Ernie, 7, reads sheep better than most kids his age can read books

To succeed in the sport of sheepdog trialling, you need to learn to read your sheep, says Richard Davies.

It’s a skill his son Ernie, 7, is good at when he trains their whip-smart star kelpie Gypsy at the sheep farm the family manages at Elaine, south of Ballarat.

Field of dreams: Richard and Ali Davies and their children (from left), Ernie, 7, Indy, 9, Polly, 4, and Miley, 11, with dogs and sheep.Credit: Jason South

Ernie is firm but quietly spoken when he gives Gypsy commands, which calms her, Richard says.

“He seems to know where the sheep are going to go before they know,” the proud dad says.

“He seems to be able to be able to put the dog where it needs to be, pretty quickly.”

The pair hope that months of practise will pay off this weekend when Gypsy, under Richard’s command, competes against 17 of Australia’s top dogs in the Supreme Australian Sheepdog Championship.

Boy and his dog: Ernie Davies, 7, with the star kelpie he trains, Gypsy.Credit: Jason South

Gypsy is vying to be in a four-dog Australian team, to be announced on Sunday, which will compete against New Zealand the following weekend.

This international test is called the Wayleggo Cup – “wayleggo” is short for “come away and let go”, the command shouted by New Zealand musterers and shepherds to summon their dogs.

Richard, wife Ali and five of their 20 kelpies will compete in different categories at the trials held at Geelong Showgrounds over the next nine days.

The sport is called “three sheep dog trialling” in which each competitor has 15 minutes to get their dog to bring three sheep over to them, guide them through two posts, down a race, over a bridge and into a pen.

Ernie and Gypsy at the South-West Sheepdog Club trans-Tasman trial in Port Fairy in May.

“You start with 100 points and the judge takes points off every time you do something wrong, like the sheep go around, and not through the posts,” Richard says.

“The entrant, at the end, with the most points is the winner.

“It’s not about being the fastest. You’re probably better off going slower, being precise.”

Cheering on their parents in Geelong will be Ernie and siblings Miley, 11, Indy, 9, and Polly, 4.

Miley Davies, 11, and dog Try after winning in the Encourage section at the Port Fairy trials.

While Polly is too young to compete, the eldest three and their parents enter events as far away as Nyngan, near Dubbo, NSW.

Miley won her first Encourage, or beginner level, trial in May in Port Fairy.

Richard says that in an age when many kids are addicted to iPads, sheepdog trialling is a good activity.

“It teaches them that if you want to do well in that sport, you have to practise. They have to look after their dogs, too. When they come home from school they walk their dogs, train them and feed them.

“It’s pretty important, I think, for kids to learn that they’ve got to look after things.

“And you only get out what you put in with this sport.

“If you think you’re going to win, and you don’t practise, don’t put the time in, you’re going to be pretty disappointed.”

The children are fans of the true-life ABC TV series Muster Dogs but “they live it too”, says Richard.

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