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
<m# »M «
W* W >* *
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.