Aug 31 -- state fair

We went to the state fair.

A friendly girl.

I know from reading shepherd blogs that sheep can be very friendly, with liberal application of skritches and cookies. (See Nancy's list of links in the side bar, for other shepherds who blog.)

We saw several sheep who came right up to us, looking for skritches and/or treats.




These next two are not only different colors from the first, but are different breeds (from her and from each other).






This guy is a monster! I have never seen such a big sheep. I know that one thing shetland people like about shetlands is that they are small and manageable. Looking at this boy, I understand that better than I did before.

He is getting ready for his close-up.

Critters at the state fair don't just lie around chewing and napping all day. They have to get primped so they can go into the show ring and be judged.




This Lincoln ram won his class. I'm not sure what the class was. For many many many generations of sheep, shepherds only wanted white sheep, as white wool can be dyed any color. Nowadays, natural colors are prized amongst hand-spinners, as the natural colors have a bit of variation and so make a more interesting yarn.

This class was for colored rams. There were three different breeds in the ring.

At livestock judging, the judge announces to the crowd (as well as the exhibitors) why s/he made the placements. (This is in stark contrast to dog shows, where no such info is shared).

This ram won as he is "growthy," has a lot of bone, and has a very nice fleece.

He did NOT like being on a halter, in a ring, standing still. He fidgeted and worked at escaping the whole time, which does not seem to have factored against him.

Gotta love the curls!




Another thing that is different from dog shows is that it is very common to have multiple handlers in the ring for one animal. We saw many instances of kids in the ring with parents (including one tiny boy -- couldn't have been more than three -- "helping" a woman show a heifer). The Lincoln ram is being shown by what looks like a mother/daughter pair. It was also common to see two adults with one animal. It seemed that one was doing the main task, and the other was assisting......