Rare wethers shearing record bid on Saturday

An attempt on one of the toughest of World shearing records is set to go ahead in Central Otago tomorrow (Saturday, January 4), a month after being postponed because there wasn’t enough wool.

Shearing at “The Bend”, off Paerau Rd about 10km from Ranfurly, starting at 5am and finishing at 5pm, prolific shearing-record hunter Stacey Te Huia will be attempting to break the nine-hours merino wethers record of 418 set by Canterbury shearer Grant Smith 20 years ago.

Most records are done on ewes or lambs, with only one other record on wethers added to the books of the World Sheep Shearing Records Society in the last decade.

The wool-weight requirement of a minimum 4kg per sheep is the greatest standard of all record categories, meaning if Te Huia is successful he will have shorn well over 1.6 tonnes of wool for the day, possibly the most wool he'll shear in a day in a career currently averaging over 50,000 sheep a year.

The attempt was originally scheduled for December 7, but was postponed because the weight would not have been met. A sample shear will be done in front of record-attempt judges late-Friday to ensure the requirement is met.

With four successes in eight ewe-shearing record attempts spanning half his 40 years, Te Huia will be tackling only his second merino record with a target of 1min 28secs a sheep.

On the basis of time it compares with an average of just over 61 seconds a sheep in his nine-hour merino (finewool) ewes record of 530 shorn in Australia in 2015, and just over 44 seconds a sheep when New Zealand gun Matthew Smith set a strongwool ewes record of 731 in England in 2016.

Starting at 5am, Te Huia will be on target if he’s got 24 in the first 30 minutes or 47 by the top of the hour, kicking-off the first run of two hours to an hour-long break for breakfast.

The remainder of the day is split into four runs of 1hr 45mins each, separated by 30-minute morning and afternoon tea breaks and an hour for lunch.

Asked if he had a particular goal in mind, he said: “418 with a catch at this stage, Bro,” meaning getting hold of the record-breaker in time to shear through the judges’ last call at 5pm.

“They’re very technical sheep, horns and pizzles and totally different to ewes,” he said.

On hand to help will be father Dean and sister and two-times record-breaker Kerri-Jo, but mother Jo Te Huia has had to fly-back north for a close friend’s funeral in Taupo, meaning she will be missing for the first time in any of her children’s 10 record attempts.

Te Huia’s wife, Atiria, will be among the large team of shed-workers helping their man over the line.

The record bid is costing $8000 to $10,000, including the $US2500 fee to the records society which will have a four-man transtasman judging panel present, headed by Australian official Ralph Blue.

It is supported by shearing contractor Colin “Mouse” O’Neill and John and Jay Stringer, and gear manufacturer Heiniger.

Others include suicide prevention fundraising riders Tribal Nation M.C., in what will be a touching show of support stemming from the death of Te Huia’s teenage daughter, former Golden Shears Novice woolhandling champion Shaylyn Te Huia, in 2015.

The shearing itself, which would normally attract Te Huia $3 a sheep, or over $1200 before tax for the day, will be done for free.

As well as the merino ewes record set in Australia, Te Huia is also the current holder of the two-stands, 9 hours strongwool ewes record shorn in 2012 with Waikato shearer Sam Welch. His first record was the two-stand, 8hrs strongwool ewes record shorn with brother Hayden in 1999, and his second a solo, 8hrs strongwool ewes record set in 201

© Scoop Media