[Jacob-list] Re: Showing

[BIDEWEE at aol.com]

In a message dated 7/3/2001 12:56:03 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
jacob-list-request at jacobsheep.com writes:

> As long as you do not take winning so seriously that you lose your 
> perspective of the breed, showing can be beneficial to the promotion of our 
> 



Well said Edie.  Bringing Jacob sheep to shows and fairs is one of the best 
ways I know of to get the word out about this unique breed.  

We show and we do it for three reasons; to educate people about rare breeds, 
to market/sell sheep and to earn premiums (which help pay the feed bill).  We 
have a very diverse looking flock.  Some of them are pretty, some are not.  
Some are light and some are dark.  We have all styles of fleeces, some finer 
and some coarser, some with freckles and some with quilting.  And because we 
try to keep diverse bloodlines, we have some that are primitive in build, 
some that aren't, and some in between.  Despite the variety, ALL of our sheep 
are purebred Jacobs, out of generations of purebred Jacob sheep.  

We DO NOT breed for shows.  We DO look though our flock prior to shows and 
select animals to take which we believe will best represent our farm and the 
breed.  And, based on the variety and diversity of the Jacob sheep I see in 
Region 1 (my only frame of reference) I'd say that the breeders here are 
doing a pretty good job of preserving these sheep in all the styles ALLOWED 
within the breed standards.

A few days ago Debbie B. noted "I just came back from a large show and none 
of the Jacobs that I would consider primitive looking even came close to 
placing. The judge considered them too small to be able to evaluate at this 
time".  I was at the same show (the Black Sheep Gathering) and my 
recollection is that the sheep whom the judge referred to as being "too small 
to be able to evaluate at this time" were the lambs.  The lamb classes were 
large and the lambs shown varied quite a bit in age, and there's no question 
that the older a lamb is the easier it is to evaluate.  And for the record... 
I'm not sure I agree that none of the sheep who placed could be considered 
"primitive looking".  

I do recall the judge stating a number of times that his placings were "just 
his opinion" and that "no one should change their breeding programs based on 
his opinion".  Those are important words to remember.  Placing well at shows 
is certainly nice, but it's far more important to understand your sheep and 
to know in your own mind if they are representative of the breed you've 
chosen.  If you're happy with your sheep then that's all that really matters. 
 And every now and then you get lucky and the judge agrees with you!

Back to skirting wool (sigh...)

Karen Lobb

bide a wee farm ~ registered Jacob & Navajo-Churro Sheep
bideawee at iname.com ~ www.bideaweefarm.com
19562 NE Calkins Lane, Newberg, OR 97132 ~ 503-538-7987


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