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Cobber Challenge
NSW Kelpies team are the top dogs for 2022 Cobber Challenge Relay
This year’s Cobber Challenge introduced a new relay format for competitors, with teams of farm dogs competing across Australia and New Zealand to be crowned the hardest-working crew.
The 2022 Cobber Challenge Relay winners are a team of four, Koonama Working Kelpies. Cracka, Drake, Sorcha and Bundy have done their owner, Nick Foster – a stockman from Boorowa, New South Wales – proud.
“I’m on top of the world,” says Nick. The team have been busy managing over 20,000 sheep and cattle – mainly mustering and herding for the duration of the competition.
“I loved every minute of it. It’s helped me understand how my dogs work. For example, yard work is really tiring on them, but it was interesting to see they don’t actually do that many kilometres in the yard. It’s the mental effort that’s the challenge.”
Nick describes the Kelpies as part of his family, and in fact the four dogs are related. Cracka and Drake are brothers, and Cracka sired Scorcha and Bundy.
Article and Photos Provided by Cobber Chall bnnnnnnenge
“My dogs have also been doing trials throughout the entire competition. Cracka took home third place in the NSW Championship trials, and we’ve been in some local comps too. He won Murringo, an open yard trial during the competition as well.
“I can’t believe they can be doing this many kilometres, and then placing in trials on the weekends. I’m extremely proud of all my dogs.”
The Koonama Working Kelpies crew shared the GPS collar around, to track how hard they worked. Each day Nick picked one of the dogs to wear the GPS collar.
A few times, the dog wearing the collar recorded more than 60km in a day. That’s a lot of ground covered by this hardworking team.
“It’s been a crazy time. We had terrible weather, wind and rain. But it meant we had stock all over the place and plenty to do,” says Nick.
At the end of the three-week competition, the team’s average speed is 10.14km/h, their total distance is 853.7km, and they spent over 84 hours working.
The teams coming in second, third and fourth have been tight for the entire competition.
Representing Western Australia, Hill View Kelpies – Flick, Millie, Suzie and Tez – came in second. Ryan Eade and his Kelpies run 45,000 Merino sheep on a 50,000-hectare property in Bodallin. They also took out the top spot for speed, with an average of 11.1km/h.
Competitors for the 2022 Cobber Challenge Relay
• Nick Foster of Boorowa, NSW - Team ‘Koonama
Working Kelpies’ incl. dogs Cracka, Drake, Scorcha and Bundy
• Olly Hanson of Corinella, NSW - Team ‘Lost River
Kelpies’ incl. dogs Jake, Bowie and Hex
• Sarah Richards of Coolah, NSW - Team ‘Nerremen Kelpies’ incl. dogs Kora, Spud, Cash and Tank
• Georgie Constance of Binalong, NSW - Team ‘The Young Guns’ incl. dogs Belle, Beau, Murray and Jess
• Darius Cosgrave of Tintinara, South Australia -
Team ‘Superior Wool Merino’ incl. dogs Jip and
Boots
• Ali Hodgson of Greenways, South Australia - Team ‘Circus’ incl. dogs Opie, Becham Floyd and Midi
• Jordan Flemming of Fingal, Tasmania - Team ‘Redhead Kelpies’ incl. dogs Nuts, Claire and Nip
• Ryan Eade of Bodallin, Western Australia - Team
‘Hill View Kelpies’ incl. dogs Flick, Millie, Tezz and Suzie
• Taylor Bird of Mount Somers, New Zealand - Team
‘Hakatere Station’ incl. dogs Bruno, Kate, Tom and
Moss.
• Melissa Smith and Dan McKinnon of Skipton,
Victoria - Team ‘Anywhere Crutching’ incl. dogs
Caviar Keith, Roy, Pip and Jude
• Dane Simmonds of Myrniong, Victoria - Team ‘Parwan Prime’ incl. dogs Ruby and Tullyenine
• Jenine Jackson of Charters Towers, Queensland
Team ‘Team Turbo’ incl. dogs Whiskey, Buck and
Nick As farm manager, Ryan missed a few days early in the competition due to his management responsibilities – but that only made him thirsty for the top spot.
“I didn’t think we would catch up to Nick and his team, but I wanted to give it my best shot. It’s been an amazing experience seeing the kilometres my dogs do. It’s not even our busiest time, that’s in April when we’re shearing,” says Ryan.
“Congratulations to Nick and his team. And thank you Cobber for giving me the opportunity to be a part of this challenge.”
Parwan Prime from Myrniong in Victoria – Dane Simmonds and his Kelpies Ruby and Tully – took out third. With livestock constantly coming in and out of Parwan Prime, there’s always plenty to do.
“We work seven days a week. The Cobber Challenge Relay was fun to do. I would’ve been happy wherever my dogs ended up and it is so good to see what they do,” says Dane.
Tasmanian team Redhead Kelpies got edged out of the top three in the last few days. Jordan Flemming and his young crew of dogs – Nip, Nuts and Claire – work a 20,000-acre full-stock farm in Fingal.
“A huge congratulations to the winners, and all the teams this year,” says organiser Kellie Savage, Cobber Marketing Manager
“The Cobber Challenge Relay is an incredible celebration of working dogs and their invaluable contribution to properties all across Australia and New Zealand. Congratulations to all the teams for tracking their dogs across different terrains and weather conditions, and for sharing wonderful photos and videos of their working dog teams in action.”
Cobber Working Dog Food provides the fuel for the dogs competing in the Cobber Challenge as well as thousands of others working hard every day around the country.
Cobber Challenge with Darius CosgraveQ & A
Where are you from and what do you do?
I am from Tintinara, South Australia where I am the livestock overseer for Superior Wool Merinos. As a stockman, my dogs and I are part of a small team of four running 10,000 sheep on a Merino stud.
Tell us a bit about your team.
I’ve always had dogs, but I haven’t always been the best at training them. As I’ve gotten more experience, I’ve learnt more about how to rear and train. I’ve put in the hard yards with Jip and Boots and now I’m reaping the rewards. I purchased Jip second-hand, and she was that good, when I needed another dog I tracked down her breeder. That’s how we welcomed Boots to the team. Why did you want to join the challenge?
I entered the Cobber Challenge because I have a passion for livestock and working dogs. I just wanted to give it a red hot crack and show off my team of dogs.
I knew how hard my dogs work but it was interesting to see how many kilometres they racked up everyday.
I would recommend that if anyone is thinking about having a go they should sign up for the next competition it’s a lot of fun and it’s a good opportunity to show class your team of dogs!
Where are you from and what do you do? I am from Borrowa where we have several properties in the Hilltops region and my working dogs help me manage over 20,000 sheep and cattle. They work hard every day - they do everything from mustering, to shearing and herding. They also do lots of trials across Australia.
Cobber Challenge
Q & A with Nick Foster
Tell us a bit about your team.
We started 15 years ago. Cracka is the father of both Scorcha and Bundy, and Drake’s brother. I love their work ethic. They’re allrounders who would be up to do anything. They are a part of my family and they love my kids. Every day they get off work, they go find my kids.
Why did you want to join the challenge?
I entered the Cobber Challenge as I thought it would be interesting to see how much work my dogs really do in a day, let alone a few weeks.
What did you learn whilst competing in the Cobber Challenge and did anything surprise you?
I learned a lot about how dogs work in different environments and where they use the most amount of energy and do the most kilometres. What really surprised me the most, was just how many kilometres our dogs do, just to complete a simple task like moving sheep through paddocks.
I would highly recommend entering the Cobber Challenge to anyone as it was a really fun thing to do and great competition to be apart of.
