going to naile

Yes, I did it....I went to a really big show with my little sheep. No, I didn't get a blue ribbon....but I did come home with some third through eighth places. Which considering the young age and size of my babies was pretty good.
I do want to recommend the "really big shows". I had a blast watching the big sheep, and the other livestock shows. There were lovely, friendly, people. I enjoyed meeting everyone. Folks even went out of their way to help, and show us the way the show at naile worked. Didn't seem cut-throat to me at all. If you ever get the opportunity to go to a big show....take it.....it could be a lifetime experience! I was so happy to be able to show my little sheep and help establish a show at naile for our breed. While I am on the subject....I need some children.....we want a big youth show there next year....anyone have some children who can hold on to a sheep? Mine seem to be all grown.
I did come away with some fears for the shetland breed as we take a spot at similar shows....concerns about size and showing "in the grease".... big concerns about new unethical breeders growing our breed for the blue ribbons. Don't think I am talking about our present show breeders....they may raise sheep on the large size....but they are not out-side our standard....yet.....However, there are, breeders on the show circut....who will consider anything legal or illegal in their quest for ribbons, you remember painting the roses red? Now they paint the sheep black and white.....I think our board of directors should be considering the pressures on our breed for bigger and bigger sized sheep for shows....and try to preserve the smaller size too.

No.....if I have to raise those big shetlands to win blue ribbons, I don't want any, thank you. I'll be like Gail, just trailing my little string of little sheep behind me. Thanks, also, to Gail, who was so helpful in the ring. She did have it figured out that with my smaller sheep, I should place behind her....which didn't always work out. Sorry Gail.
I thought for the first time as a breed at naile....our shetlands caused quite a stir. They were as always, cute, and puffy....some more than others....we showed them with almost all of their wool....which was unusual in an arena where lincolns and merinos are washed....combed and fitted.
Lord, preserve our little sheep from the fitting work....those poor big sheep are shampooed in freezing rain....sheared half way on those fitting stands...where they baa constantly, some, mis-treated if they have the stupidity to fall off.....then pounded with wire combs and sheared again, painstakingly, into fanciful shapes that are supposed to cover up their flaws.
I don't want to find every shetland breeder shearing over their sheep before shows. Trimming belly wool and stray curls....to me....seems the next step to conforming to the show circuts. Some of those show breeders will do anything to their sheep to get a name for themselves....so watch who you sell to folks, or our sheep will be the next to fall beneath the shearing frenzy. I did see a few show breeders clamboring for the "big show shetlands" there.....I could see the wheels turning as they asked for certain sheep.....they could throw a few shetlands under the giant sheep already in their trailers....and get a few more blue ribbons and premiums at their shows.
It will take all of our ethics to avoid growing bigger and bigger shetlands to win blue ribbons. What a shame it would be if we preserved the size and colors on these little sheep for all these years only to waste all those efforts in a scramble to win.
I don't believe a shetland ram lamb should weigh 80 pounds in November.....what happened to the "small sheep" of our breed standard? Am I being silly on this point? Isn't an 80 pound fall lamb a "meat sheep"?
While I am on the subject....what is with this "combing" of our shetlands? Why can't we walk our sheep out of the pasture and into a show ring without what I call "back-combing"? Why don't our breeders want to show off the natural look of the breed?....well, this stupid looking combing does seem to make the sheep look fuzzyer, so if they want to comb and fluff their shetlands to win a blue ribbon...go ahead....I'm standing my easy care ground with my sheep.
Maybe we should have shetland judges look at sheep in the field?....So they know what a real shetland looks like? Ok, I am being silly on this point....they all look different.....clean sheep look better....and mine seem to like rolling in the mud. Oh well.....the next step to combing sheep seem to be trimming their curls to the same length.....I sure hope we won't go that route.
I will say that all the sheep at naile were judged by their size and length first....their wool quality hardly seemed to go into the equasion at all.....and these sheep were already as big as horses!
I disagreed with the colored wool judge....who didn't even touch the merinos...since they were smaller then the other colored-horse-breeds there. No wonder the shetlands can't compete with the naturally color wool class!
Well, we are lucky as a breed, to have the chance to show in such a place....and I was lucky to be able to go there too.....I hope many of you will make an effort to see what these shows offer our breed.
Got to go kiss my little sheep.