B 1 Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 5, 1996 *P"7 TPSHtf"'; wk: 1 1 - I|^|^' [ > | ll^ | ' i | ~V **'******** Mr v * 9p. **• ' ..A. ■■ ..*. ‘ * -ww*v«miNi|ipi|lliim * * The brood ewes are pastured at Hartman’s Limekiln Farm. The show Corrledales are kept In the two bams on the property. All 61 Corrledales are registered in Kelly’s name, but she is quick to express her gratefulness to her grandmother for making it possible. Who’s Who In Corriedale Sheep Circles? LOU ANN GOOD Lancaster Farming Staff LIMEKILN (Berks Co.) In Corriedale sheep competition, Kelly Glaser is a formidable foe for any one wanting to walk away with grand champion trophies. She shows her Limekiln Farms sheep in more than IS shows held in numerous states. Only 15 years old, Kelly recen tly received a national award for excelling in showing, leadership, flock management, and communi ty involvement. Only one youth receives the rotating award giving annually by the National Corriedale Associa tion at its national show held in Massachusettes this year. The Selden Whitmore Youth Achievement Award required Kel ly to write about her involvement in sheep raising, list her achieve ments, and submit management and production records. The sunny, soft-spoken teen said that she owes her success to her grandmother, Ruth Hartman. Ever since Kelly can remember, her grandmother had sheep. But Hartman said that her interest in sheep began about 15 years ago. “I saw a kid crying at the fair grounds because she had to sell her market lambs. So I bought them,” Hartman said of the beginnings of her impressive sheep operation. Hartman, who had no know ledge of sheep raising, overfed the two Southdown lambs until they idi Ihi Kelly Glaser won the national rotating award given by the American Corriedale Association for her outstanding lead ership, participation In 4-H, FFA, school, church, and com munity activities, In addition to a review of her record keep ing of her flock. -JL W % * “1 had to butcher them, but it’s the only time that I ever did that,” she said. After that, Hartman became interested in the Corriedale breed through friends from whom she buys Sicilian donkeys. She pur chased a few sheep and now has 61 head of some of the finest Corrie dales around. During those early years, Kelly lived in Maryland and visited her grandmother during the summer. She adored the sheep and started showing in open shows when she was seven. She joined 4-H when she turned eight “At that time, we were the only breeders in the area showing Cor riedales. But that’s changed now. Corriedales have become more popular in the East although they were always big in the West” Kel ly said. Corriedales are a dual purpose breed used for both wool and meat. At Kelly’s grandmother’s farm, the brood ewes are pastured out side, and the show sheep are kept inside. Unlike most sheep breed ers, Kelly said, she and her grand mother clean the bams every day for health reasons. The upper barn’s wooden floors can be swept, but the lower bam has a gravel floor covered with straw, which requires more intensive labor to clean. Although cleaning the bams requires two to three hours of work every day, Kelly and her grand- t «| "V ss. Vt? I '->■>* i'* • ' '*?* "* Jr *•** * **„;,, N * spent. “Our sheep don’t get foot rot and we’ve never had trouble with disease,” Kelly said. Their flock is exposed to trans mittable diseases again and again at shows. But Limekiln Farms takes precautions by putting the sheep through a foot bath and wip ing the mouths of each sheep with Clorox before returning them to the pen. “We’ve been lucky,” Kelly said of the flock. At a recent show, their top ram and ewe were penned next to some sheep that had a mouth disease. Hartman oversees the birthing, which takes place in the fall and spring. An intercom systems is connected between the bam and house so that any sounds of birth ing can be detected. Even so, Hart man said that she spends most nights in the bam during January, the busiest birthing time. Last year they had 40 births dur ing January alone and expect 60 this year. Hartman also bottle feeds if necessary. This past year, a ewe slipped on ice and broke her back when ready to birth. Hartman made her comfortable enough to give birth and then painstaking changed the ewe’s position to enable the lamb to nurse. The set up seemed to work fine for a few days, but eventually the vet insisted the ewe needed to be put to sleep. Hartman recalls the heart rend ing cries of both lamb and ewe when separated. Now the lamb has grown. It’s evident that the lamb is not show material, but Hartman will not separate with it. “Doesn’t she have a pretty face?” Hartman said of the bottle fed lamb. “She’ll never be big enough to show but will make a nice brood ewe." Hartman also paid dearly to have a stomach operation on one of the prize rams. The operation was a success, and now she is hoping he will become a national champion. “We both have our favorites and they’re different. We compete against each other,” Kelly said of her and her grandmother’s pre selection of which one they predict will catch the judge’s eye in the show ring. Kelly considers herself as hav ing a good eye for quality sheep but admits that some that you pay the most for don’t always do well. She goes with eye appeal, since she admires black points and uni form fleece. Sometimes both Kelly and her grandmother are surprised by the s \ -s* Kelly shows a spring ewe lamb at the All American held in Indiana. Although local shows are easier to win, Kelly pre fers to show her Montadales at larger shows where compet ition Is tougher. Her show circuit Includes about 15 annual competitions in different states. judge’s choice. At open shows, Kelly prefers to have her grandmother help her rather than a fellow showman. “My sheep know her and behave, but act terrible for stran gers,” Kelly said. All the sheep are in Kelly’s name. Within the last year, she acquired the flock of Hal Walker, a well-known Virginia breeder. Kelly periodically purchased sheep from Walker. When Walker needed to sell because of his wife’s health problems, he offered nine yearling ewes to Kelly and put the remainder up for sale. “My grandmother went to pick them up and came home with 32,” Kelly said. Hartman defended her actions sometimes attributed to her soft heart by saying, “When I saw them and how uniform they were, I thought what a perfect flock. It’s a shame to split them up.” Many people offered Hartman good money for the stylish flock, especially for Style Center Lega cy, a national champion, which is now used for breeding and has pro duced champions. She has been offered $5,000 for Legacy offspring. While it’s easier for Kelly to gamer ribbons for her prize sheep in smaller shows, she prefers the larger shows with more competition. Kelly is also a repetitive winner in shepherd’s leadline competition in this state and in others. She gen erally wears wool outfits that have been spun and knitted by her grandmother. She has also won numerous best fleece awards at state and national shows. Kelly is responsible for cleaning the pens daily and caring for her show sheep. Kelly’s schoolwork doesn’t suf fer although she needs to take off for numerous shows. She takes accelerated studies in every sub ject and has a 4.3 grade point aver age. She has received a Gold Eagle Award from high school for her scholastic record, plays trombone, and is a member of the National Honor Society. Kelly also on the school’s softball team and a winter track member in addition to show ing horses. Pizazz is her quarterhorse throughbred that she’s been show ing since she was six years old. Kelly prefers eventing, which she describes is like flqure skating and includes jumping obstacles. In 1994, Kelly qualified for Pony Club Nationals. Her team needed to do a musical chore, which they practiced for months and were rewarded fourth place out of 100. For years, Kelly was determined to become a veterinarian. Now she is reconsidering. “I don’t know what I will do, but I like to have something related to working with animals,” she said. Grandmother Ruth Hart man works tirelessly behind the spotlight. Although an Intercom system connecting the house and barns help identify what’s happening among the flock, Ruth spends most January nights In the barn assisting the ewes with birthing.