David and Jack Howells made history by winning the senior and Young Handler world titles (Photo: Phil Wilkinson)
A Welsh father and son have made sheepdog trialling history after becoming the first parent and child to win the senior and Young Handler world titles at the same World Trial.
David Howells, from West Glamorgan, claimed the senior crown with Wyverne Pip after coming through a field of 300 competitors from 34 nations at Huntington Farm near Lauder.
His 19-year-old son Jack Howells completed a remarkable week for Wales by winning the Young Handler title with Cydros Boss.
The five-day Sheep Dog World Trial 2026 was staged on the Runciman family’s working farm in the Scottish Borders, where fields normally sown with barley were transformed into the competition course.
David and Pip secured the world title in Sunday’s final, which was contested by the 16 highest-pointed dogs of the week.
Ireland’s Dean McAuley finished as reserve world champion with Joe. He was the only handler to qualify two dogs for the final, also placing fifth with his younger dog Jack.
McAuley and Joe had been crowned Irish National Champions only a month earlier.
Wales also took third place in the final through Angie Driscoll and Kinloch Carlos, while the country added another title in the inaugural Brace competition.
Kevin Evans won the Brace title for Wales with Kemi Ids and Valley View Dan, with Ireland’s James McCloskey second with Dollar and Oak Bruce.
The competition, held for the first time at a World Trial, requires one handler to work two dogs simultaneously.
Skye crofter Seumas Campbell secured third place with Queen and Shadwell Ceit.
Campbell said: “I'm so happy to see the World Trial so well done and so well supported, and I'm delighted to represent my country.”
He added: “This is the first time the Brace has been held at a World Trial, so to get onto the podium, and for it to be in Scotland, I'm just absolutely delighted.”
There was further success for the host nation as Team Scotland finished third in the team competition, behind champions Germany and runners-up France.
Scotland’s team score came from runs by Hamish Mitchell with Dan, Chris Toner with Grace and Mace, Wullie Welsh with Heyshaw Fletch and Neil Campbell with Kinross Moss.
Duncan Robertson, from Inverkip, also represented Scotland in the main final with Derwen Roy, finishing joint 14th.
Thousands of spectators travelled to Huntington Farm for the event, which was held in the Scottish Borders for the first time and in Scotland for only the second time.
Grandstand tickets sold out before the gates opened, while both the official programme and World Trial gin were also completely sold out.
The event carried added significance for the region because of the Scottish Borders’ close association with the history of the border collie.
World Trial Chair and Scottish President of the International Sheep Dog Society Fiona McMillan described the event as “the biggest World Trial ever”.
She said: “I've been proud to bring this homecoming of the border collie to the Scottish Borders, because it's such an important place in the history of our dogs.”
McMillan also thanked competitors who had travelled long distances with their dogs to take part in the event.
A number of well-known farming figures also attended, including Borders-born shepherdess Emma Gray, Ben Best of Dalscone Farm, Hannah Jackson, known as the Red Shepherdess, and Tom Carlisle, the Dales Farmer.
Gray and Best helped explain the action to spectators at Expert Corner, while Best also joined McMillan in commentating on several of the final runs.
For the Runciman family, hosting the World Trial meant adapting part of their farming operation to accommodate competitors and spectators from around the world.
Dougie Runciman said: “It's been an honour for the family to welcome sheepdogs and handlers from all over the world to the farm, and to open it up for people to come and see it.”
The family had spent two years preparing for the event, with the final months involving substantial work to ready the site.
“We'd normally plough both fields and put them in barley, but we've made the farm fit what the World Trial needs,” Runciman said.
He described hosting the event as “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity”, with people from 34 countries travelling to the farm for the competition.
The combination of world-class sheepdog handling, a working farm setting and the event’s first visit to the home of the border collie gave the 2026 World Trial a particularly strong agricultural and rural heritage connection.