then stepped down before the fetch gates.
The field then rose again at the far end for the lift where the sheep were expertly set out giving
everyone a fair chance. The sheep worked exceptionally well for the dogs providing a very good
standard of work.
The qualifying course was run on a standard course with four sheep with a left hand drive and a
split followed by a pen. The top five handlers and dogs, out of the 30 entered, qualified for the
final which was over the same course but with the exception that the dogs took the 10 sheep
straight from a point on the fetch to the shedding ring where 5 sheep were to be either split or
shed off, the 5 sheep that the dog held were then penned. The remaining 5 sheep were then
gathered, taken around the post and driven down through the fetch gates to a point marked at
approximately 300 metres. This was no easy feat as the dogs lost contact with the handlers as
they negotiated the step. It was a task that relied on the good balance of the dog to take the sheep in a continually straight line, out of sight and without command or contact with the handler.
It was an all female final (as far as the dogs were concerned!) with Lotta Oredsson and 7 yr old Somolli (R Robertson's Hope x R Dalziel's Skye) a grandson of Bobby Dalziel's Jim, running first. Somolli had some difficulty keeping the sheep on balance on the drive and ran out of time but finished 4th over all. Running in 2nd place was Pelle Johansson with his 5 yr old Henny ( Eddy x Moel Tess) a litter sister to Jan Ahistrom's Habit, both grand daughters of Ceri Rundles Moel Hemp and Dolwen Fan. Henny lost only 1 point on each of the outrun and lift and went on to finish 3rd after losing some points on the shed and pen and again on the drive, as did Habit who retired on the drive. Running in 4th place was Suzanne Johannesson with her 5 yr old Jill (J. Gustafsson's Don & Samantha) going back again to Bobby Dalziel's Jim, again lost only 1 point on each of the outrun and lift and 4 points on the fetch for deviation of line. Having turned on the wrong sheep in the shedding ring but with a clean pen and again having difficulty taking the sheep on the drive, Jill finished in 2nd place. Anna Hall with her 3 yr old Dimma (Mosse Magnusson's Fleet x Asta), Fleet being a son of Johnny Wilson's Rob, also won the qualifying round losing 12 points. In the final she needed 3 commands on the outrun but lost just 1 point on the lift and 1 on the fetch, She had a good shed when it came and a good pen, followed by the best drive of the day. Dimma tucked in behind the 5 sheep as she rounded the post and took them, balancing as she went and continuing to hold the line as she reappeared on the flat before the fetch gates, bringing her total lost to12 points, the winning run. Dimma a versatile bitch who works bringing in the cows in the morning and evening for Anna's husband then turns her abilities to shepherding and trialling with Anna.
Sunday saw a slightly more relaxed day of trialling with 29 dogs running on the same course but with a different set of results. Ingemar Gustafsson with 5 yr old Dee ( Cliff x Nessie) had one of the two clean outruns and lifts of the trial followed by deviation of lines on the fetch (2 ½ ) and the Drive (3). The remainder of the 10½ points lost was in the shedding ring when he turned on the wrong sheep, but this score put him in the lead over Margareta Hogstrom with 5 yr old Pajaz (Myss x Tazza) a rough coated dog going back to Bobby Dalziel's Wisp, who lost 11 points, just ½ a point behind Dee. Lotte Oredsson's 6 yr old Olga, (Lisa Hansson's Moel Hugo x Flisa -Lisa) again Bobby Dalziel's Wisp breeding, together with Moel Hemp and Dolwen Fan, after her clean outrun and lift lost points for deviation of line and in the shedding ring, putting her into 3rd place with a score of 12 ½ points lost. In 4th place was Pelle Johansson with Henny losing 15 points and in 5th and 6th places were Max Elving's 5 yr old Milo ( Cap x Anne Loppa) a grandson of B. Dalziels Wisp & Dot and Jaran Knive's Moel Nap, losing 16 points and his 2 yr old Baldrick (Milo x Flisa-Lisa) losing 18 points.

September 22nd & 23rd
Location: Defaidty, Bala, Judges: Vic Morris, Clun & Alun L Jones, Selattyn

The North Wales Championship was graced by good weather amidst the threat of hurricane Gordon. The steep hillside of field 1 (500yds) and the flat meadow of field 2 (500yds) provided a good contrast for dogs to qualify for the double fetch final at Defaidty, the home of Gwyn and Alan LL Jones. On Welsh Mountain ewes which worked superbly throughout the trial, J R Griffith with Fan (R.Dean's Roy x A Armstrong's Gwen) and Medwyn Evans with Cadi (M Ll Evan's Lad x J G Grant's Nel) won fields 1 & 2 respectively. The tricky outrun on field 1 and the off set cross drive in field 2 were responsible for the downfall of many of the qualifying runs.
Eighteen qualified from 121 dogs entered for the competition with the final being held on Saturday on an inviting course of over 800 yards gather. The first outrun was to the left where the dogs had to negotiate a ditch and a redirection through a gate to collect 8 ewes. The sheep were then brought down across the face of the hill and through two sets of fetch gates before being turned back through another gate to gather another packet of 8 ewes from the skyline on the right.
Gethin Jones from Llanarmon DC with his experienced bitch Jill (A L Jones' Lad x R S Turner's Nell) had one redirect whistle at the gate and the best fetch of the day; she turned back on the run a little short of the post, a further 4 points were lost in the shedding ring and she finished with a clean pen, winning the trial.
J R Griffith's Moss (A LL Jones' Sweep x J R Griffith's Coed Lyn) lost points on outwork but had the best shed as they shed off the first lots of sheep in classic style followed by a clean pen.
Medwyn Evans'Cadi who lost points on outruns and deviation of lines only lost 2 points on the drive but in the shedding ring one sheep broke and they had to re-shed losing 11 points putting them into third place above Nigel Watkins with Floss (R Dean's Roy x N Watkin's Fly) who won the outwork cup.
John Griffith with Fan and Gwenno ( A LL Jones's Sweep x J R Griffith's Coed Lyn) went on to win the doubles.
Young Handlers
Judge: Stan Morgan
The Young Handlers competition was well supported with 12 yr old Arwyn Davies with Nel having a good outrun, lift and fetch, Nel hesitated and had a wobble on the drive but finished with a good pen losing 5 points and winning the trial. Finishing in second place was 14 yr old Osian Jones with Meg who had a good outrun, lift and made the fetch gates. The sheep split a little but they had a good drive and finally penned. 13 year old Elin Pyrs with Eryri Taran finished 3rd after 2 redirects on the outrun and a good lift, made the fetch gates but had a slight wobble and missed the drive gates. They timed out at the pen. In 4th place was Nell with her 12 yr old handler Meilir Jones who needed some redirects on the outrun, lifting off line but after a wobble, made the fetch gates. They had 2 wobbles on the drive with a wide turn but eventually penned.
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7 /10/2006 Venue: Llanfihangel   Judge: Sue Main
A change of drive direction from previous years prevented the problems of dogs having to struggle with sheep through a boggy patch but created different problems with the sheep pulling to the keep pen on the first leg of the drive. The 3 Beulah or Suffock cross ewes required a dog to keep a good hold on them but using clean flanks. Running at number 6 was Glyn L Jones with Ben (A Gilchrist's Taff X A Gilchrist's Lyn) who upset his sheep slightly on the lift but held a good line on the fetch with just a couple of stops, The sheep were pulling on the first part of the drive but they finished losing 1 point at the pen, putting them into first place which they held until Don MacKay with Scott who had one command on the outrun a similar fetch and drive to Glyn but lost 2 ½ point at the pen, pipped him losing 13 points. Late afternoon saw quite a few retirements but in their midst came the winning run when Eryl P Roberts and Bet (H I Pew's Spec and H I Puw's Nan) having had a good season, took the lead. Bet had a clean outrun and lift, handling her sheep well she had a good fetch leading into some difficulty on the first leg of the drive and deviating from the line on the return drive but culminating in a clean pen and a total of 10 points lost.
Results:
Open ( 42 ran)
1st E P Roberts Bet 10
2nd D MacKay Scott 13
3rd Glyn L Jones Ben 16 ½   4
th J Burke Fly 20
5th E P Roberts Jim 21 OLF
6th A Jarman Meg 21

8 /10/2006 Venue: Tal y Bont. Judge: Emrys Jones 75 ran
A new venue saw the return of trialling to the Ardudwy area after many years. With the view of the sea behind them and the typical stone walls of the area on the hill side in front, the handlers and dogs set to tackle an inviting course worked on Welsh yearlings and ewes fresh off the mountain. The sheep after being let out through a 'sheep hole' handled well on the course but created a few problems turning the post and at the pen. Bryn Davies with Mai (Bryn's Moel Hemp x Bryn's Nell) had the best lines all day losing just a little on the first part of the fetch and at the pen and winning losing just 3 points. In second place came John R Griffith with Mali ( Serge van der Zweep's Roy X J R Griffith's Coed Lyn), his nursery dog. Again the reason for the loss of 15 points was down basically to deviation of line with the sheep pulling and the difficulty at the pen where in general the sheep did not like undue pressure. In third place came another nursery dog, Cyril Humphries and Mirk ( R Jones' Rapp x M Ll Evan's Cadi) who beat Ieuan Williams' Twm on OLF.
At lunchtime, having now become a very popular and important part of the programme, the Young Handler's competition was held. First on was 12 yr old Arwyn Davies, son of Bryn Davies the winner of the open class. Arwyn was running 9 yr old Sian ( Bryn Davies' Moel Hemp x Bryn Davies' Molly) who had a good outrun and handled exceptionally well on the fetch as did 13 yr old Elin Pyrs and 14 yr old Osian Jones. Arwyn had a good drive and went on to pen at a time when few open handlers had penned and he won the competition. The three young handlers set a good example of timing and handling with a relaxed but professional attitude.

Open:
1st Bryn Davies Mai 10
2nd J R Griffith Mali 15
3rd C Humphries Mirk 16 olf
4th I Williams Twm 16
5th H R Jones Meg 17 olf
6th J R Griffith Fan 17