Showing Sheep - Raising Sheep - page 388

One or two days before the show, for meat and dual-purpose breeds, clip
the belly and the insides of the legs, then bathe and rinse the animal. For wool
breeds, card the fl eece well and lightly clip to shape the wool, then follow
with a bath. This should be done a week to 10 days prior to the show, so there
is plenty of time for the fl eece to dry completely.
Warm water is preferable for washing, and as you're working around the
sheep's head, try to keep both the soap and the water out of her eyes and
ears (sheep hate it as much as people do). Use a hose with fairly light water

SHEPHERD STORY REVISITED

In the Ring
R EBECCA KRINSKY (née Roberts) was the national ambassador

for the National Junior Suffolk Sheep Association when the last edition
went to print. Ten years later she is married and has a fl ock of Hampshires
with her husband that they show together; in addition she continues to show
sheep with her dad. His fl ock, raised primarily for the club-lamb show world,
includes Oxfords, Suffolks, Shropshires, and Wether Dams (a Suffolk cross-
bred to be part of a terminal breeding program). “We go all over the country,”
she told me, “showing our own sheep, showing for other breeders, or fi tting
their sheep for shows.”
Rebecca has been showing sheep since the ripe old age of 7, and as a result
she has had the opportunity to meet different people, to travel to many dif-
ferent places, and to learn life skills that she probably wouldn't have learned
without her sheep project. I asked Rebecca what advice she gives to young-
sters just getting into showing: “Kids need to know that any sheep can win on
any given day,” she said. “It is a judge's opinion, so they shouldn't get down if
they don't think they did as well as they should have on a particular day. I've
seen a lot of parents want to give up or blame it on the kids, but that doesn't
help. It's very important to be positive with the kids. That doesn't mean that
they can't be given constructive criticism, but keep it positive.
“Another thing I see frequently is that the fi rst time out the kids are ner-
vous. That's understandable, but the problem with nervousness is that the
sheep senses it and becomes nervous, and the judge can sense that too. He
won't look at you and your sheep as closely if you seem nervous. The way to
minimize nervousness is to be well prepared. That means practice! If kids go
out and haven't taken time with their animal, then they are not up to par, but if
they have practiced, things are so much easier, and that will get the judge's eye.”