We are excited to have our first Shetland judge from the islands! Brian will be judging our Shetlands ‘on the hoof’ (sheep judge) for our 2024 Mid America Shetland Sheep show at Jefferson Wisconsin!

I am Brian Ridland, I was born in Shetland and brought up at Westerskeld. I have been involved in crofting / farming from a very young. I was always with my dad working with sheep as long as I can remember.

I have done a lot of showing Shetland sheep at shows in Shetland. I have judged Shetland sheep at all the Shetland shows except our local Walls Show also the main Shetland flock book ram sales. On mainland Scotland I have judged the Black isle show and recently the Royal Highland show .

I have very much enjoyed meeting all the various people involved in the Shetland sheep breed over the years and having met Jim Chastain from the USA in 1996.

It is mostly white Shetland sheep in our flock at the moment and a small number of grey sheep.

In 2008 I moved with my family to the island of Orkney when we got the chance to buy a farm there. We run Shetland cross cheviot ewes which are very successfully put to Texel and Suffolk rams. We breed pure Texel sheep also. The cattle on our farm comprises of a herd of pedigree Luing cows which we have bred since 2002 our commercial cows are Simmental cross Luings which go to Charolais bulls.

I have included photo of our champion ram at the Walls show 2023 and myself and my dad Jack and son Campbell with the champion ram and also winning all the white ram classes at the Walls show 2016 also a photo of a Luing sale bull at Castle Douglas Luing sale 2022 Catmoget ewes and lambs 2001

I am very pleased to be asked to judge at your show in September 2024 and we look forward to meeting you all there

Regards Brian , Fiona & Campbell

 

 

Meet our fleece judge for 2024: Miss Lisa Williams, Somerset UK.

Having owned Shetland sheep for just shy of 18 years, Lisa (and her young family) have worked hard to establish a small, quality flock of very fine fleeced, gray katmoget Shetland sheep in the South West of England and has had her fingers in a number of Shetland Sheep Society related pies over the last decade or so. She has sat on the SSS Committe twice and, as part of that, took the role of Judges and Inspectors Panel "buddy" prior to being a fully-fledged J&IP member in her own right once her second Committee term had ended. In addition, she was a member of the Committee's Risk Assessment Group and an active member of the SSS Marketing Group with which she wrote a number of articles for the Shetland Breed newsletter.

Lisa successfully shows her sheep, her fleeces and her wool-on-the-hoof entries annually and has a number of Best in Show and Champion fleeces under her belt.

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