Thomas Longton enjoys success with Spot and Tot

At Saturday’s trial, where the prize money was sponsored by Andrew Anderson, £319 was raised for the Leukaemia unit at Newcastle Hospital. William Mason judged the entry of 64.

Held in a parkland setting, the mainly flat course had a gather of 300 yards which could be taken either way. If lifted gently the Mule hoggs were quite good to manage, but were flighty if pressured.

Running at five, Thomas and Spot set a standard that failed to be beaten. As he ran out to the left, Spot’s sheep moved off to the right therefore his master gave him an additional whistle to ensure he covered them.

Spot kept nice control of his hoggs and had a particularly good line over the long cross-drive. After slight hesitation he penned his sheep to score 76 of 90 points.

With a late run Katy Cropper and Try matched the score, but were the runners-up on an out-bye decision. Spot was bred by John Ellis of Whitchurch in July 2006 out of Jill and he was sired by E. Black’s Rex.

Thomas bought him as a young dog from Stuart Bennett of Colne. Running Tess, Charlie Barcroft won the prize for the best New Handler.

Trawden

On Sunday, David Harrison judged an entry of 73 at the Trawden Spring Open which was sponsored by Brian Sellars. Rising gently to the lift the course had a fetch of 320 yards. Dogs were gathering either way until the late afternoon when the Mule gimmer hoggs began to pull strongly to the right.

Although in the morning they continued to be good around the course, after the first ten runs the sheep became awkward to pen. After being taken back they became more difficult when run a second time over.

With a mid-day run at 31, Thomas and Tot took the lead. After a clean outrun and lift, Tot lost three marks for minor line deviations down the fetch. He had a very tight turn at his master’s feet into the left hand drive and had good turns after both drive obstacles. Four points were deducted from his driving before he finished with a clean pen to score 83 of 90 points.

At 38, Shirley Cropper and Tess matched their score but were the runners-up on an out-bye decision. Tri-coloured Tot was bred in August 2005 by Richard Hutchinson of Littledale out of Hanna and sired by Jim Hutchinson’s Jim. Richard reared and competed with him in the nursery classes before selling him to Thomas.

Emma Gray hosted her first open trial on Saturday at Fairspring Farm, Northumberland. Sloping slightly downhill to the lift the fetch measured approximately 300 yards. As the sheep were drawing to the right towards the exhaust field many gathered to that side.

Worked in packets of four the Mule gimmer hoggs were good around the course but hard to pen resulting in about half of the dogs not getting their shed. Gordon Thompson judged the entry of 33.

With an early afternoon run Frank Whitfield went into the lead with Kyle on 81 of 100 points. However, at 29 Brian Bell and Moss took the title with a single point advantage on 82. Going to Brian as a pup seven-year-old Moss was bred by Mrs B. Walton of Barnard Castle out of Lynwood Nell and sired by I. Watson’s Mac.

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