Despite being in the thick of it with three young children on a busy sheep and beef farm, Owaka’s Todd Rowland had kept up his passion for dog trialling, and 2024 was his 15th year attending the week-long championship trials.
His foray into the sport began when he started his first shepherding job working for Grant and Robbie Calder in Lauder in 2008.
"I got myself a huntaway and Grant and Robbie showed me all there was to know about training and trialling."
A year later he had qualified his dog and ended up getting third overall in the South Island Championships.
"I didn’t realise the scale of what I had just done, to be honest. I was so green, I just thought ‘ah this dog trialling thing is a piece of cake’."
He conceded his initial impressions were very wrong.
"In order to be there as a qualifying triallist means any one of the couple hundred competitors there could take out the win. There is a big element of luck in the sport; to get the right run with the right sheep. But once those things line up, it’s what you do with that luck," he said.
It was to be 10 years before he made another island run-off, taking out fifth in New Zealand and seventh in the South Island Championships in 2021.
Mr Rowland gave a lot of credit to the bosses he had worked under over the years, who have each helped him in the sport.
"After I moved on from the Calders, I worked under Scott Hunter at Rocklands Station and then Ginger and Johnny Anderson at Omarama. Each of them has helped me in some way."
He kept in touch with Grant Calder on a regular basis.
"He is a real mentor to me; I enjoy going through to catch up with him and have a training session."
It can be hard to keep up the training and club trial circuit when a young family comes along, and Mr Rowland credited his wife Sophie for being a staunch supporter of the not-so-family-friendly sport.
"She’s a hands-on country girl and knows how much it means to me. I don’t play footy any more so dog trialling is my way to still get off the farm and catch up with like-minded people."
Staying at a Blenheim motel with 11 other trialists from the South, Mr Rowland admitted there will likely be the odd late night throughout the week.
"I think almost every triallist has learnt the hard way what happens when you get carried away and have a bad run the next day. You tend not to do it again as you don’t want to let your dog down.
"We’re all there for the same reasons; to enjoy the company of others but also be competitive. And everyone is very accepting if someone slips away early."
There was a fair bit of doom and gloom in farming at the moment and Mr Rowland reckoned a week away with quality company would be a good antidote before the long winter ahead.
"It perks you up a bit and keeps you going," he said.
