Here are some of my first year purchases from the US. I could find nothing like them in Ontario as most of the flocks here were developed and maintained by handspinners who KNEW what the original Shetlands were like. You will find NOTHING like them in my flock NOW, though ... :-)
I LOVED these girls, but in their second and third fleeces ... they were very course!
I have none of these ewes left, and very limited genetics from them left in my flock.
In my defense, I wanted spotted Shetlands and the fleeces on many spotted Shetlands were LESS than desirable.
This ewe above, had locks of britch wool 14" long! OMG!!!
Something seemed to happen to Shetlands when they hit the US midwest. Not sure what or why ... but long flowing fleeces that blew in the breeze when the sheep ran across pastures just seemed to become what folks liked. Interesting.
5 comments:
while the fleeces on many of the ones in the dailley flock are shorter than the ones that you purchased from the u.s. i very much doubt if they would have much finer fleeces.
stephen
Oh my friend,
That is likely true. My point wasn't about fineness. I was referring to the difference in fleece type. For some reason, longer primitive fleeces became more popular in the midwest.
I have to agree Bill. Before retiring and moving to Wisconsin in 1997 I spent 6 years on the east coast visiting Shetland breeders and shows. While there were some breeders focused on longish, straight and mighty rough stock, the bulk of what I saw was much more like the photos you have shown.
After my move I simply assumed I would find the same sort of Shetland in the midwest; nothing could have been further from the reality. I was shocked to see a preponderance of Icelandic looking Shetlands and a general belief among breeders that this was precisely what the breed was supposed to look like.
Fortunately there are breeders here that have worked hard to maintain the original structure, fleece and quality of the breed.
I've often wondered if the Wooly Mammoth/small horse composition of the Shetlands here isn't just more of the same "bigger is better" mentality of the prairie history? I do know the maddening comments "we NEED longer double-coats because of our weather was little more than a sale's pitch by those who were selling that type. Perhaps each myth fed the other until the ill-proportioned, monstrously coated Shetlands were breed to the dominance they have taken here.
Thanks for the walk down memory lane.
Although I didn't find double-coats in Canada when I actually drove to Skerryvore, I did find many more intermediate fleeces and more upper limit single-coats than I had anticipated. The best ewe I found had a tail almost down to her hocks and there were horn issues and fuzzy tails on pretty large(intimidating in size)rams. So it isn't as cut and dry as anyone would want to believe.
As far as longer primitive coats becoming popular much of it had to do with the show ring judges who placed large animals first and went for abundance of fiber instead of quality of fiber. When those type of animals win all the awards beginning breeders opt to go for that type believing it is the "best". If you don't educate and regulate the judges, you can't possibly influence breeders towards a better end result.
I totally agree Karen with your observations after a visit to Ontario! I'm not saying that the Ontario sheep are BETTER sheep. I'm just showing fleeces as that seems to be where the greatest interest was. Folks had asked for a chance to see what the Dailley flock looked like.
The Skerryvore flock got their choice (from the Dailley Shepherd) of a ram to use each year. Once the Shepherd was fired, I think there was a fair bit of inbreeding went on. My greatest fear with Skerryvore/Cherrington sheep was always pastern/feel issues.
And yes, we have some pretty nasty tails here in Ontario ... as there are everywhere.
Some of the nicest examples of Shetlands that I own, trace back to Sheltering Pines and Wintersky lines ... :-).
And yes ... the show ring doesn't seem to be helping Shetlands, IMHO.
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