First Place:  1

Entry number: 617

Exhibitor: Holliterman

State: TX

Sheep name/number: PB

Breed: Medium Wool

I see 1 placing at the top of the class as he does command your attention.  He is very balanced in both his top and bottom lines.  He does appear to have a massive, wide flat rack and loin.  His loin edge appears to have depth.  He is long and level in his hip, square through the pins, deep in the twist, with tremendous lower leg muscle.

I would like to  see him a little more shallow in chest floor, clean him up a tad at the shoulder points, with a little more length of side, however, the 3/4 angle rear view does make him look long sided. (There is a reason breeders use this angle in their ads.)  1 is just a good complete lamb that should sort himself up toward the top of any class, especially if the judge is a power judge.

Second Place:  3

Entry number: 704

Exhibitor: dustydivider

State: CA

Sheep name/number: Tara's

Breed: Crossbred

The ewe lamb, 3, is the easiest placing lamb in the class and I see her placing second.  From the profile, she has the longest neck of any lamb in the class and it sits on top of the shoulder where it should.  She has the wedge appearance looking down her top.  She has the shallowness of chest that judges who like the "cool front end" like to talk about.

As compared to the first place lamb, 1, she is a little narrow over the rack.  She also has a little less width over the loin than the first place lamb.  She does have some slope to the hip and her hip is not as long as the first place lamb. She doesn't have as much depth of twist as the first place lamb.  She does stand wide in her rear legs and she does have adequate bone. Her main weakness when comparing her to the first place lamb is at the hip/loin juncture.  However, where she is a little weaker than the first place lamb at the areas mentioned, she is far stronger in those areas than the two bottom lambs of the class. That is the reason for the 7 point cut for the middle pair.

Third Place:  4

Entry number: 724

I'm placing 4 third and over 2 mainly due to a little more muscle in the leg.  Sure, I would like to level the top and bottom lines and I would like to see a longer side, however, I do see more depth of twist and lower leg in 4 than I see in 2. He just does not have the balance, muscle, or eye appeal to go any higher in the class.

Fourth Place:  2

Entry number: 630

I'm placing 2 at the bottom of the class based solely in the lack of muscle and flatness of muscle in the leg.  The lamb would look more balanced if his front feet were not set up on a board covered with the carpet.  You exhibitors who still set your lambs front legs on the top of your feet need to take note (it sure makes them look out of balance on the profile). This lamb just has a lot of structure problems.  Notice how he slopes over the loin, notice how shallow the loin edges are, notice the lack of lower leg muscle and how flat muscled he is in the stifle area. Also, notice how he hocks and stands on shallow bone.

again, I placed the class 1, 3, 4, 2 with cuts of 3, 7, 1.