Heckington Show

Just when we thought it couldn't get any better than Lincoln show... it just did..!

It all started way back last winter when in the freezing cold we were out fetching sugar beet and carrots to feed our sheep to get them ready for the 'show season'.....

Then in February we had them sheared by Roy Wood - not he of Wizard fame...!  It was a ridiculously stupid time of year to get them sheared.  It was cold and of course they had to be kept in because it was so cold...

Then a week prior to the show we managed to get hold of an old bath courtesy of my daughter and washed all four of them.  They then went back inside to dry off ready for their show trim...

On the Saturday - the day before the show - we carded and trimmed all four sheep on our brand new trimming stand.....

    

       

The carding helps to compact the wool whilst the trimming gives the shape.  They need a flat back, with square backsides and front. The heads are trimmed to give a masculine look on the rams and a feminine look on the ewes. ie a square face on the rams whilst a more rounded face on the ewes...

After a good dowsing in show dip - a secret formula - thanks go to Sid.! They had coats put on and were put back inside ready for an early off in the morning.  The coats serve two purposes. Firstly they keep muck ie straw and other debris from getting on the coat. Secondly and more importantly they compact the wool and give the coat that all over even look.

The next morning it was a 6am start to feed all the other animals and then load the sheep into the trailer and off we went to Heckington to the showground. Arriving at 8am the sheep were soon loaded into their respective pens....

    

Then it was the long wait, on a very hot day, before we went into the ring.  We sounded out the judge and were told by other people that he was a talkative man and bred Rylands another type of 'down' sheep.  Now that could be good or bad.. A. He would know what to look for, or B. He would favour them above the other 'wool' breeds.

We didn't get into the ring until after 12 midday and were entered into the 'Traditional Breed' class.

First off to the ring were the ram lambs....

   

Then the judging began....

   

We came second with one of the ram lambs and fourth with the other.  These were the lambs that we had entered at Lincoln and they had finished the other way round at Lincoln.  The judge told everyone why he had made his decision telling Carolyn that the ram she had would have finished 1st if he had not had immature testicles...not sure what that means, but anyway.... Some wag on the way out of the ring said that she didn't know wether he was referring to the sheep or me...cheek...!

Then it was on to the shearling ewes....

   

I had the sheep which had finished second at Lincoln whilst Carolyn had a ewe which had never been shown before.  Soon the judging began again...

   

I was sent to the corner after the judge had examined all the sheep.  Now was this a good or bad thing...?

   

We were soon joined by the other sheep which were lined up alongside us.  It was becoming apparent that we were in first place.  The next nerve racking bit is the fact that the order can be changed right up to the last minute.  As long as we stayed where we were we had won....

   

Carolyn was at present in fourth with the ewe she had taken.....

   

Then it was all over my ewe had been placed 1st and Carolyns' ewe had been placed 4th...

   

   

The sense of achievement was overwhelming.  These were ewes we had bred ourselves.  The judges comments after the judging had finished were almost beyond complementary saying that she was as good as the Texels and Beltex sheep he had judged in the previous weeks.  These are commercial breeds which are renowned for their good shape.  He also said that there were 2 classes, my sheep and then the others, she was that good...!  Well praise indeed coming from a man who has been in the 'business', way longer than I have or ever will be...

Because we had won this class we were then entered into the championship classes...

   

She went on to win the best 'shortwool' sheep and was then in the ring with the Leicester Longwool which had just won the best 'longwool' sheep to decide on the champion rare breed sheep.

The judge said that they were both very good sheep but to make a decision he would have to see them both walking.  At this point I just wished I'd done a little more walking with her.  Eventually after a lttle persuasion and an initial run I managed to get her to walk..  She finished as reserve champion, second to the Leicester Longwool, but we were so proud of her.  She was after all champion shortwool sheep....!

   

Next we were off to the grand ring for the, 'Parade of Champions', and of course to collect the silverware...!

   

To get her to walk in that heat was proving almost impossible so we had to latch on to other sheep which sh could follow...  Unfortunately we were stopped by a man with a microphone who did an interview with me in the ring.....

   

There was no way at this point that I could think straight, let alone give an interview in front of all those people.  He was asking questions I didn't have a clue about it must have and probably did sound horrible...!  Next stop was the grandstand and the presentation of the silverware...!  Unfortunately we had to get there.  She was really suffering in the heat and so was I.  All we both wanted to do was to sit under a tree with a celebratery drink...!  She was refusing to move until a group of Jacob sheep caught up with us and then we were off.....

Standing in front of the grandstand we were presented with our plaque for, 'Best Shortwool Sheep'.

   

Well that was a moment to remember.  We were both tired in the heat and with all the fuss but we soon had hold of the silverware...

   

...and were soon marching safely back around the ring....

   

...to the nice cool pen to display all the rosettes, and of course the silverware....

   

Again we must say a big thank you to Sid Cook for all his help, advice and of course his secret show potion.!  We are hopefully carrying on all the good breeding he has done over the years and this can hopefully now be seen in our small flock.

Also a thank you to Mr and Mrs Stubby.  Most of the pictures on this page were taken by them.  It has and will help us to remember our most successful day so far...

Steve Anderson