‘Honour’ to judge South Island trial championships

Northern Southland farmer Nicky Thompson has been selected to judge the straight hunt at next year's South Island Dog Trial Championships. She talks to Shawn McAvinue about her journey to becoming the first woman to judge an island championship.

Northern Southland farmer Nicky Thompson will judge the straight hunt at next year’s South Island Sheep Dog Trial Championships — the first woman to judge an island championship.

The 38-year-old said the selection was a "huge honour".

"My heart skipped a beat."

She had heard a "whisper" it could happen but she was surprised it had happened so soon.

Born and raised on a sheep and beef farm at Mangawhai Heads in Northland, she was 8 when her father Roddy gave her a huntaway called Dice, her first working dog.

"Dice didn’t like men and dad couldn’t get on with her. I quite liked her and got her broken-in enough to be quite handy as a farm dog for when I helped in the holidays and weekends," she said.

Her father was a keen triallist and competed in the South Island and New Zealand Sheep Dog Trial Championships at the Warepa Collie Club near Balclutha in May.

She had been hooked on the sport since yarding sheep at her first dog trial in Hobson, near Dargaville, at age 16, with dog Betty.

"When I was given Betty, she was an open heading dog and she taught me a lot. She knew what she was doing."

That same season, she had her first open win at Papakura in the long head with Betty and qualified to compete in the South Island and New Zealand Championships in Central Otago in 2002.

That event held at Lowburn was her first time in the South.

"I loved it. Great people and it was something different when you’re 16 and never been to the South Island before, " she said.

When competing, she used her grandfather Lou’s dog trialling stick.

She celebrated his 100th birthday with him in Dargaville last month.

Her favourite dog was huntaway Base, the first dog she broke in and reached championship level with.

"I’d love to have him again."

Her top finish at a New Zealand championships was with Base in Geraldine in 2014. The duo dropped off the leaderboard at the last change for the week.

"I had been in the top seven all week and missed out at the end — that’s the closest I’ve been to getting in a run-off."

About 18 years ago, she left Northland to work at Nokomai Station in Northern Southland, which was "a big change".

She then moved to work on farms in North Canterbury and started judging the sport in the Canterbury Centre about seven years ago.

Work opportunities brought her and her partner Simon Lee to the more than 70,000ha Glenaray Station in Northern Southland to run sheep, beef and deer from May last year .

"It’s a pretty cool challenge. It’s an awesome spot and a very cool community."

A member of the Waikaia Collie Club, she said the appeal of the sport was the people who took part in it.

"Dog trials is full of great people."

Even though triallists competed as individuals, they often travelled in a team and supported each other at competitions.

"You hope they have a good run. I like that side of it, it’s social and you get to see a lot of the country."

She had competed in dog trials for the past 22 years but life had been busy recently and she struggled to find the time to train any of her current pack of six working dogs and two pups to a level to compete in a championship.

"I’m fussy but for the last couple of years, I haven’t had the dogs to spin my wheels enough to go away and compete but the judging has kept me in the game and I’ve enjoyed it and you’ve got to put something back into the sport."

Women were judging club trials but it was a long process to reach championship level. The process includes attending training days and judging trials outside of your centre.

At the South Island Championships in Marlborough in May next year, her partner would play the "important role" of being her timekeeper.

His duties would include keeping time, drawing the line sheep travelled on a course map and deducting points, when she told him of penalties competitors’ had made.

Southland Centre president Steve Bellew, of Wyndham, had been selected to judge a head course at the South Island Championships next year.

When asked if she felt like her selection was breaking a glass ceiling, she said she felt a woman judging an island championships was a certainty because plenty of women had been competitive in the sport for a long time.

"Whether it’s me or someone else, it was inevitable it was going to happen because there’s a lot of females out there and we’re all treated the same and someone has to do their turn."

New Zealand Sheep Dog Trial Association president Pat Coogan, of Taumarunui, said it was wonderful a woman had been selected to judge the sport at championships level.

Dog trialling was "a game of equality and the respect is even both ways".

Men and women shared a "tremendous camaraderie" in the sport. Dog trialling was one of the few sports where both genders competed on a level playing field.

Women played a major part in the sport and "were bloody good at it".

"Only a fool would underestimate the ability of some of these girls."

shawn.mcavinue@alliedpress.co.nz