First Place:  1

Entry number: 586

Exhibitor: prd

State: MO

Sheep name/number: 782

Breed: Cross

Website: www.dotyclublambs.com

1 is best ribbed, heaviest muscled ewe that is more uniform in her body depth from forerib to flank,  is laid in flatter at the point of her shoulder, and longer and bigger hipped than the other slick shorn white pelted ewe.  As a bonus in relation to the production of heavy muscled club lambs, she is the wider topped, deeper twisted ewe that is fuller and more expressive  in her lower leg, and I would predict her not only to be the most productive ewe, but should also produce heavier muscled offspring if comparably mated.

Second Place:  3

Entry number: 603

Exhibitor: admoser

State: IA

Sheep name/number: 9112

Breed: Cross

Website: www.moserclublambs.com

Sure 3 is more feminine about her head and neck and is shallower through the floor of her chest, unfortunately she is not a wide from hooks to pins, cuts up in her flank and flattens in her lower 1/3 of her leg. 

Still in the middle pair of contrasting ewes, it is her balance and structural correctness that aligns her over the blue pelted ewe.  3 is sounder in her skeleton, specifically is longer and leveler down her spine, is flatter and squarer in her dock and more elevated in her pasterns

Third Place:  2

Entry number: 592
Exhibitor: Hughey
State: NC
Sheep name/number: Cabby
Breed: Suffolk X

I’ll be the first to admit that the dark fibered ewe is the biggest racked ewe that is plumper through the center portion of her leg, but in reality when considering the production of club lambs, she is rounder and tighter in her rib design, rough at her hip loin juncture and rolls out of her dock, and I would question her long-term functionality as a brood ewe.  With these faults aside, she still offers more club lamb look from both the profile and rear view as opposed to 4.  She is simply longer sided, more extended through her front end and more muscular down her top and in all aspects of her hip and leg.

Fourth Place:  4

Entry number: 633

Now there is no doubt that the ewe in the wool is deeper sided and leveler in her dock from the profile.  But actually, she is short necked and appears to be the earliest maturing lamb.  Most importantly, when viewed from the rear, she tapers extremely in her dock, is flat legged and extremely shallow twisted which consequently should result in slower growing and lighter muscled offspring, so she is last.