Brian and I helped Wally pick fleeces in preparation for showing:
Brian made a new friend (who he wanted to bring home, of course!):
And we helped show sheep, too. Wally made a clean sweep of first and second places/Champion and Reserve Champion in all his classes, earning him the Premier Shetland Exhibitor banner:
The judge, as is unfortunately so common, rewarded the biggest sheep over the smaller sheep, although his observations about fleeces and conformation were sound. I don't think my sheep would have done well there, but I came home with a renewed appreciation for what I have in my own pastures. And that was worth the price of admission!
Actually, we didn't have to pay admission since the fair hadn't officially started. We get to go for free again as a family next Tuesday, when Rick is the official fair vet. I imagine that will be a full, fun, exhausting day!
That's it for now from . . .
16 comments:
Im in Reno now for the state fair; no open classes this year so there wont be many wool sheep here I dont think. But I intend to have a ball :)
I've never been to a fair with a class for shetlands. We live in "meat" sheep country. It would be so interesting to listen to a judge who actually knew shetland sheep.
Have fun at the fair next week :)
Love the wooden sheep pens!
Enjoy the week :-)
What gorgeous sheep!
Wow - I think both of these sheep are really beautiful :-) I love the little black legs peeking out from the fleece on the second one :-)
Congratulations on your recognition. You have to go with the sheep you love, not the sheep the judge loves. It was great to see Becky today!
It has been awhile since I've looked at the double coated type shetland. I selected them out of my flock so only have the short to medium length fleeced sheep now. They look like a totally different breed of sheep than the crimpy Uk type sheep. They have incredible length fleeces for only 6 months growth.
It is interesting in that if you take one of the crimpy sheeps fiber and straighten it out like the double coats, the fibers are really not that nuch shorter. It's just all those crimps taking up the length.
I wish their was a shetland freindly show in my area. I stopped showing my fleeces at our local show when the judge at the last show who didn't know it was a shetland fleece he was looking at made a public display and told people not to buy my fleeces. This judge(a kurkral breeder) had a personal vendeta with people that overskirted their fleeces to make them more uniform. He thought that my fleeces were merino, and since they were only 1 lb instead of the usuall ten pounds that merinos are, he assumed that's what I had done. In his display to diswade buyers from purchasing my fleeces he took small samples and tore them up saying that it was a week fleece, making comments "do not buy this fleece". I had tested each fleece, and they all had a nice twang to them. You can tear any fleece if you take a small enough sample and snap it just right. Then to top it off they hid my fleeces under the tables so that no one could see them during the sale!
I'd like to show my fleeces at the local fair again, but I just don't want to wast my time if they were to have a judge like that one again. I don't show enough to know which are shetland freindly judges.
-Susan
What beautiful sheep! Sounds like you had a wonderful time. :.) I, too, fell in love with Shetlands the first time I saw them at the fair. Ended up buying two lambs that year.....then three the following year...all from the same breeder. Then branched out and bought from a few other breeders...even one in Oregon. Love my Shetlands!!
The fair up here starts in September. It runs from the 11th thru the 20th. I won't have my sheep there though. I'm too busy running the wool department and simply don't have the time to have my sheep there as well.
The judge that has come in the past for the Shetlands prefers the larger sheep with lots and lots of fiber on them. Doesn't really matter if they meet Shetland standards or not. All that matters is that they be large and have lots of fleece. It's absolutely amazing what you will see being shown.
Yes Susan, the "primitive" Shetlands are a different-looking creature than UK-type -- hopefully the same sound little animal underneath whatever fleece they have, but hard to tell in full fleece!
Tina, this judge was definitely "bigger is better." Both his champions had COARSE fleeces, which he commented on but he liked their structure and fleece consistency and character. Personally, I don't think a coarse-fleeced Shetland should place in a class unless the fine-fleeced specimens were really sorry specimens, because they are SUPPOSED to be a fine-fleeced breed!
Susan, I am so sorry to hear about your terrible experience showing fleeces. I know you breed for fine ones; hopefully you have an appreciative market built up outside of those show venues!
Very cool!!!
Have I ever mentioned that I totally love the name "Boulderneigh"? :)
Why no, Romi, this is a first! Thank-you very much; I love it, too. Don't think anyone else has ever said that, though.
Your gorgeous gorgeous sheep ALWAYS help me fill this animal void in my heart till we get onto our permanent farmstead with animals of our own...
and...
YES...You're right that tomorrow I go pick up our new dog (not a pup, he's about to turn 6)...but I won't say more till I post about it.....but you guessed RIGHT, wooo...thanks for sharing our happiness! :)
Robbyn
It sounds like it was an educational experience all around, Michelle. I am in agreement with you in that size should not be a criteria in showing Shetlands unless they are way too big, or way too small. Shetlands were small animals with really fine fleece - something we all need to keep in mind - although because most of our sheep eat really well and don't have to subsist on rocky pastures and shorelines, we tend to have larger Shetlands than they were originally. Somewhere there is a happy medium. But I do agree in that the structure and frame have to be there as well.
If only judging was objective. That's what I hate about showing...no matter how good the judge is, they are still human and subject to human foibles - even if they think they are objective, they are still governed by their experiences and likes/dislikes.
Brian looks like he is getting TALL! It looks like he really enjoyed the visit. Wally has some nice sheep and his black fleeces are gorgeous!
I'm not surprised because his sheep are lovely. Nice you all got to help him prepare, you can take a smidgen of the success home with you. :)
Susan, I'm sorry you had such a horrible experience with a judge who obviously didn't bother to educate himself about Shetland before judging anything. We have the same problems here in the Midwest.
The Dailley imports had soft crimpy fleeces with minimal outercoat. What we would call " single to intermediate coats". The extreme double coats and coarser fleeces started cropping up, and were not culled due to the fact that early Shetlands in NA were treated as exotics. Hard to cull a sheep selling for $2500, just because it is coarse.
If you look at photos of early Shetland sheep on Shetland Island, they were shorter stapled and fine. Even the outercoats were fine, not a lot of diameter difference between the outercoat & innercoat.
Then they were crossed with other breeds such as Scottish Blackface, cheviot, and merino. The Shetland Standard and breed description were written up to rid the Shetland breed of traces of these other breeds, but those traits still crop up from time to time.
I do like the variation in the Shetland breed, and I do think some variety in the breed should be preserved. But the fleece should be soft, regardless of how long it is, or how many crimps per inch. Just my thoughts.
People can breed for whatever they like, not my business. But coarse sheep should not be placed at shows. This is a fiber animal, coarse fleece is a DQ.
Post a Comment