On May 1st and 2nd, I will be attending the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival in Howard County Fairgrounds, MD, between Frederick and Baltimore. This festival is the largest outdoor sheep festival gathering in the nation. I will be taking three sheep; a Scottie late spring ewe lamb (Lannah's lamb, Rianna), and two Dorset late spring ewe lambs (Connie's lambs, Britt and Nicole).
To prepare Rianna for show, I will rinse her wool with just water a few days before the show. I will completely soak her down and pick out the hay and forage that remains. The biggest challenge in preparing her will be training her to walk. Scottish Blackface sheep are renown for their "spirit", which can easily be translated to "stubborness". Training her is proving to be a challenge. She will be shown in the "long white wool" class, with Leicester sheep (long, curly wool), Windsadales (curly gray wool), and other Scotties. Her class will probably have somewhere around 10 lambs in it, a small class for the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.
To prepare Britt and Nicole, the first step will be halter-breaking them. This is much easier with the Dorsets. Despite their superior size, they are docile for the most part and will yield quickly. I will also shear their bellies. Because this is a wool show (compared to meat), I will not wash them or clip them. They will be shown in the Medium White Wool class with Dorsets, Columbias and Tunises.
Preparing for Maryland is the main thing that I am doing right now with the sheep.
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