SHEEPDOG trialling is experiencing a quiet revolution in the outer urban suburb of Greenbank, where trainer Dale Formosa has fostered a dream to bring what was once known as an ‘old man’s’ sport back to Logan and the Scenic Rim.
After 15 years of running the Shaundar Herding School with his wife Sue, the couple is herding a new generation of sheepdog triallers with them.
“Most of these guys here are shift workers or similar and they come on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings to work their pets, and they find that their dogs cause a lot less trouble at home because they’re fulfilling the dog’s need to do what they’re meant to be doing,” Mr Formosa told the Times this week.
“People found out I was out here training the sheepdogs, and there seemed to be a lot of obedience and agility clubs contacting me because there was a need for people to be able to show their working dogs the sheep and bring out their natural instincts.
“I would say sixty per cent of my classes now are teaching people to compete with their dogs, because the need is there, in actual fact it’s got so good now that I’ve got a student – Mike Dungey – who started with me five years ago, and he just won the Queensland Supreme this year with a dog I bred and I trained with him.”
According to Mr Formosa, trainees travel to Greenbank from as far away as Ballina in New South Wales and the Sunshine Coast to participate in trialling classes with their border collies, kelpies and coolies, either pure- or crossbreeds.
“At the end of the day we’re here for these guys to have a lot of fun with their dogs,” he said.
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Trial circuit on the move
Mr Formosa was born at Blenheim on the South Island of New Zealand, and has trialled sheepdogs internationally. He also co-ran a sheepdog trial at Jimboomba for many years at the South Street Park.
“But we got pushed out of there with the AFL,” he said.
“I started running one at Kalbah, but we got moved on from there to Boonah, but I had to cancel it last year due to my health.
“I would love to bring trialling back to this area, but the trouble is we have to bring the sheep in from across the range because there’s no-one down here with enough sheep to have the show.
“You need three or four hundred sheep to run a trial with a hundred entrants. You work three or four at a time, and you’ve got to have fresh sheep for the finals.
“Boonah was an absolutely brilliant place to have it, the whole show society was right behind me and wanted me to have it, but it’s the fundraising. It costs about eight or nine thousand dollars to run it.”
According to Mr Formosa, there was a lot of public support for the sheepdog trials at Jimboomba.
“Sheepdog trialling has always been recognised as an old mens’ game,” he said.
“When I came into it I was considered fairly young. I was about 45.
“When we were competing for the parks to run the trials, the ‘old man’s’ sport got moved on a little bit, but it’s not an old man’s sport anymore, there’s a lot of young people wanting to get involved.
“At the moment here at Greenbank we’d have the most new people starting in Queensland trialling through this school,” he said.
“I’d love it if we could open up the Scenic Rim and Logan areas to sheepdog trialling again. Maybe the councils should work together?”
For more information about Shaundar Herding School at Greenbank go to their Facebook page via facebook.com/Shaundar-Herding-School-375214669156682/.
