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It just so happened that the first weekend, the campground at Tidal River was already booked out, so I was staying just outside the National Park --- and, coincidentally, fairly close to the town of Foster, which had its annual show on Saturday. So I packed up, drove over, and marvelled at a proper country show. There were cake judgings, there were rides, and there were timber sports!
Some of the competitors sure looked the part. Others... were really struggling to chop through their log at all, never mind in a competitive time. Limited depth of talent in a single country town :)
There were sheep dog competitions, which I have to admit I didn't understand the rules of, but...
...that didn't make watching the enthusiastic, clearly extremely skilled dogs any less enjoyable --- and from the looks of it, the dogs enjoyed the excitement just as much.
Doggie High Jump
Doggie High Jump
But the widely touted, and well-attended, highlight of the Foster Show is the Doggie High Jump. The rules are simple: A wall of logs is created, and each dog has three attempts to get over it. All dogs who manage go on to the next round, in which one log is added. Repeat until a winner has been determined. Behind the lopgs is a pickup truck, with some hay bails on it, so the dogs don't have to drop down nearly as far as they jumped up.
It all starts quite easy, with just two logs in the wall.
Of course, that doesn't stop the smart dogs from going around the wall instead of over.,.,. It's so much easier, and they still get to the same place :)
Bute after some more coaching, the rules sink in, and over he goes.
Another very enthusiastic dog, who also puts his smarts on show....
...picking up speed and...,
...heading straight around the left side of the wall!
For the more seasoned competitors, the contest looks to start in earnest
This little guy just made it look effortless, again and again, bouncing like a rubber ball
The wall is growing seriously tall!
And it's getting to the point where even some of the champions are having misses. Fortunately...
...the spotters are right there, and will gently catch any good boy who didn't quite make it.
And the dogs clearly know and trust being spotted!
And here is the winner...
...making it over the tallest wall! Just for scale --- those spotters were not small blokes! I reckon that's 2.7 to 2.8m!
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