Thank you, Western Illinois University Livestock Judging team, for the officials and reasons.
Placing 4-3-2-1
Cuts 3-5-2
The dense, powerful, traditional wether that starts is truly unmatched in his ability to blend unrivaled width of skeleton and roundness of body with the presence, coordination and look to play at a very high level. Now the biggest footed wether actually lies in second. He’s actually leveler out of his hip and more athletic in the set to his hind leg. But compare him back to my pick to win and the flatter foreribbed wether can’t emulate the same type of power and spread.
But here in middle it’s the wether that excels in terms of chest width that works a more aggressive shape out of the backside of his shoulder ahead of a broader hip while still excelling in terms of proportionality and balance. Study the wether in third as an individual and the lightweight, greener conditioned wether still has some feature and foot size, but throw him back in the mix and I question if the flat-sided wether will ever get the mass and shape that he lacks.
Even so, in a challenging final decision I still think that relative to his weight 2 has more unique pieces in terms of look while actually being more opened up in his upper hip. Sure the heavier weight wether that rounds out the class has the edge in terms of practicality, boldness of body and spread. But the fragile featured wether needs to be more pulled apart in his pinset. He’s fourth. Thank you.
