[Rosemary]

I was chatting to a Ryeland breeder yesterday about timing of lambing and shearing and stuff - we don't show, because we lamb in late March and shear in June and I'm not ready to change that. The breeder was saying that s/he shears in March since the sheep are in to lamb anyway and that give him / her enough fleece to tidy up for teh show season - his / her view was that shearing earlier just gave more to be timmed off. S/he did make the point that judges should be judging the sheep not the presentation or, God forbid, the person on the end of the rope.

I wish I could get a "tick list" for assessing my lambs. I'll keep them all this year but will start selecting next year.

[robert waddell]

i watched the judging of the hampshires at the RHS      yes the person on the rope matters       yes you have to feed if you want placed          and yes it is only the judges opinion on the day   and the DRESSING does matter although the majority of the hampshires were dressed by the same guy               i have a lot more to say about the RHS but will post when i have time     my or i should say donnas first venture into showing is doune and dunblane on saturday  (with sheep)        then pigs the next week for yorkshire   

[kanisha]

Which is exacty my point re showing competition over grading does showing really promote the breed interest? the flashy stand out is always going to be placed above a sheep of equal merit but not quite so well presented. under a grading system the judging criteria are different.

[Fleecewife]

Ah - with Hebrideans, the grading and judging are completely separate, in fact the judge doesn't see how any animal has been graded.

I too have major concerns about showing certain sheep breeds, especially Primitives because of the, maybe unintentional, effect that the 'biggest is best' mentality has on the breed overall.  It also means in ALL breeds that genetic diversity is low, even in breeds with many thousands of animals - only those few animals which do well in the show ring will be used as sires and with AI meaning that thousands of offspring can be sired by a single animal, some breeds have major problems with vast numbers of animals being closely related.  In theory if they are all destined for our plates then it shouldn't matter, but some nasty genetic problems can be multiplied that way, as happened in Suffolks.

[Padge]

I'm with you there kanisha i don't think it promotes the true breed interest at all and to my mind just becomes about the money and prestige element. We're happy doing what we do and seem to have happy sheep. We had a call yesterday from a customer from ours who incidentally is a farmer.....to say the lamb he had from us was absolutely the very best he and his wife had ever had    so good in fact he felt it more than worthy of the call
That made my/our day  

[Padge]

I have to add tho that we do enjoy looking at the magnificent specimens at the shows in full 'show' condition they do look wonderful

Fleecewife we wondered why the jacobs we had looked so small against those we saw at the shows which were all huge......now we know

[feldar]

I feel that some breeds are going to be changed beyond repair, the old pictures of hamps show stocky good bodied animals but not the long lean giraffe necked things we often see now.Some of them are so huge you could stick a saddle on them
I really disagree with going to the ARR/ARR genotype for all rams as well this contracts the genepool even more. It is selective breeding to some effect and with this other problems start to manifest themselves; hardiness problem legs and loss of fertility
We almost have to run two flocks now one for the commercial man and one of traditional hamps that we can cross back to if we want to
Trouble is the sire reference scheme seam hell bent on us breeding leaner animals with lower back fat etc this is what makes the meat tastey!!

[feldar]

i watched the judging of the hampshires at the RHS      yes the person on the rope matters       yes you have to feed if you want placed          and yes it is only the judges opinion on the day   and the DRESSING does matter although the majority of the hampshires were dressed by the same guy               i have a lot more to say about the RHS but will post when i have time     my or i should say donnas first venture into showing is doune and dunblane on saturday  (with sheep)        then pigs the next week for yorkshire   

Yes i do agree, I once got told i had to do my apprenticeship before i would get a first prise and i replied; I thought you are judging the sheep!
BUT saying that not all judges are like that and if one i don't trust is judging a show i don't go. I must admit i prefer the one day shows where all lowland breeds are judged together, there is more reward when you are placed.
Showing is our hobby and we still do enjoy it epecially when the judging is fair. I do love talking to the public and the kiddies faces when they get to touch the sheep is brill.
Good luck with your showing