First Place:  1

Entry number: 807

Exhibitor: heresheep

State: CA

Sheep name/number: 584

Breed: Hampshire X

Website: www.threesisterssheep.com

I’m starting the class with the rough sheared lamb number 1. From the profile, and I appreciate the correct angle of the profile picture. I see 1 as the most complete, balanced, structurally correct lamb of the class. He is very smooth in the front with proper depth of chest. He has a correctly placed neck sitting on top of his shoulder. He is very smooth at the points. He is very level in his top line and is the longest, levelest hipped lamb in the class. He is very correct in his rib design and shape with fullness in the rear flank. He is very correct on his feet and legs with good dimension of bone.

From the rear (and he would look wider and fuller over the rack if his front feet were touching the ground) you can see how correct his rack ties in to the the shoulder, the width and flatness of the rack and loin and how smooth his hip/loin juncture comes together. He is wide and square through the pins, deep in the twist with an abundance of correctly shaped muscle in the lower third. He is a tremendous prospect that should yield a high quality carcass and be very competitive in the show ring.

Second Place:  3

Entry number: 957

Exhibitor: 1AnimalCrazyKid

State: TX

Sheep name/number: Hot Shot

Breed: Medium wool

At first glance it would be easy to start the class with my second place lamb, number 3, especially when you see how wide and square he is over the rack and loin and power through the leg. However, when viewed from the profile you realize how short he appears in the length of hip when compared to the first place lamb, number 1. You also notice how he slopes off the hip compared to the levelness of number 1. He is an attractive lamb that shows balance, however, I question if he will have enough spring of rib and fullness of flank to be a really competitive lamb.

From the rear you can see the slope off the hip, however, he is wide through the pins, has tremendous depth of twist with a lot of inside leg muscle. To me, he is a little too round in his muscle design. He does stand correct on his feet and legs and because of the shape and design of his rack and loin he will get the attention of a lot of judges.

Third Place:  2

Entry number: 908

I find numerous problems in my bottom pair, 2 and 4, and to me this is a difficult placing because they are entirely different in body type. I believe the ewe lamb, number 2, has fewer structural problems than the wether lamb, 4, so she will placed third in the class.

From the profile I would like to see a longer neck as length of neck is a direct correlation with length of rack and hindsaddle. Also, the rough tie in at the hip/loin juncture really bothers me. With the amount of condition she is already carrying I believe this will become more evident with maturity. She also shows weakness in the pasterns and if this was a breeding class I would criticize her even further because of this weakness.

However, when we talk about being blown apart in the shape and design of the rib cage and full in the rear flank she greatly excells in this area compared to the fourth place lamb number 4. From the rear she is wide over the rack, wide over the loin and wide through the pins and she does have depth of twist and muscle through the lower third.

Fourth Place:  4

Entry number: 1021

Lamb 4 places fourth in the class. He has several structural flaws. First, from the profile his neck placement is too low. He is too round at the shoulder points. He is uneven in his top line and he slopes off the hip with a dock setting that is too low. He does have correct shape to his rib. From the rear he is too narrow behind the shoulder and over the top of the rack. He does appear to have some width over the loin and he does have width through the pins and depth of twist. I do not see him being competitive at a show where there is depth of class.

Again, I placed the class 1, 3, 2, 4 with cuts of 2, 4, 1. Your comments are appreciated....OG