[tommytink]

Can anyone recommend any reading or videos that are good for someone starting out showing? Only looking at lambs as don’t have the facilities to do older sheep (keeping them in etc until shown) but not sure how to prepare them. Assume I don’t wash them like big sheep but do you brush them in any way?

Checked with breed society but main advice was about how to pick a lamb to show as opposed to the process. I almost don’t like to keep asking as I feel like I’m always doing it!

[Dan]

There's a basic guide to showing sheep on the Scottish Smallholder Festival site that might have some useful bits for you: https://ssgf.uk/exhibitors/beginners-guide-to-showing-sheep/

[silkwoodzwartbles]

What breed do you have? I only ask as turnout seems to vary massively depending on breed and age. We keep Berrichons and Zwartbles and I wash, card and trim the lambs the same as the adult sheep, but obviously have a lot more wool to work with when creating the desired shape.

You would probably pick up a lot of tips by going to the next show near you that has classes for your breed and watching the competitors preparing their sheep before they go into the ring (but save questions until after the showing has finished as it can get a bit frantic right before!)

Good luck and enjoy it - showing can be a lot of fun and it's really nice to compare stock that you've bred to others to make sure you're going the right way.

Edited to add - our adult sheep don't get shorn early and kept in like some do and we still get pretty ok results so don't discount taking older stock too. In fact, the shearling ram we took to Three Counties came in from the commercial ram field a week before the show to be washed and prepared as the one we were going to take had a fight with a gate and his knee swelled up and the replacement came 4th in his class.

[Fleecewife]

It varies from breed to breed. We keep Hebrideans and they are shown 'off the hill' ie just a bit of moss and grass removal but NO washing, trimming, polishing, brushing etc (some of those who win do stretch that a bit). Also Hebrideans are not shown as lambs.


On the other hand with Jacobs you can wash, blow dry, fluff, brush (for fleece on the hoof), polish, tweeze and primp as much as you want 

[tommytink]

One of the breeds says lambs are usually shown untrimmed in the summer. Does this mean basically showing them as they are?