If you have a flock of sheep and are interested in seeing how they compare against other sheep in your region, province/state or even country, a show is the best way to find out. Shows can be found in nearly every region and are usually an affordable event. Some of the biggest shows in Canada include the
All Canada Sheep Classic,
Royal Winter Fair, and
Canadian Western Agribition. At these larges shows you will see hundreds of sheep shown. Recently we took our flock to a much smaller and local show at the
Priddis & Millarville Fair where there was <100 sheep. Each of these shows, no matter how large or small has at least 1 judge who picks his/her top animals from each class. The animals are shown in separate classes based on their age and/or sex. Some shows have special classes which registered purebred animals show specifically in. These shows usually have classes where you show animals as pairs or group rather than the standard class which you show each animal individually. An example of this case from the Fair we just attended was the "Pen of Two Purebred Lambs" which an exhibitor could enter a pair of two purebred rams (intact males), ewes (females), or one of each.
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| An Example Small Class of 4 with a Judge(man in cowboy hat) and Ring-person(woman in blue) |
There are four main types of classes you can enter at each of these shows : purebred, commercial, market, and wool.
Purebred: Judged on specific characteristics. (Ex. Suffolk sheep are a black, open-faced breed. It's wool should be completely white without any black fibres.
Commercial: Judged on confirmation and ability to produce offspring.
Market: Judged on confirmation as well as market weight, finish, and amount of meat cuts on the animal. Over finished, over fat, or over weight animals will usually place above the under finished, under fat, and under weight animals as you will get more meat from the first animal than the latter.
Wool: Judged on quality of the wool. Not as common of a class in Canada as market, commercial or purebred classes.
The judge will place classes on his/her opinion and the top placing animals will usually be rewarded with prize money, ribbons, banners, or other prizes.
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| Champion Purebred Ewe with First Place Ribbon as well as Sponsored Bag. |
Leave a comment if you have any other questions, including those about how a Sheep Show works.
