GEMO National Competition Rennes 2012 - The Event

The accommodation was five star, the welcome warm and the weather was perfect. It promised to be a good day.

 La paperasserie - paperwork first 

 

 Then it was time to get eye to eye with the sheep. These rams from the Parc d'Armorique arrived the night before the show.

 Judgely Huddles....... Serious Stuff!

Pretty Girls.......

 Handsome Guys....

and Gorgeous Groups

This year was the year of the prizewinners photo shoot......... some were considerably more au fait in front of the camera than others!

See what I mean, 

This black ram belonging to E Landerneau was awarded champion of champions (rams) he posed for the camera like a professional! Thanks to everyone for a great day but especially the Ecomusée for being such excellent hosts.

Judging Ouessants Dutch Style

The opportunity to visit Holland for a second time and enjoy not only the hospitality but to add in a little sheep viewing was too good to turn down. The presentation of Ouessants at Didam was  hosted by the  "Fokkersvereniging Ouessantschapen" or FOS which is a lot easier for me to say! There was a nice entry, general observations where that black and brown Ouessants were well represented with only two whites  entered.

As is customary in Holland all the adult sheep were both measured and weighed.

Scales

La toise - height 

For me one notable aspect was how relaxed it all was , the use of one handler per sheep and the recent addition of camping chairs was deluxe in comparison to some of the frenetic dashes and chaotic melees  for judging  I have seen and made the whole affair much easier to follow and of course less stressful on all participants. 

There was plenty of time to sit and chat, enjoy the ambiance and the sheep of course. More of those in another post. 

Flavours From Holland

A bike park to end all bike parks!

Beautiful gardens

The architecture and canals

Oh Yeah and I saw a few sheep:-)

GEMO Gazette

The GEMO website is getting an upgrade. Some elements are still to be worked on but the most recent upgrade is to improve functionality of the gazette  to provide  informative and readily accessible news on a regular basis. LINK to the GEMO website, check it out for yourself.

GEMO Concours National 2012

This year the Ecomusée du Pays de Rennes will host the annual national competition. It will be on Sunday the 16th of September and will be incorporated as part of a presentation "La journée du patrimoine" a fitting place and event for the Mouton d'Ouessant. The Ecomusée has a wide range of exhibits to see in additon to the Ouessants and this year there will be an added event ' Une Foire aux Béliers" whilst this will be an opportunity for GEMO members to place some juvenile rams it should be quite a spectacle in itself. There will be the opportunity for breeders to obtain certificats of conformité as well, I am very much looking forward to the event.
Put the date in your diary now. 16.09.2012

Heritage Flock - L'Ecomusée du Pays de Rennes

Recently I had the opportunity to spend a little time at the Ecomusée at Rennes. I couldn't resist checking out the ouessants there.  The Ecomusée will be hosting this years national competition and at only an hours drive from home this is the closest the competiton has been in years. These rams are some tough competition!!. Breeding of that consistency across a range of rams is hard to find anywhere and an absolute credit to the Ecomusée.

But prize winning is no stranger to the Ecomusée

LINK to the Ecomusée Website

The ewes and their lambs make a pretty picture too. 

I didn't get a lot of time to look over the whole place but I couldn't resist stopping by at one of my favourites.

Chèvres des Fossés - I love this breed but know my limits:-/