Sheep Shearing School
In January, we hosted our 3rd annual Texas A&M AgriLife Sheep Shearing School. Sixteen students participated in the 3-day event. Students who completed the school are able to shear a sheep and/or goat from start to finish without assistance. Yet, it will require many more months of work before they are able to shear large flocks of sheep out on their own.
This school is one of my favorite events of the year. I did not learn to shear professionally until I was in graduate school at Montana State University. To be honest, until I had completed my undergraduate degree, it had never crossed my mind to learn. But, learning to shear has been one of the most rewarding things, I have ever done.
I know that it seems odd to want to shear sheep. From the outside looking in, it appears to be back breaking work. It is hard work but once you have learned to shear properly, it is not as bad as it looks. The aspiration to shear the next sheep better than the last sheep is addicting.
Shearing is a refined method and it requires about 50 strokes to shear an adult finewool sheep from start to finish. For each stroke, the sheep shearer must learn to hold the animal in the exact position and maneuver the clippers in a precise motion. Oddly enough, professionals liken sheep shearing to an artful dance. Each artist has a similar but unique shearing pattern.
Not only do I have a passion for sheep shearing but I also enjoy teaching others this skill. It is very rewarding to get to work with the same people for 9 hours each day for 3 days. We get to know the individuals, their backgrounds, and interests. I have no doubt that many of our student will continue this trade and provide shearing services to sheep and goat raisers for many, many years to come. This trade will provide opportunities for these students to travel all over the US and the world.
I could not do this without the dedicated staff at the San Angelo center. Jake Thorne and Kraig Chandler are passionate and dedicated shearing instructors who work at the center. We try to have no more than 3 students per instructors, so we have to bring in other professional shearers to help instruct. A good friend of mine, Ryan Keyes, came down from Livingston Montana to help us this year. Ronald Pope and Faron Pfeiffer help with wool education and demonstration on proper handling and packaging of wool and mohair. Plus, many more people on our staff attend to the needs of the students and the staff. The event is highlighted with a lamb lunch each day!
I encourage you to stop by the school in future years to see it first hand and provide encouragement to our students.
To provide feedback on this article or request topics for future articles, contact me at reid.redden@ag.tamu.edu or 325-653-4576.