A "neck-and-neck" battle has kept the latest Victorian yard dog trial season thrilling until the final whistle, as the state association has announced its annual award winners.
Vera Kelpies stud principal Bree Cudmore, Colac, won two top accolades with her dog Lanarch Moana in the annual Yard Dog Awards, winning High Point Dog of the Year and High Point Bitch of the Year on 102 points respectively.
Aoidh Doyle and his dog Whisper Snip placed second with 81 points.
Ms Cudmore's other competing dog, Vera Slim, came in third for Dog of the Year on 63 points.
James Leahy's dog, Glenlyon Flick, placed third for Bitch of the Year with 50 points.
Ms Cudmore said there had been a "heated battle" with Aoidh, but she had managed to steam ahead in the final trials.
"It was a good battle and there was a lot of kilometres and time put in," she said.
"Moana was pretty good, I think for the year she won four opens by the end of the year, she won the most opens out of any dog in Victoria this year.
"It was a good year for me because every open final I competed in, each competition I went to I had a dog in the open final so that was pretty cool," she said.
She said it had been a strong year for her, competing with both Vera Slim and Lanarch Moana, who would be bred together for the first time this year.
Ms Cudmore said she was most excited to attend the national championships at Mobrup, Western Australia, in April.
"I have the prequalified spot now so I'll be over [in WA] and I want to focus on a bit of breeding because I have people that are interested in pups.
"I'm just excited [for the national championships], I'm not going over there with the expectation of winning it.
"I have a really good team of dogs at the moment."
She said she would take a step back from yard dog trials this year, but would continue to attend bigger events including Sheepvention at Hamilton, and the Bendigo Australian Sheep & Wool Show in July.
"I've gone pretty hard and achieved some good stuff with it, so I'm going to have a break and a refresh," she said.
Meanwhile, Ryan Arnel won Encourage Handler of the Year with 27 points, Michelle White placed second on 26 points and Jai Middleton came in third on 17 points.
The Victorian Yard Utility Farm Dog Association president Rod Cavill, Alexandra, said the association were happy with the quality of competition and competitiveness between handlers.
He said the association would also be funding the two state representatives, Ms Cudmore and Mr Doyle, to travel to Western Australia for the national championships.
"Those two were neck and neck all year, which is great," he said.
"They added extra spice to the whole year, really.
"Bree put in the miles, she was committed from day one and deservedly won the high point award which gives her a gig over in WA.
"And Aoidh only just missed out [on Dog of the Year] but he was second, which gave him the ticket anyway."
He said there had been an influx of novice dogs entering the open category in 2023, after a build up during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Because we didn't have many trials for two years the competition was a bit lopsided with a lot of novice dogs and not a lot of open dogs," he said.
"Now we've levelled out our fields again so we had a real strong influx of good novice dogs come into the open."
He said the Encourage Handler of the Year, Mr Arnel, was an experienced stockman and slotted "straight into" the competition after returning to trialling.
"Ryan had a go at trialling quite a few years ago, he was working on a big property out at Skipton then he went away to England for a few years," he said.
"He's in the racing industry in the thoroughbred game, he came back and has his own breeding facility.
"He took up dogs again as something to do on weekends."
Mr Cavill said the past five years had been exciting for the association with a large increase in membership and regular competitors.
"It's certainly a growth sport and we're very strong on the national sense, the Victorian competitors," he said.
"Which is the benchmark I guess to see how you go against other states and other top competitors and we're certainly holding our own if not leading the way the past couple of years."
He said they hoped to focus on training and encouragement days to bring in new members.
Rachel Simmonds
Rachel is an agricultural journalist for Australian Community Media's Stock & Land. She covers all aspects of Victoria's farming community and industry. To get in contact, email rachel.simmonds@stockandland.com.au
Rachel is an agricultural journalist for Australian Community Media's Stock & Land. She covers all aspects of Victoria's farming community and industry. To get in contact, email rachel.simmonds@stockandland.com.au
