First Place:  2

Entry number: 533

Exhibitor: vdfollis

State: TX

Sheep name/number: Bail-Out

Breed: Hampshire

2 is the most complete ram in class that better combines structural correctness, stoutness and overall muscularity.  Ideally, he needs to be stouter racked as he appears to dip and pinch right behind his shoulder.  Still he is shallower hearted and progressively gets wider and thicker has he comes back to his dock.  The Hampshire appearing ram is extremely long and level from his 12th rib back, and as a bonus is smoother shouldered, cleaner necked and has more turn to his lower and center leg than 4.  I predict him to be more versatile in a variety of breeding scenarios, plus inject that wedge shape into his offspring.  He also has some added stoutness of foot and shag to his leg that should add to the showring look of lambs as well.

Second Place:  4

Entry number: 559

Exhibitor: ers

State: OH

Sheep name/number: Indy

Breed: Southdown

The Southdown appearing ram is certainly bolder racked and fuller through his upper dock,  however he is deeper in the floor of his chest, bolder at the point of his shoulder, and flatter through his lower leg.  Still he has an overwhelming advantage over the two dark fibered rams, as he is a squarer patterned, straighter drawn ram that has an advantage in true muscle shape.  He is more upstanding in his rack shape, flatter loined with more defined edges, and deeper twisted.  As a later maturing ram, I would expect him to produce faster growing, higher performing lambs than the two natural colored bucks.

Third Place:  1

Entry number: 527

In the bottom pair of blue rams, I opt for the flatter and leveler dock of 1 in a close pair.  Yet, I still question the muscle shape and expression of the mottled buck.  In comparison to the other light muscled ram, he is fuller right out of his blades, more uniform down his top line, has the advantages of design and squareness to his dock, and appears to be much longer hindsaddled, and thus should sire better designed lambs that would rail a higher percentage of high priced cuts.

Fourth Place:  3

Entry number: 535

No doubt, 4 is a thin hided, long profiling ram, however in reality, he is poorer balanced, shorter loined and hindsaddled, too round out of his dock, and the lightest muscled ram in class that would have to be mated to extremely correctly designed stout constructed ewes to gain an advantage over the three that place above.