A lesson in barber skills

Last week I had my first experience of hands-on shearing.  For me, not the whole sheep – that would take far too long.  No, last week was all about preparing for lambing, and as lambs come out the back end of a ewe, that was what we were shearing.  Two days of trimming bottoms.  I would hazard that this probably is not going to go down in my experience book as a favourite activity, but I will say that I had nice soft hands afterwards (despite the bits and pieces matted into the hair…less said the better) – all that lanolin. 

The variation in wool is quite amazing.  From tight curls, to luxuriously puffy fluff, via dreadlocks, to the Scotch mules and their extremely long and hair-like shaggy pantaloons.  Some were a quick trim – a short back(end) and (in)sides(of the legs).  Others you just have to dive in with the clippers because you know that somewhere deep inside is a sheep, and eventually you'll find a part you can recognise and can work from there.   Pantaloons become short-shorts, and long daggy tails turn out to be tiny little stumpettes that waggle as you work (occasionally dropping small gifts onto your hands as you shear away).

Before and after...

The whole process has also confirmed to me that sheep have no ability to translate another's experience onto themselves.  They watch curiously as their sisters are shorn, but don't see this as something coming their way.  And once done, I'm not sure that they even realise what has happened (except perhaps that their butts are a bit cooler).  However, they do have a massive range of facial expressions that show what they are thinking…