International flavour of the shears

International flavour of the shears

Golden Shears has proven to be not only a stamping ground for shearing shed guns to claim titles but a venue for international shearers to hone their skills amongst the best of the best in New Zealand.

Wherever there are sheep, there are shearers and the 52^nd Golden Shears and the 15th World Shearing Championships underway in Masterton has attracted more than 100 international hopefuls – pushing competitor numbers into well over 600 over the two premier contests.

The flags of 25 countries are flying outside Masterton’s War Memorial Stadium - Australia, Austria, Canada, Chile, Cook Islands, Czech Republic, England, Estonia, Falkland Islands, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Lesotho, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Norway, Nuie, Scotland, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, USA and Wales.

And for one international visitor, it has been a long time between trips to a New Zealand hosted World Shearing Championship – a visit that led to an increased passion for a life as a shearer.

Thirty-two years ago, German born but French-based shearing judge Klaus Kiefer competed on the boards in the worlds for Germany alongside the legendary Brian “Snow” Quinn.

“It was really very tough. I remember very well Snow Quinn shearing in the final and it was very exciting. I was only a new young shearer at the time and had shorn less than 10,000 sheep before coming out to New Zealand, so it was very exciting for European shearers to compete alongside such amazing talent.”

The shearing may have been learned in France but it was through Golden Shears and the world champs followed by four months at a shearing school in Christchurch and another five months in the sheds that “the art of shearing was perfected,” he said.

“The talk for all shearers in Europe was that if they wanted to learn the perfection of shearing, they needed to make their way to the Mecca of the sheep shearing world, and that of course is New Zealand and a Golden Shears competition as well.”

ENDS

There will be live feed from the www.goldenshears.co.nz

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