BEGINNING TO SHEAR 



63 



Figure 2 Opening up 

 the Fleece. On straight- 

 ening him up, assume the 

 position shown in Figure 2. 

 In this position the sheep is 

 practically held by the 

 shearer's legs. After shear- 

 ing up the throat as shown, 

 the sheep's nose is turned up 

 toward the shearer's should- 

 er and should be held there 

 until the side of the head 

 and neck are sheared. Then 

 the sheep's head can be 

 controlled by the shearer's 

 left arm while the hand is 

 free to aid in the shearing. 



Figure 2 



Figure 3 One Side of Face and Neck Shorn. Now shear- 

 ing down first side of body and around to backbone. After the 

 foreleg and the shoulder are 

 sheared as shown in Fig. 3, 

 the sheared leg is placed be- 

 hind the shearer's leg. This 

 practically stretches the 

 sheep's hide, gets the foot 

 out of the way, and gives 

 the shearer a nice surface 

 to shear over. As shown 

 in Figure 3, the shearing 

 should extend around the 

 sheep to within one or two 

 inches of the backbone, but 

 should not extend across it 

 as it makes rough and un- 

 even work. 



One secret of skillful Figure 3 



shearing is to always hold 



the sheep so that the skin over the part of body being shorn is 

 stretched smooth this prevents "nicking" or cutting the skin 

 with shears. 



