[Jacob-list] Link on ALBC's Web Page for Jacob Sheep

[Robert May]

Hello Don...

I wanted to let my friends at the ALBC know that Jacob
Breeders (who subscribe to the Jacob List) have been
having a lively discussion about a photo of a Jacob
Sheep that appears on a link on the ALBC's Web page.

The link takes one to the following site:
http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/SHEEP/jacob/index.htm

Going to that site, there is a picture (upper
right-hand side) of a "beefed-up" 2-horn Jacob ram. 
The photo credit is to a woman from Great Britain.

That site mentions the following:  The Jacob sheep is
indeed a unique breed in America. Slight in build,
with the narrow, lean carcass typical of some of the
ancient British Breeds...The Jacob is an old,
unimproved breed.   Asa a result, it is slight in
build, with ewes averaging only about 100-120 lbs...."

The Jacob ram pictured, doesn't even fit the
definition they included, and the ram isn't typical of
any (purebred) Jacob that I've seen here.

The Jacob Breed Standard developed by the Jacob Sheep
Breeders Association (JSBA) describes the conformation
of a (North American) Jacob ram as:

"Mature rams weigh between 120 and 180 lbs."..."Fine
boned with straithg back." "Rams have short scrotoms
holding testicals closer to the body than modern
breeds."

Don, the ram in that photo easily weighs over 200 lbs
and his scrotom hangs below his hocks.  It's
well-known that the Brits have crossed many of their
Jacobs with Dorsets to get a larger animal--something
that they may well have a right to do--and perhaps the
only way they could keep some of their Jacob genetics
going, but that ram is nothing close to either JSBA's
breed standard, or something that I would want to have
in my Jacob flock and it's not typical of the old-type
Jacobs that we have worked so long and hard to
preserve.

I would appreciate it if that link could be redirected
to JSBA's website:  http://www.jsba.org/standard.htm,
where a complete breed description is provided.

Have to admit that when I first saw that photo, I
thought of a (North American) Jacob ram on steriods.
With so many judges believing that "bigger" is always
"better" (in their eyes, not mine), is just doesn't
help our preservation efforts to imply that such a ram
is "typical" of the breed.

Don, please don't misinterpret this email.  We Jacob
breeders greatly value the hard work and dedication of
all of our friends at the ALBC--the same organization
that was instrumental in seeing the formation of Jacob
registries in this country, and we are eternally
grateful.

Please extend my best wishes to all of our friends at
the ALBC.

Kind regards,
Bob May
President
JSBA