Paul and Wowie Dunnings – Wolfhanger Southdowns and Wolfhanger Oxford Downs
Paul and Wowie Dunnings are regular Sheep exhibitors at the New Forest and Hampshire County Show with 2019 being no exception. Read Wowie’s wonderful account of her time at the Show below. Why not pop along and meet them at the Show this year.
Since finding my love of sheep in 2013 and going on to win Show Champion at a local show in 2014, I then found my love for showing. Wolfhanger Southdowns began. In 2015 I entered the New Forest Show with my Southdowns unsure of what was in store. I read books and spoke to people about showing and the show etiquette and ring etiquette. I had banners made so I could show the public what our breed was and used it to display our rosettes. In our first year we did rather well and won Champion of the Day Group of Three as well as many other coloured rosettes. Our rosettes and sash adorn our wall at home. We loved the show, the camaraderie of the other show goers what warming and the stewards were brilliant at keeping us on our toes.
We knew that the New Forest Show would be an annual event for us and started preparing for the next year. Seeing all the people we had met the year before and winning Champion of the Day Group of Three on both days was amazing.
Each year we always do the Grand Parade on both days. We love to show off our sheep to the public so they can see what beautiful sheep there are in this country. We talk to people who walk around the tent after showing, explaining the different types of sheep and handing out stickers to the children. The passion for my sheep transfers to the people asking questions. They are so interested in finding out facts. We are there to answer those questions and hope it helps them understand livestock in general.
Last year we are brought our Oxford Down sheep and did well considering we knew little of how they should look. This year we hope to come home with a ribbon or two.