First Place:  3

Entry number:  407

Exhibitor:  mm

State:  CA

Sheep name/number:  0118

Breed:  crossbred

The x-bred wether easily dominated the others with his combination of muscle and eye appeal.  In the top pair 3 easily beats 4 as it is the wider based lamb that is more expressive in his make up.  More specifically 3 is freer from fat and is still wider down his top and is bigger and more blown apart through his hip and leg.  He too ties higher from his neck to his shoulder and is neater about his rib design.

Second Place:  4

Entry number:  409

Exhibitor:  shootingstar

State:  TX

Sheep name/number:  17

Breed:  finewool cross

Website:  www.shootingstarshowlambs.com

We do like how fresh the speckle faced ewe lamb is, yet we faulted her and placed her second as she was plainer in her muscle shape, shorter hipped and slightly u-necked. 

Third Place:  2

Entry number:  392

In the middle pair, 4 balances up nicer from the profile standpoint.  She is smoother shouldered, stronger topped and leveler topped.  She too has the advantage in muscle thickness, particularly as she appears to be wider and squarer down her top.  We do appreciate the shape of muscle 2 has on the rear view and her stoutness of bone, but criticized her as she is weaker in her top line and more peaked in her rack.

Nonetheless, we still opted to use the Hampshire appearing ewe lamb over the Suffolk based ewe lamb in the bottom pair.  She has a definite advantage in her circumference of bone, width of body and muscle shape.  She is wider out her hip and is more dimensional through her leg. 

Fourth Place:  1

Entry number:  175

Granted 1 is really smooth in her shoulder and level in her dock placement, yet falls short in terms of stoutness and overall muscle mass.  She is frailer boned, pinched in her tail head and is the flattest through her leg.

Again we placed the class 3, 4, 2, 1 with cuts of 4, 3, 3.