I would like to, if I may, retract in part a statement I had made several
weeks ago about whether I thought horns should be allowed on ewes or not for
the "Barbado sheep," if there were to be a new standard written to fit the
Barbado. This is from "my" point of view only and I am only sharing my
thoughts, not trying to convince anyone or sway anyone to my way of
thinking. I studied all the "hair" sheep breeds before I made a decision of
which breed I chose to raise, I came to the conclusion that I liked the
Barbado Blackbelly the best. I personally did not chose this breed because
of how proflic they are, nor that they are good weed eaters, nor that the
they tasted good, etc. I choose this breed because I think they are
beautiful. Maybe silly to you, but pleasing to my eye is important. I
would like to note here, that I would like you to understand that my studies
took me to the Mouflon and the Rambouilette because they were in the
heritage of the "Barbado sheep", of which at that time I wasn't putting
things together in my head correctly that there was more then a "horn"
difference between a Barbados Blackbelly and a Barbado sheep. This is my
fault totally, I should have dug deeper at the time. I bought my sheep,
horned ram, registered, and a registered ewe. (no horns) Of course now,
after the fact, I dug deeper (gotta love that hindsight) and realized there
is a difference. I did not choose the Mouflon nor did I chose the
Rambouilette. Had I choose either of these breeds of sheep then the looks I
so desired in the Barbado would be secondary to the looks of either of the
other breeds (the Barbados Blackbelly and Rambouilette). So, the basis of
what I want my sheep to look like is the Barbado Blackbelly, except with
horns on the ram. I now believe in order for me to keep true to myself in
what I want in this breed of sheep to look like, I must follow as closely as
possible the guidelines for the Barbados Blackbelly of which originated from
the island of Barbados. I believe that because the founding breed of the
Barbado is the Barbados Blackbelly, all the registered flocks of both
polled and horned should be left mostly as it is now. If I were to change
my "game plan," and add more characteristics from other breeds to my flock,
then I no longer have what I fell in love with, and that is the
Barbado/Barbados Blackbelly breed of sheep. Do I think the standards need
to be changed to differentiate between the two, yes, but not to the point of
adding horns to ewes, that gives the Barbado a whole other look and that is
not what the registry started out doing, nor is that what I think a Barbado
is any longer. The changed standard would be to make sure people understood
that there is a difference in Barbado and Barbados Blackbelly sheep, and
what exactly is the difference and why. I believe that the first statement
in the Breed Standard BBSAI has written, should stand for both horned and
polled, "Secondary Characteristics are strongly marked in the adult, thus
clearly identifying the ram from the ewe at first look." I made a mistake
once when I thought Barbado and Barbados Blackbelly were the "same" except
for horns on the ram. I don't want to look at a ewe and think it is a ram.
For me, and me alone, horns on the ewe does not keep to the standard I am
interested in breeding. Thanks for letting me once again voice my opinion.
Sue Smith
Susan Smith
Sandoah Achers
www.sandoahachers.homestead.com
Barbado Sheep (hair breed)
Ponies
4-H Projects
Public Sales
Donkey Rescue and Adoption
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