Wool Judging Course 2018

This year I taught both levels 1 & 2 of Wool Judging at the Manitoba Fibre Fest.  It was an intensive 3 days of looking at the good and bad in many different breeds and fleeces.   

At the end of level 2 there was a written exam as well as a practical judging portion.  Every student did exceptional!

Above are examples of some of the very beautiful fleeces which were excellent examples of their breeds.

This fleece on the other hand is a VERY BAD example.  It weighs 26 lbs!!  This fleece came from a medium breed with the locks well over a foot long.  It is a bit hard to see in the pictures but it also show canary stain which is unscorable.  This fleece shows bad animal health, bad animal care and it should NOT be supported in any way.  Locks WAY too long for breed type is not a luxury.  It is animal abuse.  This case was different from Shrek in the fact that this sheep did not escape and hide in the mountains,  it was living on a farm not getting sheared.  Yearly shearing is important for the sheep's health.  The sheep that carried this 26 lbs of extra wool would have been very uncomfortable.  It's skin would not be able to breath and bacteria grew rampant.  Please keep this in mind when you see overgrown fleeces/lock online or in the field.  

Most of our 2 classes were here for the certificate award ceremony.  Many thanks to Gerry (3rd from left) who coordinated the course as well as sourcing all the fleeces and providing an insight that was immeasurable to class participants.    Much thanks also to Wool Growers who provided learning materials, funding and backed the courses and provided the certificates.
If you are ever interested in wool judging keep an eye out for upcoming courses with the Manitoba Fibre Fest.