Announcements

2023 Annual Membership Meeting Announcement

Friday, March 17, 2023 following the Ohio Dorset Sale show, Darke County Fairgrounds, Greenville, Ohio, The Continental Dorset Club will hold it’s 2023 Annual Membership Meeting and the 2023 Dorset Hall of Fame Induction right on the fairgrounds following the sale show and before the 5th Annual Dave Harmann Cornhole Tournament.

This will be the 125th anniversary of the establishment of the CDC. The CDC and the Ohio Dorset Association will be planning a special afternoon and evening of activities for the Dorset breeders in attendance. Details will be announced on the CDC Facebook page. The CDC looks forward to sharing this special event with Dorset breeders from across the country. It is very important that breeders attend the annual meeting to keep informed of breed happenings, and more importantly to participate and offer input on those Dorset breed happenings. The Hall of Fame Induction will be featuring individuals that were instrumental in supporting the Dorset breed over the years, so please make plans now to attend the 125th celebration in Greenville!

2023 National Dorset Sale Sites

The 2023 National Dorset Sale for Polled & Horned Breeding Sheep will be held at the Ohio Dorset Sale in Greenville, OH at the Darke County Fairgrounds. The dates for the sale show and sale are March 17-18, 2023. Classes will be offered for fitted and slick shorn sheep, Polled and Horned. Sale management has added the Winter Lamb class at the request of consignors. Billy Wade will be the judge for the event. The annual CDC Membership Meeting and Hall of Fame induction will also be held in conjunction with the Ohio Dorset Sale. The annual membership meeting will take place Friday right on the fairgrounds. It will be soon after the completion of the sale show and prior to the 5th Annual Dave Harmann Cornhole Tournament. The sheep are scheduled to be shown on Friday, March 17th at 10:00 AM and will be livestreamed and sold on Saturday, March 18th at 10:00 AM. The sale will have online bidding on Breeders World. “Ohio Dorset Sheep Sale” hotel blocks have been reserved at: Holiday Inn Express, 1195 E Russ Rd., Greenville, 937/548-1328; Baymont by Wyndham, 851 Martin St., Greenville, 937/548-3613; and Quality Inn, 1190 E Russ Rd, Greenville, 937/316-5252. This sale is being managed by Select Livestock Services. For sale information go to: www. selectls.net. Entry deadline of February 1st may have passed by the time your receive this newsletter but post entries can still be made.

The 2023 Dorset Wether Sire & Dam and Dorset Advantage sale will be held this year in conjunction with the Midwest Stud Ram Sale, Missouri State Fairgrounds, Sedalia, MO, June 14-

17, 2023. This sale has the largest wether type consignment sheep sale in the country so it will continue to be the Dorset National Sale for these types of Dorsets. Sale management will be introducing a new schedule but it looks like the Dorset wether type sheep will show on Thursday and sell on Saturday. Stay tuned for more specific information as the schedule is finalized.

There of course will also still be classes offered for Polled & Horned Dorset fitted & slick shorn breeding sheep. The breeding sheep will be housed in the Sheep Barn, and will show on Wednesday and sell on Friday. This sale is managed by Heartland Livestock Services. For entry and sale information go to: www.midwestramsale.com. Entry deadline is April 20th for cataloged entries.

EASTERN & NORTH CENTRAL DIRECTOR ELECTIONS

Just a reminder to all CDC lifetime members in the North Central & Eastern Regions that you will be receiving voting ballots in early February for your area’s director. PLEASE make sure that you fill out these ballots and return to the CDC by the voting deadline. Thank-you in advance for your attention to this matter.

The Eastern region is electing a new director to replace Glenn Stunkel, Jr. who will be retiring off the board after his six years of service. Thank you Glenn for your service and dedication to the Dorset breed!

2023 All American Junior Show Dorset Breed Sponsorship

The CDC will once again be campaigning for the 2023 All American Junior Show Breed Sponsorship. In February a special class sponsorship list will be posted on social media and we need to find approximately 60 class sponsors of $40 each to cover the cost of our class winning awards. We did come up a bit short last year on the class sponsorships so looking forward to getting all of those classes supported! We certainly appreciate the support of the Dorset kids, no matter what type of Dorset they raise.

We have yet to receive any additional donation of ewe lambs to be sold at public auction to benefit the show directly. If you are interest in supporting this special show that will take place in Wisconsin this year, please contact the CDC office. All of this funding will go directly towards the Dorset breed sponsorship. The All American also has general fundraising activities to help offset the other incurred costs of putting on the show. The CDC will be sending out AAJS raffle tickets with your first return of registration work for the year. Please be supportive and return paid stubs. Last year Dorset breeders bought well over $600 worth of raffle tickets and that was very much appreciated!

The AAJS will be hosting their Benefit Online Semen Auction once again on May 15, 2023 at the Integrity Online Sale Site. Please contact Mike Crowder directly at www.integritylivestocksales.com or cell: (765) 366-3135 with your Dorset semen donations. Last year we did not have many semen lots from the Dorset breed so, if you have some valued semen available and would like to donate a couple of straws to this worthy cause, that would be great. Love it when the Dorset breed represents! Thank you in advance of your support of this special junior Dorset event.

GUIDELINES FOR REGISTERING HORNED DORSETS: Pure Horned VS Normal Horned

The Horned Dorsets are gaining popularity among the new influx of young exhibitors in the junior shows across the country. The rules for what makes up a “Pure Horned Dorset” have been in place with the Continental Dorset Club since back in the 1950’s when the Polled Dorset mutation first appeared in the Dorset breed. While many of the established Horned breeders know these rules and regulations for registry, many of the new folks do not and it is becoming an issue of animals that should be registered as “Normal Horned” are showing up entering shows that are for “Pure Horned Dorsets”.

The Rules Guide for the Continental Dorset Club reads as follows:

All applications for sheep having polled breeding must indicate the degree of polledness for each animal. The code letters for this are: P Polled, S - Scurred, NH Normal Horned. Pure Horned Dorsets, those with NO polled breeding, have no prefix code letters. No scur or horn can be cut back for the purpose of misrepresenting the true condition of the animal. However, we do recommend that scurs be trimmed to avoid the possibility of their growing into the head of the animal. Trimming of scurs is acceptable; but it is not recommended to attempt to “de horn” the animal. The Certificate of any sheep registered, as Polled that subsequently develops scars or horns should be returned to the office for correction.

The Pure Horned Dorset have no pre fix assigned to them and their pedigree needs to have only Pure Horned Dorset blood in them. These animals’ registration papers are printed on green (rams) and tan (ewes) parchment paper, and reads “Pure Horned Dorset” in the upper right hand corner in big bold print. All of the animals in their pedigree are of pure Horned Dorset blood, there are no–prefixes in front of their ancestors’ registration numbers. This registry is kept separate from the Polled registry.

As soon as a as a breeder introduces a purebred Dorset that has Polled blood in it, it disqualifies the animal resulting from that mating from the Pure Horned Dorset Registry. However, the animal is still a purebred Dorset and is eligible to be registered but it now goes into the Polled Dorset Registry. If it has a normal set of horns (full curl) they will be registered with the NH (normal horn) designation, if they have a Scur they will carry the S prefix and if they have no horn growth at all then they will carry the P prefix. The horn growth needs to be designated on the registration application form under column # 3. Corrections can be made to these horn growth designations if they change as an animal matures. The original paper needs to be mailed into the CDC office for the correction to be made.

The confusion comes in when folks who have Dorsets registered with NH (normal horn) prefixes enters into the Horned Dorset division at shows and sales. At shows and sales that require registration papers and offer Horned Dorset classes, then only the Pure Horned Dorsets are allowed to participate in those classes. The NH registered Dorsets are still very much eligible to show but they need to be shown in the Polled Dorset classes because they carry Polled Dorset blood in them. There are shows out there that offer “Horned Dorset Classes” but do not require registration papers and go by a classification system only, in those cases yes, a Dorset that classifies as a Horned Dorset based on it breed characteristics and normal horn growth can show in that show’s Horned Dorset class. But that is the only scenario where it is allowed and the Continental Dorset Club does not support shows that offer Dorset breed type classes with no registration papers required. It creates a lot of confusion on the part of the owners and really does a dis-service to the Pure Horned Dorset as an established breed. If you still have any questions just contact the CDC office at 401-647-4676.

DEATH ANNOUNCEMENT: JANE PATTON

Jane Patton of Orland, California passed away December 12, 2022 at home surrounded by her loving family. Jane and her husband Wes operated Glenn Land Farm in Orland, CA raising Dexter Cattle and Dorper Sheep. Jane was also a breeder of Polled Dorset Sheep and served as Western Regional Director of the Continental Dorset Club in the early 1980’s. Jane raised Polled Dorsets for many years until she stopped registering in 1997. Our condolences to Jane’s family on their loss. Jane’s celebration of life will be Sunday, January 22, 2023 at the Orland Fairgrounds in Orland, California.