SA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP – 2010
20 - 22 AUGUST 2010
"EXCELSIOR" - SWELLENDAM
This year the culmination of the trialling season ended in Swellendam with the SA National Championships and once again generously sponsored by SUPERIOR DOG FOOD.
Held on "Excelsior" the home of Mossie and Christelle Mostert and hosted by Faansie and Elmarie Basson who made all concerned very welcome with their warm hospitality. Western Province was the organising club and the team of Andrew Philip Pippa Philip and Faansie Basson as well as help from Christoff Vermeulen made sure the trial ran with precision.
The course was one of the most difficult this writer has ever seen. An elliptical shape down to a dip and sharply up again. Walking it made cardio fitness a joke. Rough ground and very stoney which cut dog's pads when skidding to a halt. The release points of the sheep was out of sight to the dog shortly after leaving the handler only gaining sight again 3/4 way up. This lended to near cross casts or full crosses for a few dogs. The wider dogs made it without a cross. The "look back" release points were definitively out of sight particularly in the Finals. The sheep were Dohne Merino ewes which worked well if handled with respect.
A fine drizzle predominated the qualifying round on Friday, sunny and warm for the semi finals on Saturday, but cold on the Sunday Finals. A howling wind straight down the course to the handler did not let up all three days. Whistles and commands were lost or had to be intensified. Despite it all dogs worked well and spectators were plentiful showing the tenacity of Cape residents.
Our judges Hennie Ferreira and Kim Yates kept their wits until the bitter end. The brace was judged by Henry van der Merwe. First drawn in the Finals was MOEL BLES (Bles for short!) handled by ELSIE JAMMY. Despite time up in the draught this score remained the highest as competition progressed and ended.
WELL DONE TO OUR "TOWNIE" TEAM FROM MULDERSDRIFT IN THE CRADLE OF HUMANKIND.
SEE BELOW FOR FULL 2010 RESULTS
THE NATIONALS ARE PROUDLY SPONSORED BY SUPERIOR DOG FOOD
The Judges:
HENNIE FERREIRA
Hennie matriculated at Volksrust High School in 1976 and went on to do 2 years compulsory military training before returning to Volksrust in 1979 to farm on their sheep and dairy farm.
Sheepdogs had always been a part of the farming activities, but were never trained and basically worked on instinct only.
His involvement with SASDA started in 1984 when Martie gave him his first own Border Collie (Karoo) as a gift. This led to the late Ron Philip being invited to give a sheepdog course for farmers in the area; the forming of the Trans-Oranje Sheepdog Club; and Hennie’s active participation in SASDA trials and other events.
Through the years Hennie had lots of success with his dogs and won numerous regional awards as well as the SA Championship 1994 with Tombi. During an International Series against the USA held in Pretoria in 1990, he was Reserve Champion with Spot 11, being beaten by Bruce Fogt by a small margin.
Hennie’s keen interest in breeding and bloodlines resulted in him being appointed as SASDA Registration Officer in 1990 where he keeps a sharp eye on things, with very definite preferences as to what is acceptable or not. He has been instrumental in streamlining the Development Registration Scheme by which previously unregistered purebred dogs can be registered and upgraded through breeding.
Moving to a smaller farm with less stock, together with economical restraints causing him to take up an outside job, resulted in Hennie not currently competing in trials actively, but he keeps in touch by still presenting training courses and judging as many trials as possible upon request.
Being asked to judge the Nationals three times before and now again this year is an honour – even greater than actually winning the Nationals Championship – that he will cherish for as long as he lives.
KIM YATES:
Kim James Yates
Kim Yates is the co-owner of Hexagon Fire Investigation, a privately owned fire investigation company that is based in South Africa. The company specialises in structure and wildfire fire investigations. Kim is jointly responsible for the day-to-day management of the company and presents training occasionally. His focus is to conduct fire investigations and to present expert testimony when required.
Kim currently has the only accelerant detection dog in the private sector in South Africa, working for Hexagon Fire Investigation.
Kim spent 17 years in the South African Police Service wherafter he spent 8 years at the CSIR in South Africa, where he was employed as a full time fire investigator. He formed Hexagon Fire Investigation in 2006 with his business partner, Mr Andre de Beer.
Most of his time in the SA Police Service was spent at the Dog School. He trained sheepdogs and handlers for stock theft units during this time. Kim served as the co-ordinator of research and development at the Dog School at the end of his term. He trained South Africa’s first accelerant detection or arson dog during that period.
Kim currently serves a broad client base that consists of insurance companies, government agencies, the legal fraternity, and other private individuals as and when requested.
Kim is a certified fire investigator with the I.A.A.I. He is a founder member and past-president of the South African Chapter of the I.A.A.I. He currently serves on numerous committees of the I.A.A.I.
He holds a Forensic Science Society Diploma in fire investigation and is a Professional Member of the Forensic Science Society in the UK.
AND NOW READ WHAT OUR JUDGE FOR NATIONALS 2009, MEIRION JONES AND HIS WIFE LLINOS (WALES), THOUGHT OF OUR COUNTRY AND OUR DOGS.
(This was written by Llinos)
Merion and I felt honoured to be invited to your country and for Meirion to judge the South African National Sheepdog Championships held in Caledon. We appreciated all the hard work that you as members of the Association had done considering the distance involved to organise such an outstanding display of dogs working at their best. We would like to congratulate you one and all for the success of this year's nationals and the winners.
The itinery for the duration of our stay for nearly 2 weeks was so well arranged. The fact that we arrived at Johannesburg and travel down with Elsie Jammy towards caledon and stay on working farms on our way added to our fabulous experience of our valuable time spent travelling around South Africa. We never realised the vastness of your country which is awe inspiring.
A special thank you for our host families Morris and Elsie Jammy, Wally and Kathleen Ward, Billy and Irene Colbourne and finally to Andrew and Pippa Philip the hard working hosts for the trial that contributed so much to the success of the Championship.
We appreciate the time the host families had given up to take us out on excursions and farm tours. Having been involved in numerous events ourselves, the Welsh National, International and the 2008 World Trial, we do realise the hard work and time you have all given to organise such a prestigious event. When we first received the invitation we did not know what to expect but we were more than pleased at the standard of your dogs that Meirion judged at the Nationls. In one way the fact that he did not know any of the dogs was a bonus. He judged what he saw on the day. Standard of your dogs and handlers were second to none in both Singles and Brace finals. ESPECIALLY THE TURN BACKS!!! (Look backs) Judging the National Championships was a pleasure and in the comfort of a wooden hut.
Meirion can safely say that the future of South Africa's up and coming dogs and handlers is looking very promising. We have met and made a lot of new friends and hope that we will keep in touch in the future. Once again THANK YOU for the opportunity to judge your Nationals in South Africa.
RESULTS 2010 FOLLOW: