More than 100 sheep got sheared at a farm near Clavet, providing relief from the weight of the wool and reducing the risk of parasites.
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More than 100 breeding ewes and five male sheep received their annual haircut at Desiree Wright and Randy McBroom’s farm near Clavet, providing relief from the weight of the wool and helping reduce the risk of parasites.
The set up, shearing and take down took about six hours for a duo from Double E Shearing. Fiancées Russell Eddy and Chloe Bermejo travel between Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta tending to farmers’ sheep.
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The couple met while kickboxing, and those skills likely help with maneuvering the strong sheep, rams and llamas they encounter.
“It’s very physical. It’s a lot of mental stress, especially the longer you do it. It becomes muscle memory, so your brain starts going,” Bermejo says.
Eddy is in his 14th year of shearing. His dad, who ran Eddy’s Sheep Farm in Manitoba, introduced him to the skill. He was coached by Lorrie Reed and has practised his techniques all over Canada, the U.S., Great Britain and Australia.
Bermejo was born in the Philippines and grew up as a city girl. She says her family is shocked by her career choice.
She has always wanted to work with animals and planned to attend veterinary school, but when her partner broke his arm four years ago during the peak of shearing season, she decided to help and became hooked on it.
“I didn’t know how else to help him than learn how to shear myself, so I had him and his dad teach me,” she says.
She travelled to Australia last year to learn more, and now they shear together and compete in shearing competitions all over the world.
“I love the sheering community with all my heart. It’s very rewarding. Every sheep is an accomplishment.,” Bermejo says.
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She won first place in the novice category at the 2024 National Sheep Shearing competition in Ontario in June.
Bermejo says it’s a bit intimidating to be a woman of colour showing up to some rural properties. She’s not exactly what farmers are expecting, but she is pleasantly surprised by how welcoming everyone has been, and how patient people are with her novice skills.
It can be a dangerous profession.
Bermejo once took a hoof to the eye and Eddy nicked a vein in his hand with the trimmers when he was rammed by a sheep.
It’s physically gruelling work, bent over for five hours straight while wrestling large animals.
“Your back hurts, you have knee injuries, and your legs always hurt,” Eddy says.
Once you get over the physical aspect, it’s more of a mental game, Bermejo adds.
“It’s a lot of hours of straight shearing where the sheep just keep coming, so you need to get into a rhythm to get to the finish line.”
Aside from the cash prizes at some of the speed shearing competitions, Eddy appreciates the critiques from judges at the sport shearing competitions, where quality and precision are more important than your time, which help improve his technique.
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Eddy is passionate about sheep, with over 1,000 at his family farm in Plumas, Manitoba, where he hosts shearing clinics for people interested in learning the craft.
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