It's hard to describe shearing what it means but it's something that sort of gets into
your blood and you become very passionate about it it gets quite addictive the more you do the
more you want to achieve and then that might step into something like a world record a bit later on
then you've got to pretty much train like an olympic athlete and get things right
You have to have that competitive streak in you to do it day in day out, so we're lucky we get paid to be neurotically competitive, is what I'd say.
We're shearing contractors and farming with our family here in Waikaretu
We're living in a small coastal community - Waikaretu - we're quite a close knit group around here
My mum and dad have a cafe and caving business. They're 12 km's down the road from us closest to the coast
The last three years we've been farming half of dad's farm, about 180
acres and then on the first of March we take over the rest of the farm
but then in total we'll have about 500 acres that we're farming
Well sharing is our company, we share 330,000 sheep in this area. The main share of which is
November and December we have four gangs on, about 16 or 17 shearers and all the rest of the staff
Sam and I met competing on the sharing circuit, Sam was the better shearer
My one claim to fame was beating him once, I came second and he came third
And then you didn't want to shake my hand eh - No, I shook his hand
Sam still has a current world record with staffy tahoe
and I'm the former women's nine hour record holder
We're doing less sharing now because four gangs does take quite a bit of management
there's a lot of paperwork as people who employ people know that we do enjoy
a day out in the shed yeah i like to flick the switch every now and then
i'm okay with anybody shearing more than me in the wool shed these days but every
now and then i'll flip the switch and just go now you're not going to beat me today
knowing the hard work that people put into things to achieve their goals is what sets
their emotions off after Emily achieved her record i was watching Valerie Adams at the
Olympic Games and she throws a gold and next thing i'm in tears and i'm emotional about it
and that's okay you know men are allowed to cry and and definitely over the good stuff
i think after you've been at the top level and and done those records and know the journey you feel
so much more connected when you're watching these athletes because you know what it's
We have four children, Addison has shorn a few lassos she often she'll ask me when we're shearing
some lambs "can i can i finish it" so i try to let her finish them. Eric's written his
name on the board as a presser so I think he's into it
We get a lot of young people to come into our wool shed and they've got to fit into the team and I
think that sets them up for a good understanding of purpose and fitting into other places
if they don't continue on with in the sharing sheds as a career
they've learned how to work hard and roll their sleeves up and get amongst it
and you get paid for what you put in so yeah it is a very honest job
having the farm and then all the staff it sort of gives you that balance
going out onto the land you know that just really helps sort of balance out some of that stress
so i think it's a good mix and it's been good we've enjoyed doing all of it together
the one thing i love about the farming is you're your own boss so whatever calls
you make it are your calls the neighbors over the fence they'll be doing something different
the most important thing is just making sure the animals are healthy and
strong and and prepare yourself correctly for the seasons ahead