Sheepdog trials: 500 dogs entered in North Island Championships

Mark Murphy pictured at Te Aute driving sheep on the long-head course on Sunday. Photo / Duncan Brown

The first of the two big New Zealand sheep dog trial championships is under way in Central Hawke's Bay.

About 500 dogs have been entered in the North Island Championships, which are being hosted by the Hawke's Bay Sheep Dog Trial Centre and the Te Aute Sheep Dog Trial Club on Brownrigg Agriculture Barker Block at 658 Te Aute Trust Rd, between Hastings and Otane.

The huge entry means almost 1000 runs of up to 15 minutes each will be held during this week, with most dogs trialling at least twice, in the heading dog double of the long head and the short head and yard, or the huntaways double of the zig zag and straight hunts.

Organisers hope the heading dog runs will be completed in time for the two runoffs of seven dogs each to be held on Thursday and the huntaway runoffs to be held on Friday.

It will be particularly busy for judge Ken Lobb (long head), from Taranaki, Chris Calder (short head and yard), from Canterbury, Tony Fairweather (zig zag hunt), from Wairarapa Southern Hawke's Bay, and Andy McNab (straight hunt), from Canterbury.

Hawke's Bay has a particularly strong association with the championships, which are a prelude to the South Island and New Zealand championships in Marlborough starting on May 28.

The last North Island championships in Hawke's Bay were in 2009, also at Te Aute and including that year's national championships.

The club moved its own 2018 trials forward to November last year to take pressure off the venue's farming operation, and got a good taste of things with a record Te Aute club trials entry, with many from outside Hawke's Bay.