ShedTalks host Bizza Walters started showing her Greyface Dartmoors in 2023 after her partner Angus gifted her her first two ewes, Brenda and Diane, in 2021.
“It all started from there and I just love it, we’ve grown year on year,” she says. “My favourite thing about showing is bonding with the sheep because a lot them will just come up to me but some are totally wild, and you really have to build that trust with them to even get a halter on. I walk them up and down by the house to get them used to it.
“There is so much to know and year on year, show after show, you always learn something else.”
Bizza Walters, farmer and podcast host
“Of course, taking them to the show is also fantastic, seeing the public and especially the kids love them, is a real high. They attract a lot of people as they are just lovely, pretty sheep and look like big teddy bears.”
1. Patience is key
While Bizza says it can be difficult if the judge on the day isn’t favourable of her sheep, the main thing and what is brilliant about county shows is that they increase awareness of the breed.
“I’ve learned a lot from showing,” she says. “Patience being one thing! There are people who have been showing these guys for 30 years or more and I’m only a few years in, there is so much to know and year on year, show after show, you always learn something else.
2. Learn from experience
“I’ve heard, unfortunately, with some of the other breeds it can be really competitive, but with these guys it’s not the case at all.
“I was actually getting ready for my class with one of my ewes at my first show, just pulling some straw out of her fleece, and the guy in the pen next to me told me a trick was to put baby oil on their faces to make the black shine and handed me some. He was willing to help me, which is really nice, because a lot of breeds don’t do that.”
3. To shear or not to shear
With plans to show at one-day local shows over the summer, including Hanbury, Moreton and Burwarton, Bizza says she’ll shear early to get the sheep prepared for the ring.
“Up until the end of May, you have to show them in full fleece and there is a lot of prep that goes into it. I plan to shear them in April, so won’t be showing in full fleece this year.
“When showing in full fleece, the judges like to see them in what they call their ‘working clothes’ so you could pull them out of the field, clean them up a little bit, but you don’t wash them, you don’t dry them, you don’t brush them. They like you to separate the fleece out so you can see the individual curls, that’s the bit that takes the time and the legs, you have to separate all that out to make the legs look bigger.
“That’s full fleece, and then when they’ve been sheared, they need about six to eight weeks regrowth on them before you show them again. Once we’re at that stage, it’s much easier and there’s not that much to do other than make sure their back ends are clean.”
Bizza was part of the NFU’s Student and Young Farmer Ambassador programme, and now hosts the NFU’s podcast, Shed Talks.
4. Plan ahead
After taking home the champion longwool prize at Moreton Show in 2024 with her homebred ewe Dotty, Bizza says she’ll continue to breed and show, and explains the ram lambs have to be inspected to see if they can go on to become breeding rams in the future.
“I had my first one pass last October which was amazing. He’s gone off to a lady in Ipswich for her daughter to show, he’s doing his first shows this year and we keep in touch, which is lovely. I’d like to continue breeding rams to pass inspection, but I’m building numbers up slowly. It’s nice to breed my own ewe replacements while swapping the tup in and out.”
5. ‘Go out and do it’
For anyone contemplating showing, Bizza encourages everyone to give it a go. “It’s such a cliché, but just go out and do it,” she says.
“I had no idea about showing. I entered Staffordshire and I just rocked up and everyone was so friendly and so helpful. Everyone in the association was amazing and we were having tea and biscuits and wine in the pens. We had so much fun and I met so many people.
“Even if you don’t show, just go along and have a chat and ask someone for advice. People will be willing to help because we need to get the younger generation in the ring.”
