KELPIE NATIONAL
WKI Membership event
October 8 - 12, 2008

October 8, 9 and 10 Gary White Stockdog Seminar
9:00 to 5:00
Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner will be included
Sheep, Ducks and Cattle will be available

Hi my name is Gary White and I am 44 years old and I work as a Contract Stockman in Western NSW. I am married to Angie and we have three children... Katie, James and Sophie.

My work involves all facets of sheep work including mustering, yarding, drafting, drenching, classing, jetting, dipping and many facets of sheep husbandry practises.

The properties I work on range from 6000 acres in size to 40,000 acres and the paddocks vary from farming country to heavily timbered scrub country to open grazing country. Mob sizes vary from a few to 3000.Merino sheep are the dominant breed and often border leicester rams are crossed with merino ewes to produce fat lambs.

Dogs are the tools of my trade and I currently have 8 broken in dogs with 5 to 6 younger dogs at different levels. I need 8 broken in dogs so that they can be rotated during the work week so they can maintain reasonable body condition. In the summer time this is most important as we experience very high temperatures and Kelpie is renowned for it's work ethic.

Kelpies are my breed of choice and are selected for allround ability which I think is crucial in my line of work. In other words I like a dog that is good in the paddock as well as good in the yards. This is probably why my kennels contain 90% kelpies.

My hobby is dog trialling and I compete in Arena tirals ( 3 sheep ) yard dog trials and Utility trials with my same team of work dogs.

The National Kelpie Championship is the trial I put most importance on as it is a utility trial and the dog that wins it is generally the type of dog that I am trying to breed.

The trial roatates from State to State each year and sometimes involves a lot of travelling but all the best handlers and best dogs seem to turn up each year.

I was lucky enough to win this event in 2005 and be Runner Up in 2006 and 2007.

All my life I have been around dogs as my father always worked on the land and relied on his dogs for a living. He also has the same hobby and I have learnt much from him.

October 11   Fun Trials -  Sheep, ducks and cattle and a mix, Three command trial, Pole bending, barrel racing.

October 12 National Kelpie Trial - Sheep (woolie cheviot) and Cattle (Organic Dairy faciliity) - Competion levels  Encourager, Novice, Nursery, and Open.  Must be a WKI member to participate. Kelpie and Kelpie mix only.

OPEN - Fenced pasture, sorting, yard work. Field work will have 3 challenging obsticles that you need to stand in one position and not help the dog.
Nursery, Novice - Smaller course
Encourage - Smaller pen with easier obsticles.

Evening events:  days not scheduled.
Dr. Bill Davis - Genetic talk
Kelpie item auction or things from your area
National Meeting

Directions and Motels on my web site.  There are many nice B& B in the area if you are interested in that type of stay please let me know.