| Characteristic |
Description |
Illustration |
| General Character and Appearance |
A medium sized, solid colored, luster longwool sheep with clean head and
legs. Curious, bold and alert appearance with fine bone and good breadth
and depth of body. |
|
| Color |
Gray fleece, solid color with shading allowed, no distinct patterns or
spotting. Fleece color ranges from light silver to dark charcoal. Head
and legs are generally solid black. Lamb birth coat is black, becoming
gray within several months. Small white markings on head, legs and tail
are accepted but discouraged; shall be less than 30% of those areas.
(Sept. 26, 2009 - Members approved adding black,
brown and white colors.)
(Note that light grey eye circles and muzzles
are not white markings.)
|
|
|
| Size |
Medium size and substance. Ewes generally weigh from 120 to 155 lb. Rams
are heavier weighing 165 to 190 lb at mature body weight. The ideal height
range for mature Gotland ewes is 25.5" to 30";
for mature Gotland rams is 29.5" to 32" at the withers.
Plus or minus one inch (1") in height is acceptable for either sex. |
|
| Head |
Solid colored head generally free from wool. Bold eyes, alert
medium sized ears set slightly above horizontal. Small, neat and straight
muzzle with even jaw and teeth set squarely on the pad. Both males and females
are generally and preferably polled. |
|
|
|
| Neck and Body |
Slender neck and shoulders set smoothly into a level back with generous
length, good depth and reasonable breadth of body. Well suited for market
production.
|
|
| Tail |
Naturally short, hair tipped tail measuring less than 6" as measured at
the underside. Generally broader at the base and tapering to the tip. |
|
| Legs |
Slender legs well spaced and upright. Solid color and generally free from
wool. |
|
| Wool |
Fleece is fine, long, lustrous and dense with clearly defined curl and
staple, soft to the touch. It is typically 29 to 34 microns in diameter
at 18 months of age, as measured midside at the last rib. Lambs wool is
typically in the low to mid 20's micron range. |
|
| Disqualifications
|
Any fleece color other than gray.
Removed 9/26/09
|
50% Gotland lambs. White fleece color accepted for Recorded Animals,
Not accepted for Registered Animals.
|
| Long heavy tail, broad to end. Docked tail. |
Nice Scottish Blackface tails, docked on left, natural on right.
|
| Uncharacteristic wool. Double coated, dull or straight locks. Indistinct
lock formation. Overly coarse or harsh wool. |
Nice Scottish Blackface wool - not what is desired in Gotlands!
|
| Deformities of jaws. |
Parrot Mouth - Bad in any breed!
|
| Greatly undersized or oversized animals. Overly coarse or cloddy animals. |
Undersize for Gotland (okay for Shetland)
|
| Distinct pattern or spotting in wool. Small "sliding" white
spots - spots in the fleece adjacent to the head or legs - are disqualifying
in rams, discouraged in ewes. In ewes, these spots shall be smaller in area
than the adjacent portion in the non-wooled area. |
Badger Face/Katmoget Pattern
(Shetland ewe - acceptable in Shetlands)
|
Excessive white on head (>30%), plus excessive sliding spot (exceeds
white on head) - (Finn Ewe - acceptable in Finnsheep)
|
De-horned animals, trimmed horns, horns growing into the animal (fatal
horns).
Rams without two normally descended testicles of approximately equal
size.
Any sheep judged to be generally unthrifty, unworthy, or unsound..
|
| Gotland Photos Courtesy of David Barlow, the Whitehill Flock
of Gotland Sheep |
Illustrations of Gotland Disqualifications - Photos by Franna Pitt |
