Our Awards in Sheep and Fleece Shows
2020 International Online Virtual Shetland Sheep Shows and Awards
Sheep Show 1: Judged by Jennie Holden Wilde, United Kingdom of Great Britain
Grand Champion/ Best in Show: Our Glen Tamarack Mirabelle, 3 year old musket ewe (Sire: White Pine Agno, Dam: Glen Tamarack Talitha)
Sue Russo Trophy for best spotted or patterned sheep: 1st Place, Glen Tamarack Mirabelle
Small Flock: Second Place (Hoisin, moorit ram lamb, Patacone, Moorit yearling ewe, Harissa, moorit ewe lamb
Youth Exhibitor: First Place, Billy Schwartz, our grandson, showing Glen Tamarack Hoisin, moorit ram lamb, on our farm (Sire: Glen Tamarack Gamgee, Dam: OK Acres Balsam).
Sheep Show 2: Judged by Carol Precious, Canada
Grand Champion/Best Sheep in Show, Our Glen Tamarack Wasabi, Spotted Gray Katmoget Ram Lamb
First Place Lamb, Glen Tamarack Wasabi (Sire: Under the Son Mancera, Dam: Glen Tamarack Winifred)
Second Place Lamb, Glen Tamarack Kimchi, spotted gray katmoget, ewe lamb, Wasabi's twin sister
Sue Russo Trophy for best spotted or patterned sheep, First Place, Glen Tamarack Wasabi
Youth Exhibitor 1st place awarded to Billy Schwartz, our grandson, who helped us train sheep for showing and showed Glen Tamarack Wasabi in Youth Exhibitor Class
See full results for all virtual shows and competitions on Fine Fleece Shetland Sheep Association's Website
Online Fleece Show, judged by Jen and Rich Johnson, New York, USA:
The Best in Show, Grand Champion Fleece was produced by our 3 year old musket ewe, Glen Tamarack Mirabelle. It is such a pleasure to handle both Mirabelle and her fleece!!! We are grateful to Garrett Ramsay for leasing Mirabelle's sire WP Agno to us 4 years ago. Garrett trusted us with Agno when Agno was just a lamb. Agno's daughters and sons born here have all been wonderful Shetlands. Mirabelle is such a friendly, smart ewe and is an excellent mom.
We were blown away by these 2020 show results. See videos of our sheep being shown on my U-Tube Channel, Jeanne Dukerschein. (We followed a show routine provided by FFSSA. I videotaped the sheep we entered at home on our farm while Russ and Billy handled them. Then I submitted the videos for judging.) Thank you to the judges, show chairs and all who worked hard to make these shows and competitions safely happen during the COVID pandemic.
Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival, 2019, Jefferson, Wisconsin
Midwest Shetland Sheep Breeders Association Sheep Show






We have been showing our registered Shetland Sheep since 2012 and our sheep/lambs or their fleeces have placed in sheep shows and fleece shows under British, Scottish, and North American judges. We show mainly to learn to breed better sheep and to stay accountable to the 1927 Breeding Standard established for Shetland Sheep. We breed to the Appendix A, a revised Version of the 1927 Standard which breeders in Scotland, Shetland Islands, and all of the United Kingdom (U.K.) revised and use because they feel it results in softer, more resilient wool for clothing construction. Terry hand-spins and makes many items of clothing from our handspun and millspun wool yarns and handmade felts. While each type of Shetland fleece is good for something, she favors the “kindly” (finer, more crimpy,) single-coated fleeces as described by Appendix A of the 1927 Standard. Showing takes extra effort, but we have made many wonderful friends, have had fun doing it, and continue to learn a great deal about breeding high quality Shetland sheep with high quality fleeces. Halter-training our sheep to lead during a show makes them more manageable at home, too. We try to attend 1-2 sheep shows per year and also participate in up to 2 fleece shows per year. An approximate listing follows from the most recent shows, placings and prizes that our sheep and their fleeces (or items Terry made from their fleeces) have earned. The list is not all-inclusive.
Midwest Shetland Sheep Breeders Association (MSSBA) Show at the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival, Jefferson, WI, is rapidly becoming one of the largest Shetland Specialty Shows in North America. GT is our abbreviated flock prefix for "Glen Tamarack". Flock prefixes indicate who bred each sheep or lamb. Other flocks we have purchased sheep from include "Under the Son" (UTS), White Pine (WP) OK Acres, and Sheltering Pines (SP). Listing of our show placings by year follows:
Midwest Shetland Sheep Breeders Association (MSSBA) Sheep and Fleece Shows, Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival, September 7–9, 2018.
Sheep Judge, Jean Curtis, U.K.
Fleece Judge, Sue Thwaites, U.K.
Yearling Ram 2018, 3rd Place, GT Lancelot; 4th Place UTS Mancera
Pair of Ram Lambs, 2018, 4th Place, GT Gamgee and GT Lo’rien
Best Small Flock, 2018, 3rd Place GT Lancelot, GT Juliana, GT Nina
Sue Russo Memorial Award, Best Spotted, Modified or Colored Sheep 2018, 2nd Place, GT Juliana
FFSSA Sheep and Fleece Shows, Iowa Sheep and Wool Festival, Ames, IA, 6/16-6/17, 2018.
Sheep Judge: Sue Watson, Somerset, U.K.
Fleece Judge: Lettie Klein, MI, U.S.A.
Reserve Champion Yearling Ram, UTS Mancera
2nd Place Yearling Ram, UTS Mancera and 3rd Place Yearling Ram, WP Leego
3rd Place Yearling Ewe, GT Mirabelle
Grand Champion Fleece, UTS Mancera
First Place Colored Lamb Fleece, UTS Mancera
Second Place Colored Lamb Fleece, GT Thea
Third Place Colored Lamb Fleece, WP Leego
MSSBA Show, Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival, Sept., 2017, Jefferson, WI. Judges Susanne Mielke (sheep) and Lettie Klein (Fleeces)
First Place Senior Ram, Lancien Dundee
Third Place Ram Lamb, GT Lancelot
Second Place Pair of Ram Lambs, GT Lancelot and GT Dagonet
Reserve Champion Ewe, GT Mirabelle
First Place Ewe Lamb, GT Mirabelle
First Place Pair of Ewe Lambs, GT Mirabelle and GT Gussalyn
First Place Dam and Daughter, GT Garnet and GT Gussalyn
First Place Best Small Flock, GT Lancelot, GT Mirabelle, and GT Gussalyn
Second Place Best Fleece on Hoof, GT Lancelot
Second Place Adult Colored Fleece, GT Talitha
MSSBA Show, September, 2016, Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival, Judges Leslie Beazer (U.K.), Sheep and Lettie Klein, (USA) Fleece
Second Place Senior Ram, Lancien Dundee
Third Place Ewe Lamb, GT Spicecake
Pair of Ewe Lambs, GT Spicecake, GT Marblecake
Dam and Daughter, S’More Arabesque, GT Spicecake
First Place Best Small Flock, Lancien Dundee, S’More Arabesque, GT Spicecake
Second Place white lamb Fleece, GT Leda



Shepherd’s Harvest Fleece Show, Lake Elmo, MN, May, 2016
First place in moorit fine fleece, GT Pffefnuese, Third Place fine Shetland katmoget fleece, GT Spritz fine fleeced fawn katmoget fleece all-breed fleece show. Fine fleeced Shetland fleeces were judged separately from other Shetland fleeces.
FFSSA’s Estes Park Wool Market Fine-fleeced Shetland Sheep and Fleece Show, Estes Park, Colorado, June, 2016



MSSBA Sheep and Fleece Shows, 2012-2015, Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival, Jefferson, Wisconsin.There were some ribbons, but usually for yarn or items I made out of our Shetland wool. I earned some placings on hand spun yarns and a Reserve Champion Rosette on a hat I knit from our handspun, hand-dyed Shetland wool.
In the MSSBA 2012 “Make It With Shetland” Competition, I earned First Place in “non-wearables” Class for a large basket I designed and knit from our Shetland corespun rug yarn, which I had processed by Blue Hills Fiber Mill, Bruce, WI
In MSSBA 2014 “Make It With Shetland” Competition, I earned Reserve Champion with a hat I handspun and knit in from our moorit Shetland Wool and our white Shetland wool that I hand-dyed.
I have also placed well in a couple MSSBA Hand-spinning competitions–really like spinning our Shetland!


Wool in this prize-winning skein spun by Cami Basta of Pine City, MN is from the 7th fleece our 8 year old Traditional 1927® ewe, Sheltering Pines Velvet Night. Velvet Night still yielded FFSSA Premium Grade 2 Fine fleeces up through her 7th year (6th fleece) before her midside wool sample graded up to an FFSSA Premium Grade 3 Medium Fine on this 7th fleece in her 8th year of life. As Senior Members of FFSSA, we have a reputable wool lab micron-test every sheep in our flock annually and we track these stats on every sheep. The skein Cami spun shows beautiful heathering from a mix of age-related gray and black in the fleece. I am planning to knit a sweater from Velvet Night’s 6th Fleece, which I had millspun, blended with about 13% fine faded silver Angora Goatling mohair. Traditional 1927® Shetland sheep and wool often stays fine or medium fine as the sheep ages because these sheep have fewer guard hair follicles. Cami spun this yarn skillfully and with ease; Velvet Night has pearl or spiral crimp which some say is more challenging than conventional crimp to process and spin, but if the spinner just relaxes like Cami does and lets the wool lead the way, yarns spun from sheep with spiral crimp make wonderful woolen yarns that are soft, cushy, and warm. Cami bought some of Velvet Night’s rooed (2018 clip) rovings from us this summer while camping in our area. Conclusion: she made good use of a rainy weekend camping. Congratulations, Cami!!!

For those wondering about conformation, GT Lancelot, 3rd place yearling ram and anchor of 3rd place “Best Small Flock” in 2018 MSSBA show in Wisconsin, is a good example of
“straight legs and standing square on his legs”. He also has a correct head profile, very straight nose profile, even going into breeding season. The tiny bump on his nose near his halter line is normal for a ram entering breeding season, but one would not want to see much more of a bump in profile than that, experienced breeders tell me. Note the excellent width of his chest, which contributes to his very square look. Conditionwise, he is um, overfed here, had nothing to do all summer except eat good forage, lol. He is going into breeding season with plenty of “energy stores”…could get by comfortably with less, although that is not HIS opinion… A long time Wisconsin breeder who has been to the Shetland Islands saw Lancelot at the show and shared “He is what the rams on the Shetland Islands look like”, which Russ and I considered a great complement and it made it grateful to all the good breeders who have helped us along the way.