25 years of shemozzling

After 25 years, the celebration of station shepherds and their dogs is still going strong in the small Rangitikei town of Hunterville.

Conceived over a beer at the pub 25 years ago to draw the country folk closer to their Hunterville village neighbours, the event quickly drew attention to the role of the humble working Huntaway dog in the Rangitikei and Kiwi hill and high country, as part of the Hunterville Huntaway Festival.

Richard Horrocks was one of the instigators and remembers that fateful day in the Hunterville pub.

“We thought about how to get the country and townsfolk closer together and I suggested a shepherds’ race loosely based on the South Island Cardrona Shepherds’ Run, and one of the other guys said, ‘that sounds like a bloody shemozzle!’ and so we had a name.”

Shemozzle is a Yiddish word meaning a state of chaos and confusion – a muddle, and describes the event well. It draws competitors and crowds from miles around, to what is essentially an obstacle course, run through and around the town, wearing a wet heavy sack with a dog by their side.

Starting off in an orderly fashion with dogs all tied up on a long chain ready for their masters to appear, it quickly turns into a huge shemozzle. Milling dogs, whistling and calling shepherds and an enthusiastic and supportive crowd – amazed at the shepherds’ willingness to take on mudslides, a beer at the top of the steep hill, an eating challenge (this year, boiled lambs’ tongues, dyed bright green for a bit of added yuck factor and very chewy) as well as many other water and climbing-based challenges feature – all the while racing and trying to keep their dog from getting mis-mothered and lost in the melee.

A huge chilly bin of young bulls’ testicles sat in the middle of the street after the event – the testes are picked up in the shepherd’s teeth and carried down the street from one station to the next making for an interesting sensory experience and a bit more ick factor.

One wonders if they are frozen for next year’s event – and how long those testes have been doing the rounds up and down Hunterville’s main street?

With up to 125 shepherds racing in the pinnacle event, the raceday card has expanded to include up to 500 primary, intermediate children and teenagers – who avoid needing the accompanying dog and have a cut-down version of the obstacles in their cross-country run. The 2023 race was completely sold out with huge waiting lists for entrants and each competitor got a doggy bag with a Shemozzle t-shirt for bragging rights and a stroke of marketing genius as an incentive to get their friends and classmates to turn up next year.

Inter-school and inter-station challenges bring more competitive spirit and the crowds flock in for a taste of rural hospitality and homegrown fun, complete with BBQ and icecreams.

Ancillary events like the bark up, the shearing contractors’ speed shear challenge, food stalls, bouncy castle and face painting bring all the fun of the fair, and the band playing and bar operating in the marquee just off the main street holds the crowd of shepherds and their flocks until the wee hours.

There is a lot of pride in the community on show, with sponsors going above and beyond and a party-like atmosphere and for any town-dweller along for the first time it seems like a slice of rural life like no other. Like an A&P show on steroids minus the sponge cake competition.

It’s a huge effort for a small community to stage each year, but well worth the effort for putting Hunterville on the map and bringing a huge amount of sponsorship into the village.

Richard Horrocks says he gave up cooking a pig on a spit after 24 years, but he still turned up to help carve it this year.

“We used to get burnout quite quickly organising the affair each year, so it’s great to see the younger generation stepping up to take on the job. It’s become really embedded in the community.”

A cross between an initiation event and a badge of pride in how many times the older guys can keep up the stamina, running the Shemozzle now has a veterans’ prize pool to cater for those who simply can’t give up the adrenalin rush of the big mudslide and the pool of eels in the main street and the tasty treats on the food table.

2023 OVERALL WINNER

Angus McKelvie and Red

MENS

1st Luke Lempriere and Colt
2nd Ben Wood and Lucy
3rd Luke Walkins and Ranga

WOMENS

1st Sarah Ulmer and Coco
2nd Jamie Howie and Bruce
3rd Annake van Rooyen and Jack

MASTERS

1st Nick Tipling and Thelma
2nd Ben Luscombe and Moose
3rd Christian Davies-Colley and Nim

STATION CHALLENGE

Otairi Station: Sam Duncan, Toby Proude and Taylor Hill

TEENS SHEMOZZLE

BOYS

1st Alec Ball
2nd Archie Giesen
3rd Hamish Cranstone

GIRLS

1st Hannah Byam
2nd Sophie Crofskey
3rd Alya Giesen

INTERMEDIATE CHILDREN’S SHEMOZZLE

BOYS

1st Lane Coleman
2nd George Gilbertson
3rd Lachie Flower

GIRLS

1st Maggie Lintott
2nd Emily Cameron
3rd Sophie Cranstone

JUNIOR CHILDREN’S SHEMOZZLE

BOYS

1st Joshua Addenbrooke
2nd Harry O’Neil
3rd Gus Lintott

GIRLS

1st Elsie Giesen
2nd Lily Wright
3rd Bella Parkes