On the 16th of May, 2000, the great Rockybar Valerie decided it was time to retire from this life and move onto the next. We say she decided, because Valerie always decided exactly what she wanted to do in life.
As a sheepdog she won accolades in her earlier working life including the Bradley Trophy for 'Best type working Kelpie' at the 1986 National Kelpie Trial and the 1991 Australian Champion � Encourage at the Mudgee 3 sheep (Arena) Championships.
We acquired Val in 1991 at seven years of age from Stephen and Mary Bilson of the Noonbarra Kelpie Stud. They had purchased her as a puppy from Les Tarrant of the influential Rockybar Kelpie Stud in Queensland. The Bilsons had great success trialling and of course breeding with Val. She was the mother of the wonderful and famous Noonbarra Butch, the State and National Australian Yard Dog Champion.
Val and I trialled successfully, either her way or mine, for a few years and had a lot of fun. Our Koonawarra Downs Stud has two of her granddaughters and an exciting young great grandson, K.D.Valentine [Koonawarra Downs Rex X Noonbarra Maggie]. So, old Val will live on with us, just as she would wish.
We will miss you girl. - Merrilyn Mulcahy
Some comments from Stephen & Mary of the Noonbarra
Stud.
"In 1984, little Rockybar Valerie arrived by train from Queensland. She had been on order from the rockybar Stud for 12 months. We were in no hurry as we wanted the best pup Rockybar Stud could produce to suit our needs.
Finally Les Tarrant had a pup he thought would be suitable for us. He sent us a letter saying that when he picked up little Valerie she would want all the hugs herself and would growl at the other pups while she sat on Les's knee.
"One is darker than the others and this is the one I like for you. She is not excitable and climbs up on my knee and growls at her sisters trying to get there too. Very faithful and wonderful pup at this age, I think." - Les Tarrant Rockybar Stud
As a pup, we called Valerie the Rockybar Horror. She was a very mischievous pup and she was a very strong willed bitch. If she didn't want to do something then it was nearly impossible to make her. One of the things we liked about her the most was her very friendly nature. We used her in everyday work mustering goats and sheep and she was a very stylish dog with a lot of eye.
In 1985 we were asked to attend a Farmers Sheepdog Trial and we took Valerie who to our surprise won the trial. She went on to win and place in other trials over the next few years and many people commented on her sylish way of work.
Valerie's sire was Glendon Claude. He was a major sire in Queensland and his bloodlines can be found in a lot of dogs today. He was a big winner of sheepdog trials and even won the much coverted 1995 Queensland Championships.
Rockybar Valerie bred a number of excellent Kelpies for us including Noonbarra Butch, Boss II, Vicky, Pepsi, Bonny, and Tandy among others.
Merrilyn Mulcahy often travelled to trials with us and was very fond of Valerie and Valerie liked Merrilyn. So in 1991 she went to the Koonawarra Downs Stud and stayed there until she died. She did some good work there and ran in a number of trials. We often visited her to give her a pat and now sadly we can no longer do that. She will be missed by all who knew her. - Mary and Stephen Bilson (Noonbarra Stud).
