Holly and others, thanks for this discussion. Couldn't be more timely for me, because I was just reviewing fleeces I'm less familiar with for a fleece show judging assignment, where the "Featured Breed" in the sheep and fleece shows is "Any Other Breed." Got a good lesson in Icelandics at our county fair.
Went to the Shetland association's web site and found great descriptions and photos. Good to know that in a fleece show, the Association says not to discriminate against nonuniformity and emphasize softness. "This variability in the Shetland fleece is traditional, and should not be discriminated against in the show ring. Again, the softness of the fleece is the most important trait." http://www.shetland-sheep.org/shetland_fleece.htm http://www.shetland-sheep.org/shetland_fleece_types.htm Mary
