Experience shearing sheep? Want to develop your skills? Join us for this advanced class!

Class description: The school will feature the same immersive hands-on shearing training in a small group setting (maximum 9 students) that we utilize in our Sheep Shearing and Basic Care 101 course. This class, however, will be focused on the following three topics:

Crutching sheep
“Crutching” is the practice of removing wool from between the legs, around the rear end. Often farmers will want some or all of the belly wool removed in addition to the crutch, and all of these methods will be covered so that you are prepared for any of these requests from your customers.

Wigging Sheep
"Wigging" is the removal of wool on the sheep's face to prevent both wool blindness and the accumulation of vegetable matter (especially seed heads). In this course we will learn how to do it safely and efficiently.

Catch Pen Dynamics
This is the most important topic of the course as far as your body is concerned. Because the crutching process takes so much less time than completely shearing a sheep, you will physically have to handle and move many times more sheep in one day of crutching than you will in one day of shearing. In this course we will explore the methods and mindset necessary to limit the stress on your body while crutching. 

Daily Physical Fitness and Injury Prevention
Each day before, during, and after class, we will have dedicated sessions where we take you through warm-up, stretching, yoga, and body care routines that have been designed specifically for sheep shearers. 

Sheep Shearing Tune-Up (Time Permitting)
If there is extra time during the course, we will take you through exercises to sharpen your sheep shearing skills: specifically looking at footwork and positioning of the sheep.

Please note that this course –much like Sheep Shearing and Basic Care 101– is highly physically demanding, requiring your body to be in uncomfortable positions for extended periods of time. Guidance will be given to reduce discomfort, but registrants need to be aware of the physical nature of the class and come prepared.

Dates: October 11-13. Friday from 12-5pm, Saturday 8am-5pm, Sunday 8am-3pm.

Cost: Equity pricing scale ranging from $200-$400. Scholarships available. Equity pricing and scholarships available courtesy of Fibershed (scholarship application deadline 9/10/24).

Accommodation: Dormitory accommodation is available for an additional $20 per night. We highly recommend staying on or very near the site for the class.

Class prerequisites: Participants must have attended a shearing school/training. And/Or Participants must have shearing experience.
 
Registration closes on October 1/when filled.
Scholarship application deadline is September 10.

LEARN MORE AND REGISTER ONLINE HERE

Contact hbird@ucanr.edu or 707-744-1424 x1642 if you have questions regarding the registration process.