As many of you may well already be aware last week’s Royal Highland Show sheep section was dominated by talk of short tails and sheep possibly being excluded from the event for being inappropriately docked.
I resisted the urge to make mention of this matter until now so as not to detract from the achievements of last week’s winners. But now the show is over it is perhaps appropriate to talk about the issue.
Every sheep arriving at Ingliston last week was, at some point, inspected by Animal Health vets who compiled a list of those sheep with insufficient tail length. By the end of their two days of inspection they had a list of 45 sheep from 25 exhibitors. So, all in all a fairly small minority of the 1600 entries. However, it won’t surprise many of you to know that these sheep came from some of the biggest names in a number of high profile breeds.
Negotiations between the show, exhibitors and Animal Health resulted in those sheep on “the list” being allowed into the show rings, but with the warning that there would likely be an on-farm inspection in the coming weeks.
The upshot of all of this is that exhibitors at the Highland and a number of other shows have been warned that short tails will not be accepted at shows. As indeed they were earlier in the year in the pages of FW and other farming publications as the result of a press release from Animal Health.
I think the best tale (excuse the pun) I’ve heard this year is one class at a south west showing being recorded as “class dismissed” as the judges had been instructed not to award prizes to sheep with short tails – every sheep in the class had a short tail!
All in all it seems the rules, which have after all been in place for a good many years now, are being enforced a little more stringently than they have been in recent years. The simple answer then is that if you have a sheep with a short tail don’t take it to a show or anywhere else it will be seen.
I can see the point for welfare issues etc and I believe in having a tail that protects the sheep; and I hope the 2011 born ewe las and ram las won’t be docked so such extremities, but if we exclude the gimmers, ewes and shearlings that have already have short tails then we won’t be showing off some of the best sheep in the country. You can’t add anything onto their tails now, so why exclude them from showing in the future?!
If I buy in a sheep that I want to show, but has a short tail then it will but an end to my plans too. By all means teach the exhibitors a lesson by farm inspections/loss of SFP, but surely the public will want to see the “crème de la crème” of sheep, and the exhibitors will want a shop window for their best breeding stock?!
Sheepy, interesting points you raise there, but lets be honest about this the rule hasn’t changed in the last 20 years so everyone knows where they stand. OK so the rule is now being policed a bit more strongly than it has been in recent years, but then perhaps if everyone had stuck to the rule in the first place there wouldn’t be the trouble that’s now being experienced. Of course some sheep’s tails do shorten as they age/get more condition on them, but most experienced shepherds should be able to account for that when applying rings in the first place, although it is always a bit of guess work to make sure the ring is in the right place on ewe lambs in particular. Rightly or wrongly the rule is the rule and some of the ewes I’ve seen out and about this summer would never have complied with the rule even as lambs and that surely can’t be allowed to pass without notice?
I totally agree with you, and they need to start leaving more tail. I saw a lot of nice sheep with short tails at the RHS, and it is a pity to think even if the breeders leave the next generation with a longer tail, that the sheep born in 2010 and before won’t get back to the ring again.
Just a question, if this is the case, will it make an odds in the sales in the backend? I kind of doubt it, but I do wonder. Like you say, the rules have been on the go for 20 years and no one has really batted an eyelid.
What if I bought a ram lamb in August, that turned into the words most perfect shearling that I wanted to take out to show, I would be a bit peeved to think I couldn’t due to someone else docking his tail too short.
I think it’s fair enough to take action against people who have docked them short, but rather extreme to keep the sheep hidden at the back of the farm for ever more, ‘cause no-one can glue the tails back on, no matter how much they miss their big SPF cheque!
Can anyone tell me the logic behind short tails? To make the bum looked larger presumably?
Hello JL, ive been quiet I know, but Im back…been trying to keep the wolf from the door,one needed a ‘blow oot’ at the highland. The subject of the short tails, ive always been told that tails shud be like a mini skirt, long enough to cover the subjct and short enough to be interesting, but JL, in these modern times why r these breeders crying wolf….I think they were dam lucky to be kept in the show, the RHS should have had more balls and stuck to their guns, some sheep had more to show than you would see at a club in soho, do you not think JL? I must raise this point also, the showers and toilets for the stocksmen were a dam disgrace.I would have liked some of the ‘men in suits’ to have experienced what we as stockmen and women had to endure, the filth,lack of pressure of water and the extreme changes in temp of water. I would have been more comfortable being washed with the cattle, its not on. I know when were away from home its never the same but we are exhbitors not dogs!!!!!!
Couldn’t agree more WM about the tails, although my knowledge of soho clubs is obviously less than yours. They were very lucky not to have been sent home, seen it happen many, many times at shows here in the south and you wouldn’t believe the stunts being pulled by some to hide a short tail. Believe on at three counties even had a bit of extra wool stuck on to help hide the modesty! As for showers etc.. sadly its the same everywhere, too many people using too few facilities, but these big shows have got to up their game if they want people to keep coming back. That said at least they had the foresight to cancel Sunday’s parade, plenty would have pressed on regardless.
The toilets even on the tuesday were awful,nothing short of a disgrace, RHASS, you need to sharpen up your act!!!