First Place:  4

Entry number: 1060

Exhibitor: Syoung5

State: OH

Sheep name/number: Kennedy

Breed: Cross

I thought 4 stood out in the class, therefore, she places first. From the profile I appreciate the long neck. Sure, it could be more squarely placed on top of the shoulder, however, she is the most balanced ewe in the class. She exhibits great length from flank to flank. Smooth at the points, level and square in her top line with correct bone dimension for her breed and frame size. Great rib shape, fullness of flank with a long level hip.

From the rear she is wide and flat over the rack and loin, with a lot of loin depth. She is very square through the dock/pins, deep twisted with tremendous muscle through the stifle and lower third. She is just a tremendous brood ewe prospect.

Second Place:  3

Entry number: 1057

Exhibitor: Lambboy

State: UT

Sheep name/number: Channing

Breed: Hampshire X

The middle pair, 3 and 1 posed the biggest challenge . Both are good prospects, however, both have negative traits. 3 gets my attention. That’s why we wash and clip them before a show or sale. On the profile, I appreciate the extended neck properly placed. She is a little too round at the points, but, not much. She too is balanced, however, tends to be a little too deep chested. She has the correct rib shape and fullness of rear flank, however, she ties in rough at the hip/loin juncture, is a little short hipped and has too low set to her dock.

From the rear she is wide and flat over the rack,wide over the loin, however, I would like to see her loin edge raised. She is deep in the twist with a lot of muscle through the stifle. Bred to a buck that can level the top line and you will be in business.

Third Place:  1

Entry number: 1002

1, the ewe lamb that I placed third has a lot of brood ewe qualities. First, that average length appearing neck would be long if the handler lifted up and extended it. She is long and level in her top line and very correct at the points. She is too deep in the front and it does not balance with the rear, and, even though she has good rib shape she cuts up a little in the rear flank.

Now, when viewed from the rear she is wide over the rack, but, needs to square up in this area and her loin edge is too low. She is deep in the twist with a massive leg. In fact, when comparing her side view to the rear view she looks like two entirely different ewes. She sure has enough positive traits to go into the keeper pen.

Fourth Place:  2

Entry number: 1053

For me ewe 2 falls into fourth place, however, she is the cleanest fronted ewe lamb in the class. She has the neck extension that I always appreciate. She is clean at the points. She is extremely well balanced and she has length of rack and loin and is level in her hip. She does exhibit rib shape. Sure, I would like to see more fullness of rear flank.

Now, when viewed from the rear you can see why she falls to the bottom of the class. Compared to the other 3 ewe lambs in the class, she is too narrow over the rack and does not have the rack or loin shape type of muscle that is desired in top producing breeding females, especially, for the wether dam industry. She needs to square up over the rack and loin, and, she is only moderately deep in her twist and too flat through the stifle and too void of muscle in her lower third. Breed her to a ram strong in these areas and she could produce desirable lambs because she is super fronted and has a good profile.

Again, I placed the class 4-3-1-2 with cuts of 5-2-3. Let the discussion begin.