JUST two years after their parents were named champions at the Wando Vale Sheepdog Trials, the next generation of Celtic Kelpies breeders is making its mark on the time-honoured event.
Nine-year-old Miley Davies and sister Indy, 7, took their first runs around the local trial course in the Alma and Bert Donehue Memorial Encourage event on Sunday, both collecting awards for their partnerships with their four-legged friends.
As the name suggests, the section the girls entered encourages newcomers to give trialling a go, without the pressures of high-level competition, the award named after two of the founding members of the event.
In 2020, dad Richard took out the encourage in his first trial and mum Ali and cream Kelpie, ‘Gidgee’, followed that up with a win in 2021, while Richard and ‘Roxy’ took out the novice.
This year it was their daughters’ turn to shine, with Miley and Gypsy taking out second place in the encourage and Indy and Bonnie receiving the judge’s special award for their run.
Growing popularity of the Wando Vale trials, now running its 79th event, saw the event stretch to three days this year.
Full results will be published in next week’s Casterton News.
