Sheep Show Classes: Trimming

This class in a sheep show takes practice to get good at. For those who are familiar with showing cattle, trimming sheep is the equivalent of fitting cattle. The parameters for this class can change from show to show but here is some general information about the trimming class.

Who can enter the class?

Any sheep exhibitor who enters in the show is usually eligible to compete in the trimming class. Depending on the show, participants may have to supply their own lamb to trim or the lamb may be supplied for them. Lambs used in the class are upwards up 80 lbs. who have never been sheared or washed and may have had only minimal human contact and halter training depending on where they came from.

What is the objective of the class?

The trimming class tests the grooming ability of the competitors by giving them the opportunity to show their skills by preparing an ungroomed lamb for the show ring. With the proper grooming the look of a lamb can be altered, trimming the wool a certain way can accentuate the good characteristics of a lamb's conformation and cover up or reverse undesirable traits. There is a time frame so you have to budget your time wisely, usually competitors receive 45 minutes to work on their lamb. At some shows we have been to you have that time to trim a whole lamb, at others we have had less time but only had to trim half of a lamb (the other half was trimmed by another competitor). 

How do you trim a lamb?

Depending on the show competitors may receive the luxury of using a trimming stand. This device has a headstall to hold the head of the sheep in place to prevent them from moving and can be raised to a level so you don't have to bend over when trimming. If this is not offered you must tie your lamb snugly to a fence as you want them to move as little as possible.

First brush off any debris and clip off any large tags (clumps) of dirt or manure. 

Once your lamb is clean, begin carding. A card is a brush with bent wire bristles that is used to pull the crimp (wave) out of the wool to make trimming easier and smoother. When using a card do not pull it over the wool the way you would a normal brush. To card you want to pull the wool upwards or away from the body as this straightens the fibres. The paddle method of carding is done by pressing the card to the wool and pull upwards while flicking your wrist. Another method is to use one of your hands to part the wool and using the card to pull back the parted wool. Using either method the whole body of the lamb should be throughly carded, with the exception of the underside of the belly.
Once finished carding, you can now take out your hand shears. When trimming with these always make sure you are feeding the wool into the shears the right way. For example if you are working from left to right make sure the right blade of the shear passes over the left blade when cutting. To do the best job only trim small portions of the wool at a time and repeat opening and closing the shears quickly but don't move across the animal quickly as this will make your trim job chunky rather than smooth. The optimum area for cutting on the hand shears is about an inch from the tip of the blade so try to only cut with this part of the shear. Depending on how much wool you want to trim off you can angle the shears by pressing the bottom blade closer to the body of the animal and the top blade further from the animal so that more/less wool will feed through the shears. When trimming you should devise a pattern so you have a method that will make the trim job blend together. I find it easiest to trim the top line(back) first, followed by the sides, shoulder and front, back end and then blending the sections together. (post to come soon with trimming videos and hints for improving lamb conformation through trimming)
After you have finished trimming make sure to dust off any pieces of trimmed wool.
What is the judge looking for?
Since this is a timed event the judge will be taking note of how you spent your time (carding vs. trimming). Some judges emphasize time spent carding as it can make trimming the lamb a lot easier and make the trim job look smoother. For older participants completeness is important as they should have more experience and better time management skills. The overall transformation of the lamb is also taken into consideration, since the goal should be to change the look of the lamb for the better. Does the work done improve or highlight and features of the lamb? The lamb should also be cleaner (free from dirt and manure) and the fleece should be smoothly trimmed.