First Place:  4

Entry number: 1439

Exhibitor: Fmc77

State: WA

Sheep name/number: Droppert 14205

Breed: x bred

Website: www.mikecummingshampshires.com

In this 5-11 month ewe class I find an easy place to start in the 4 ewe. For me, she is simply offers the best combination of maternal value and skeletal width, with the highest quality look from the side. She is a round bodied, soft centered female who is opened up in her foundation. She migrates that skeletal width advantage upward when you study this one down her top and from behind. The 4 ewe paints a deadly silhouette from the side. I love how refined she is about her front end and how her neck ties into the very top of an extremely smooth shoulder. Because she is elevated at the base of her chest and progressively deepens back into her rear flank, she also gives me that maternal wedge shape I like to see from the side. She studies long and level from hooks to pins and plants with an attractive set to her hind leg. The 4 ewe is a really nice female to go ahead and lead our class off with.

Second Place:  1

Entry number: 1371

Exhibitor: LLuscombe3

State: OR

Sheep name/number: PA 01

Breed: Suffolk X

In a close middle pair decision, I go ahead and give my nod to the blue tinted 1 female. Though she could be stouter in her lower skeleton, I still see her as being the easier keeping, more maternally inclined female of our remaining trio. She is a deeper bodied, higher volume ewe who appears to be larger outlined and higher performing. You study her from behind and she is stouter in her pin setting and center leg. Besides being a littler frail in her foot and bone work, I would also like to see her longer fronted, more opened up in her chest floor, as well as leveler out of her dock.

Third Place:  2

Entry number: 1415

After that, I find two to run in third. She is simply a stouter constructed ewe who is wider out of her pins and more pulled apart underneath. The 2 female does get deeper about her chest floor, harsher about her rib, and tighter through her rear flank. But I still see an overwhelming advantage in skeletal width and muscularity to keep her over the 3 ewe.

Fourth Place:  3

Entry number: 1424

I can appreciate the added femininity, length of side, and softness of center body found in the three ewe. However for me, I read her as being too closed up in her lower body and foundation. She wants to get flatter about her forerib, tapers the most back out of her dock, and works the least amount of muscle over her frame.