First Place:  2

Entry number: 684

Exhibitor: lammit

State: CA

Breed: Hampshire

I'm starting this class with ewe lamb 2 which I believe wins the class rather easy as she is the most balanced, complete ewe lamb in the class.

Every thing about this ewe lambs spells length, style,and power.  She has a long neck properly placed on top of the shoulder.  She does have some depth of chest, however, it balances nicely with the hip/loin juncture  to the top of the rear flank. I will grant she does appear to break slightly at the hip/loin juncture, however, age and maturity will take care of this.  I would like to raise her in the dock about and inch.

The rear view (3/4 shot) does promote her length, however, the length of the canon bone says she is medium plus in frame.  This view does show the massive width of the chest floor and she brings this width to the rear getting progressively wider as you travel down her rack and loin. She is more than adequate in depth of twist and expression of muscle in her lower third. She stands on a lot of bone and the amount of Hamp is illustrated by a lot of shag below the knee and hock.

Second Place:  4

Entry number: 694

Exhibitor: Sheepherder007

State: OK

Sheep name/number: 2290

Breed: Hampshire

Website: www.colewoolies.fatcow.com

I see ewe lamb 4 placing second in the class and I will admit I put her in the top pair based entirely on the rear view.  In fact, I checked with Crystal prior to placing the class to see if the two pictures submitted were indeed the same lamb. From the side 4 looks balanced, however, her length of side looks average.  She does show the desired rib shape but she appears short hipped.

This all changes when viewed from the rear.  In fact, from the rear view she is more impressive too me than the first place ewe lamb in the class.  She has a long neck sitting on top of the shoulder and she has the wedge shape that I like to see, especially in a brood ewe prospect.  You can see the spring of rib, the wide, flat rack and loin and that hip that appears short from the side view shows tremendous length from the rear. She is square through the dock, deep in the twist and has a lot of power in her lower leg.  She stands on adequate bone and she should make a real nice brood ewe.

Third Place:  1

Entry number: 660

I believe the bottom pair 1 and 3 are a toss-up, however, I gave a one point advantage to 1, the third place lamb in the class, as she is sure cleaner in the shoulder than 3.  1 is balanced, average in length, but from the rear she seems to slope slightly over the rack and loin. She has more than adequate depth of twist, has a lot of inside leg muscle, but appears rather flat in her outside leg muscle.  She has plenty of bone and a lot of shag.

Fourth Place:  3

Entry number: 685

I see 3 at the bottom of the class, however she does have plenty of thickness over the rack, loin, and lower third of the hip.  I believe her most prominent fault lies in her front as she is a little too deep in the chest, appears coarse through the shoulder, especially over the top, and is too round at the shoulder points.  She is a typical medium framed ewe lamb with good bone and some shag.

An interesting class to evaluate and again I placed the class 2, 4, 1, 3 with cuts of 3, 4, 1.