the golden shears
Scenes at the Golden Shears event in Masterton. At top left is David Fagan, the world’s greatest-ever competition shearer. He has won the open title fifteen times.
Shearing has always been one of the most physically demanding and arduous tasks on a farm. It’s a marathon job that ended up as a marathon sport. ‘Gun’ shearers travel the world to compete. The events have broadened beyond shearing to include two other wool shed tasks: wool handling and wool pressing.
Wool handlers have a skilled and vital role in the woolshed. They pick up fleeces from shorn sheep. They separate and remove short wool from fleeces and prepare wool for sale by separating it into different grades or lines. They sweep the floor after each sheep is shorn and keep the shearing board tidy.
The Golden Shears shearing competition, held in March every year in Masterton since 1961, is the world's premier shearing, wool handling and pressing event.
If you can make it in Masterton, you’ve really made it.