[Jacob-list] Back From the National Western Stock Show!

[Gotothewhip at aol.com]

Well.. It was a LONG weekend.....But we had a really good time!
 
The show went pretty well.. We had to show against all of the Non-Fine  wools 
in the Nat. Colored classes.  Some of the classes ended up pretty  large.
 
I was pretty tickled that my Feb ram (He was Grand CH at Estes Park) Won  his 
class, and ended up Res. Champion.. Being beat out by a REALLY nice  
Icelandic. But beating a Big Lincoln, some romneys, karakuls and Navajo's.   We were 
1st or 2nd in all of the ram classes, and sometimes 1st AND 2nd!
 
The judge didn't care for my ewes as much as other judges.... I took  
criticism on a Nov 2006 ewe, that we sheared in June (She was Supreme Ch at  Estes 
Park Wool Fest) that her staple length was too short.. but knowing when  she was 
sheared, made that easier to swallow!
 
We won all of the group classes, and also had Ch. flock.. so those are nice  
titles to have!
 
Dealing with the crowd was definitely a challenge.. We educated a whole  
bunch of folks on the breed, its history and uses... I did some hand spinning,  
for folks and had some Jacob products available for folks to see.   I need to 
add some pelts and felted material to the collection for next  year!
 
Prior to the show, we had a few problems... As we came back from grabbing  
some lunch to find one of my ewes who was asleep against the front gate COVERED  
in straw... Apparently some kid thought it was like playing in a sandbox,  
and buried her.. Although it wasn't funny at the time, looking back I wish I  
would have gotten a picture as it looked pretty funny!  Needless to say,  she 
placed like 8th or 9th in her class due to fleece condition!
 
We ended up having the most problems Sunday afternoon.  We let the  
out-of-state folks pull out first as weather was rolling in up north and  west.  So we 
had some of the last sheep there.
 
We had a 9 month old ram there, he has 4 horns, and although not my  favorite 
physical specimen (he has a slipped eye patch and only about 20%  black)   He 
is an INCREDIBLE ambassador for the breed.  He  doesn't mind getting petted, 
and allows folks to touch his horns (they are  always amazed how hot they are) 
...But he is fun to take with you as he is so  tolerant....But his patience 
was certainly tested!
 
I walked up to get my release sheet, and came back to find a woman shaking  
the gate like mad... I GUESS she was trying to get his attention?????
 
We had another problem within 15 minutes, when I came back from the  
bathroom, and this guy was shoving his palm against this young rams head trying  to 
get him to butt his hand.... JUST WHAT I NEED!  
 
And the last incident occurred  while we were loading up the ewes... I  came 
back from the trailer to have this guy LIFTING THE RAM OFF THE GROUND by  his 
HORNS!!!!!  His feet were off the ground a good 18 inches! I was  FURIOUS!  I 
came running and hollering to put him down and he LAUGHED AT  ME..... My 
husband had to PHYSICALLY take this guys hands off his horns!   And then said :No 
Habla Engish"...AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
 
The Supt of the show saw me after the 2nd incident, and asked me to stall  
front and center next year... That way the sheep should have more publicity..  
But he offered to station the barn security guard right next to them.  He  
liked having the extra traffic of the crowd, but understood my concern for the  
welfare of the sheep.  
 



**************Start the year off right.  Easy ways to stay in shape.     
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