As our showing classes have been sadly reduced again this year we’re going to run another web-based show. Members can email digital photographs of their animals to the Secretary to enter. All the pictures will appear on this website. This will be a charitable event and all the entry fees will be donated to the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution.
I know already that there are members of the Society who were unable to enter last year and are keen to have a chance in 2021. So if you’ve often wondered about showing your sheep but have hesitated to take the plunge at a local or county show, this could be your opportunity to dip a toe in the showing water and do some good for a worthwhile charity at the same time. And, who knows, there could be a rosette to show off as well.
Read on to see how it’s going to work:
- Dates
- Judging
- Classes & Entry Fees
- Entries & Photographs
- Image Resizing
- Show Rules
- Hints on Photography
- R.A.B.I.
Dates
Entries open Wednesday 30th June 2021
Entries Close at midnight, Monday 19th July 2021
Results Announced Week Commencing 26th July 2021
Judging
The Show will be judged by a panel of Society judges :
Mr S Brodie, Northamptonshire (Brockhall Flock 00008)
Mr J Bradley, Warwickshire (Bradley Flock 00738)
There will be 4 placings in each class, as well as a Supreme Champion and Reserve.
Judging will have to be on the basis of the submitted pictures only. Unfortunately no other information can be considered.
Classes & Entry Fees
| Class 1 | Ewe Lamb born in 2021 |
| Class 2 | Ram Lamb born in 2021 |
| Class 3 | Ewe born 2020 or earlier |
| Class 4 | Ram born 2020 or earlier |
To keep the numbers manageable for our judges, it’s going to be one entry, per class, per member.
Each entry will be charged at £5, payable to the Society.
Entries will appear on the website once the entry fee is received.
All entry fees will be donated to the R.A.B.I.
BACs payments should be sent to Barclays Bank, Sort Code 20-37-82, Account No. 93490351. Please use your flock number as a reference. Cheques should be made payable to “WHSS Ltd” and posted to the Secretary at the address below.
Entries & Photographs
Entries should be emailed to the Secretary at
Each entry should clearly state the member’s name and flock number.
For each class entered, there must be 4 pictures of the entered animal – front, side, back and from above.
The animal should be identified by its flock book number or, in the case of a lamb not yet registered, its Wiltshire Horn Society ear tag data, sire and dam’s flock book numbers. For male entries, the full name of the ram is also required.
Your pictures will be posted anonymously until after judging, when your and the sheep’s details will be added.
If you’re entering more than one class and attaching photographs to an email, it may be better to send multiple emails.
If you use Google Photos, then sharing a link to your photographs will be acceptable too.
Image Sizing
If the pictures you enter are too large, they simply don’t fit on our website. While the secretary can resize them, if you have the capability and have access to a Windows PC it would be a great help if you could adjust the image sizes like this:
- Make a copy of your original picture to avoid mishaps .
- Open the copy in Windows Paint (look under Windows Accessories)
- Select the “RESIZE” button
- Make sure the “Maintain Aspect Ratio” box is ticked
- Take the PIXELS option
- Over-type whichever is the largest dimension of pixels with the number 1500. This will automatically reduce the smaller dimension in proportion. The image will then have been resized and be suitable for the website.
- Save the resized image.
Show Rules
These are almost the standard WHSS Bylaws as they relate to showing, plus a couple of extras.
- All sheep shall be either entered in the flock book, or eligible for entry in the flock book, in the year they are being shown.
- All sheep shown shall be correctly ear-tagged in accordance with the Society’s current rules.
- All sheep entered in shows shall be presented washed.
- (a) No colouring, whitening or other agent shall be permitted.
(b) No shearing, trimming or dagging of sheep shall be permitted. - All Wiltshire Horn Sheep that are shown shall be true to the ‘standard type’ of sheep as described in Wiltshire Horn Sheep Breed Standard.
- (a) All rams two-shear or upwards shall have been used and proved as stock getters.
(b) All ewes aged two years or older entered in show classes shall have lambed in that year. - The handler should not feature in the photograph. It is more important that there is a good clear image of the sheep but if the handler’s arm (for example) is included that will be acceptable.
- Handlers are not obliged to wear white coats, although they may do so if they wish
Hints on Photography
- Fill the frame. This show is about judging the sheep, so the animal should be the largest thing in the photograph, NOT a dot in the distance.
- Take the picture against a plain background so that the emphasis is on the sheep.
- Be aware of the background and make sure there’s nothing it it which could detract from the sheep e.g. a tree sticking out of its head !
- Have the sun behind the photographer to avoid the sheep being in shadow
- Try to make sure the sheep is standing properly, square and relaxed if possible, showing itself to its best advantage.
- Take your pictures (front, back & side) square on to the animal, at the level of the sheep. If the photographer is looking down or sideways at the animal it distorts the perspective and you get short legs and big heads !
Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution
The R.A.B.I. has a vision that no member of the farming community should ever have to face adversity alone. To fulfill this they offer financial support, practical care and guidance to farming people of all ages, including farmers, farmworkers and dependants.
You may have read in the news about the financial challenges that charities are facing at this time and, unfortunately, R.A.B.I is no exception. They have had to cancel all their fundraising events until further notice and their level of income has fallen significantly.
The R.A.B.I. has been supporting the farming community for the past 160 years. This show is our opportunity to join in that work.
