First Place:  3

Entry number: 1364

Exhibitor: Sheepherder007

State: OK

Website: www.coleclublambs.com

I start this class with the 3 ewe because she provides us the best blend of functionality, structural organization, skeletal width and femininity. She is a deep bodied, bold ribbed ewe, who is the most opened up in her foundation and the biggest ended. Even with all of her mass, she still retains femininity through her front end, and studies correct in her lines and joints. If I want to get critical of her, I would like to pick her up at the base of her chest, and see her set her feet squarer from hock to ground.

Second Place:  1

Entry number: 1258

Exhibitor: shootingstar

State: TX

Sheep name/number: Fiona

Breed: Hamsphire X

Website: www.haleclublambs.weebly.com

Following in a close second is the 1 ewe. She is contrasting in type from our class winner, but still presents us a high quality package. The blue tinted ewe is long and extended through her front skeleton, her neck ties high into a flat and smooth shoulder, and views even more elevated in her chest floor than our class winner. From there, she progressively deepens back into her rear flank, and paints a nice silhouette from the side. She stands second for me today as I study her down low and from behind. She is more closed up underneath when compared back to 3, she comes in at her knee, toes out off her front end, and tapers back into her dock.

I can understand where some might switch our top duo, depending on the priorities and needs of their specific operation.

Third Place:  2

Entry number: 1260

The 2 ewe is definitely the deepest through her center body, and offers some shape to her rib. She gives us an easy keeping, low maintenance look, and we in Texas aren’t too far removed from the drought to forget the value of that trait. Unfortunately, from the side, she is not quite as unique as the two that precede her. She is the shortest and most compact about her head and neck, the deepest through her chest, and the shortest bodied. Of our top trio, this ewe is the narrowest out her dock and flattest through her leg. So I leave her third.

Fourth Place:  4

Entry number: 1356

The ewe rounding out the class is 4. Even though she is standing fourth today, she gives us a lot of positives to talk about. She is feminine in her look, and level out of her hip. I still appreciate the angles she presents in her lower skeleton as well. However for me, she also presents the most concerns. Her neck ties in slightly lower into her shoulder, due in part because she views to be straight fronted. She is the deep chested, shallow bodied female who rises into her rear flank. Although you appreciate the width through her pin setting, she still views the plainest through her leg and the narrowest based.