Home  Hebridean Breed  Badgerface Breed  Showing  Gallery & Stock for Sale  Latest News  Links & Contact 2009 Show Year Eglwysbach Show - August 8th Badgerface section judged by John Price, Garnfach, Llanelli.   At last, a dry and sunny show with an excellent turn out of competitors and visitors, but an early start, again, with 7 Badgers and 5 Heb up for show. First out were the rams, with Siwgr paced second with praise from the judge for his excellent confirmation, but Glyn just pipped it because of his stronger eye stripe. Owie the ram lamb was a disappointing fifth in a strong class, and the ewe lamb came in third. The ewe was placed third and the two shearling ewes third and fourth. The group of three were awarded reserve champions to a Torddu trio exhibited by Sioned Owen, Llwydfaen and the overall champion went to John Toppan’s torddu ewe lamb, reserve to Sioned Owen. We would like to thank John Price for his constructive comments at the end of each class; it always helps to know why a particular sheep has done well or otherwise.   Primitive class judged by Peter Tetley, Eccleshall. 5 Hebs made the trip, and it proved to be a very worthwhile one. Barny, the senior ram, took first in the ram class with Gifford, the shearling, third, Brightside Inchrory was second in her class as was the very badly behaved shearling ewe. Spot the ewe lamb kept up her record of winning her class, third on the trot, and accompanied Barny and Brightside to take the group championship. Barny and John Toppan’s Portland were pulled forward from the championship line-up, and after a few tense moments Barny was declared the champion. An excellent result on a lovely day, when the hebs attracted a lot of attention, and were again photographed for the Daily Post. Judge J. Price casting a long look over TWP03 Sioe Sir Fon / Anglesey County Show - August 13th. Torwens : Miss W. Morgan   Primitives : Someone said that there was a beer tent and a great night out to be had in the Anglesey show so I decided to leave very early on the Tuesday evening to ensure I had a enough time in the morning to prepare! Meinir was working so I had my work cut out taking both breeds up to Mona. It was the first time I had shown in Anglesey and with the pens deserted I unloaded both groups off with minimal swearing. The morning after came a bit early – the few beers to help me sleep in an uncomfortable van resulted in a bit of a headache. It was straight to work at 6am, with 5 Torwens and 3 hebrideans so sort out before 10, I was hard pushed. Unfortunately both breeds were on at the same time but in separate rings. Fortunately Dylan Jones from Betws y Coed took care of showing the hebs with a first place for Brightside the ewe, third with Barny and the shearling and reserve group champions. Meanwhile I was busy with the Torwens, Glyn the shearling ram continuing his winning streak, fourth for the ram lamb, third with the ewe and fourth and fifth with the shearlings. Glyn went on to win best male exhibit and a very close second with reserve group champions. All in all a very tiring yet enjoyable event which both of us hopefully will try again next year. Sioned Owen , Dyfrig Jones & Robin with the Judge - Reserve Group Champions (Primitives) Sioe Llanrwst – 15th August 2009 Another very wet and miserable day! Meinirs lead at the top of the sheep of the year competition was very slim and needed at least a champion position to remain on top. Unfortunately, it was not to be, however Spot the ewe lamb continued with her winning streak, as did Gifford but only third place for Brightside and Barny. The torwens did fair a bit better with Glyn again winning his class with siwgr second then second with the ram lamb and ewe lamb third with the ewe. The shearling ewe created a bit of a stir beating John Toppan to first place on home ground  - no hard feelings I hope John! The trio of torwens also took the best group and the shearling ewe went on to win champion overall with Bob Parry reserve with a fine torddu ram lamb. Robin in the interbreed championship with the shearling ewe. Sioe Sir Dinbych a Fflint Our first time at the show ended with a disappointing brace of 3rds and 4ths for the hebs. Not wanting it to sound like sour grapes, but the quality of judging was, at best, poor and the no-show of a steward for the class, requiring the mother of a fellow competitor to step into the breach, was for a large county show unacceptable. Sioe Sir Meirion With the tail-end of a hurricane due to hit, things did not bode well for our first attempt at this show, but thankfully the worst of the weather held off. The hebs were entered into the rare breed class, as no primitive section was scheduled, and the class was dominated by some fine Llanwennogs, one of which went on to reserve in the hill interbreed. Barny the ram was second in class, as was Brightside the ewe, Gifford was placed first, but Spot was for the first time unplaced. Giffard, Brightside and Spot were awarded reserve group champions to the dominant Llanwennogs. We hope that the organisers will take our plea for a primitive class for next year as it is unfair on both judge and competitor to try and compare the breeds, and at the end of the day the meatier, larger rare breeds will always win. Trefor show, July 11th Judge Mr. Lyn Williams, Fronhaul, Llandeilo Another wet and miserable day, but a good turnout of sheep all the same. Judge Mr Lyn Williams, fresh from success at The Royal, travelled a fair way to judge a good class of Badgers. Glyn, the shearling, repeated his success of last week, taking first and Siwgr third. Bubba, last years show ram, had his last run out (again!) coming second in class, and the ewe took first. The shearling ewes were placed second and third, the ram lamb second, but our ewe lamb was unplaced as were the group of three. The championship, and group crown, went to G H Jones, Nefyn and reserve to J Jones Toppan. Primitives Judge Mr.N Adams, Mynydd Llandygai Another good day for the hebs, Brightside Inchrory, the ewe was awarded first, Barny the ram was second and Gifford on his first run out was first. Mandy the shearling was second, and we took first and second in the ewe lamb class with Spot and Branwen. Two groups went out and were placed first and second, Gifford was crowned reserve champion to John Toppan’s Shetland ram. Meinir with Barny, 2 yr old ram (For sale) - Meinir with group in Interbreed - Robin with 2 yr old ewe North Wales Agricultural Show, Caernarfon 4/7/09 Judge: Mr Myrddin Parry An early start and a full trailer of hebsnbadgers made their way to Caernarfon show. Unfortunately it was bucketing down with the forecast predicting heavy showers all day. We soon offloaded and got the tent up over the pens to try and keep the fleeces dry. There was a good turnout as always and with the inspection of the ram lambs taking place at the show a large group of ram lambs. First out were the rams and very surprisingly against the Nefyn show champion Glyn was awarded first and siwgr third place with the judge commenting on his teardrops being a bit small. Then came the main shock of the day with our Shearling ewe finally managing to pip Toppan to first place (told you to watch out John!). The ewe was awarded third place as was Owie the ram lamb, who’s class was livened up when Efa, our 4 year old daughter, decided to let go of Macsen the ram lamb she was showing. Society Ram inspection day was also taking place and thankfully both the ram lambs passed.  Meinir had a good day with her Hebs in the primitive section packed with Shetlands, winning first prize with her shearling ewe – Brightside Inchrory and first place with a home bred ewe lamb who later went on to win reserve champion. Looking forward to Trefor next weekend. Left: ram lamb class. Right: Meinir with Anelog Spot. Sioe Sir Ceredigion, Aberystwyth 13/6/2009 Although regular visitors to the Dyffryn Ogwen show in Bethesda, due to lack of an official Badgerface Judge we decided to venture further afield and made the long trip down to Aberystwyth. With the time, effort and costs involved with the preparation of show sheep it is only fair to ask for classes with official breed judges. Although raining when we set off at 7 it soon brightened up to a fine sunny day and the temperatures soared.  Unfortunately there were no primitive or rare breed classes for the hebs so only the Torwens made the trip. There was a strong line up of Torwens and a handful of Torddu’s. After a brief television interview for ‘Ffermio’ it was time to show. It turned out to be a blue day and we had second places in all the classes entered. One of the main surprises was second for our ewe lamb – which was a last minute replacement with rather poor markings but as her mother was going we thought we’d bring her along too. We now have a three week break from the shows – until Caernarfon Show in July where we also have two ram lambs which we will try to get passed in the society  inspection to be held at the show. Lets just hope Caernarfon Show will be as good as the Ceredigion show which had something for everyone and obviously very popular. Judge Mr Neil Dillon. Siwgr All hands on deck Shearling Ewe Class against D. Williams Shearling Ewe Class against D. Williams RWAS Smallholder festival 16th May 2009 Judge Mrs J Langford Having loaded the sheep into the trailer and packed the van full of all showing essentials- sleeping bags, quilts, tarpaulins, crate of Magners, blow-up mattress etc, we headed off to Builth. We arrived to usual scene of organised chaos, but soon offloaded the sheep, and having washed out the trailer went to park up at our designated pitch  (right beside the stream which was a bit of an annoyance- especially after a few pints!). Morning dawned on a dull and showery day and following a full breakfast we set to work with the preparation and trimming turning out five fine looking specimens. First in the ring was the shearling rams with first place going to Glyn King (Gene Hunt of the Valleys as he was known later on that evening!) Second place to Siwgr and third to our ram Glyn (bred by TG King). Next in the ring were the aged ewes in which we came sixth out of 8 entries. The shearling ewe class had a total of 15 entries and we came a respectable 5th and 6th.  Then came the group of three in which we came second. All in all a respectable haul of prizes in a very tough competition that included a lot of quality entries. Robin Final preparations for the shearling ewe Siwgr and Glyn head to head Glyn ready to go Aged Ewe class   Sunday 17th May  Smallholders Festival Judge :- Mr Andrew Wear Again, Sunday dawned wet and miserable, but thankfully without the torrential rain of Saturday evening. An early start again to prepare the hebs, and try to get most of the gorse out of the fleece, heaven forbid that the judge’s hand be used as a pin cushion! Barnaby the ram was first up in a class of 3, against Boreray and Soay rams, he showed himself well, responding well to walking around the ring, and came out on top. The ewe was next, and she, like Barnaby, received favourable comments about her fleece, but on this occasion she was to be placed second to a Soay accompanied by adorable twin lambs. Mandy, the shearling, disgraced herself by refusing to walk around the ring even with an encouraging hand, but thankfully the judge was sympathetic and she was placed third behind the Portland and Shetland. The group of three class had three entries, the hebs, soays and boreray, and we were rewarded again with red rosettes. Next the championship, and the judge again keen on the animals movement wanted them to walk around the ring, and thankfully, Barnaby again behaved to be placed as reserve champion to the deserving winner, the Portland shearling of Gerwyn Jones Eglwysbach.   A very successful day topped off with a turn out for the group of three in the inter-breed final, although standing between the down breeds and the Llanwenogs did us no favours. A primitive breed is never going to be considered in this kind of championships, but it is right, as class winners, that they should take their place. We would like to thank the judge of the primitive section, Mr Andrew Wear for his feedback at the end of the classes, it always helps to know what’s right and what’s wrong for the future. Meinir. Sioe Amaethyddol Llyn - 4th May 2009 Judge T.G .King, Mynydd Cerrig, Llanelli Another wet and windy start to the 2009 show season. A total of 5 badgers and 5 hebrideans travelled down the road to Nefyn. The badger numbers were up on last year, which was good, seeing as Mr King had travelled a long way to judge the section. The quality of the entries was again very high with stiff opposition as usual from John Toppan and nice to see newcomer Gwyndaf to the show with his Torddu Ram. This was officially Bubba’s last blast and he did very well coming a close second to the overall champion from Caryl Jones of Nefyn. The season started well for our ram lamb – which got first prize and hopefully will continue to impress the judges in the Smallholders. We also came a very close second once more to John Toppan’s ewe lamb and breeding ewe – watch out John – we'll get you next time!   Breeding Ewe   Siwgr in a class of his own (literally) Bubba on his last outing (Maybe!)   The Hebrideans had an excellent start to the year, although problems with Orf had meant last minute withdrawals for some of the show team. Again our main rival was John Toppan with his Shetland ram, shearling ewe and new for 2009 a Portland shearling. A Hebridean friendly judge always helps, and we were rewarded with 1st for Goliath the shearling ram, second for Barny the ram, first for Mandy the shearling, and first and second in the ewe class with Charlotte and Inchrory. Charlotte topped it all off with the overall championship, and joined Barny and Mandy to take the group crown. Winnemore Charlotte in the Interbreed Championship ---------------------- We are currently preparing for the following shows during the 2009 season (All dependant on no weddings, funerals, contagious disease outbreaks etc !!): Lleyn Agricultural show, Nefyn - May 4th RWAS Smallholders show Builth Wells - 17 –18th May Dyffryn Ogwen Show – 14th June North Wales Agricultural Show Caernarfon - 4th July Eglwys Bach Agricultural show - August Anglesey Show Llanrwst Show Flint & Denbigh show And possibly the Royal Welsh Show (depending on how the season goes). Hope to see you there!  Email us: robin@hebsnbadgers.co.uk - meinir@hebsnbadgers.co.uk