Judges Show reports - 2022
Judge's report from The Royal Welsh - Mr J Jeffery
I am indebted to the Oxford Down Sheep Breeders Association for nominating me to judge the classes at the 2022 Royal Welsh Show. It is both an honour and privilege to judge at what must be the finest sheep show that one could participate in anywhere in Europe.
On the third day of the show temperatures had cooled to a comfortable 20 celsius and with judging kicking off at 8.30 am it was a perfect morning for exhibitors to parade their stock in the sheep ring.
I must commend all the exhibitors on the presentation and quality of their stock , this show like many others is the shop window of any breed and is a great promotional platform for the Oxford Down breed .
After carefully going through and judging the four classes of Oxford Downs put before me I found my champion in the form of the shearling ram or over class winner. This ram exhibited by Mrs. Caroline Clark was an excellent example of the breed, a big powerful sheep with great presence , a real eye catcher standing on four good legs, with one leg set in each corner . My reserve champion from Mrs. Lesley Parry was the winner of the shearling ewe or over class.
It was very encouraging to see the younger generation presenting stock before me , these young breeders are the future of our wonderful breed , well done to you all.
Finally I would like to thank Tudor and the ring stewards for making my job so much easier on the day , I had a tremendous time .
Judge’s report from Great Yorkshire Show 2022 - Mr O T Jones
It was a great honour to be asked to judge at the Great Yorkshire Show after a gap of about 25 years from my previous time. This was only our second Show here with our own classes after several years’ break, and it was nice to see keen exhibitors assisted and supported by family and friends, both inside and outside the ring. The sun was shining, and conditions were perfect, and I was ably assisted by stewards – Bob Richardson and Liz. My thanks to them.
There were some outstanding sheep forward in the ring, and the overall presentation had been very well done and were a credit to the exhibitors.
The most challenging class to judge was the ewe lamb as they were all of excellent quality and extremely close. After handling, I asked to see them run free to help me finally decide on the order.
My overall champion was an aged ewe from Michael Blackwell’s Crookgate flock. She had very good confirmation, stance, and all correct breed points.
The reserve went to a shearling ewe from Jack Richardson’s Rosedene flock. A stunning ewe and a very close runner-up.
Overall Champion
aged ewe from Michael Blackwell
Reserve Champion
Shearling ewe from Jack Richardson
Ewe lamb judging