847 sheep shorn in nine hours

Bill Jensen runs 800 sheep in Tomales on two separate ranches. This year he had Shane Harvey, from Riverton, New Zealand, shear his ewes. So what? Every sheep rancher gets his ewes shorn this time of year; but not from a guy who holds the world record for shearing 847 sheep in nine hours! He also holds the ewe speed shear record for the fastest full wool ewe shorn in 35 seconds

Shane, his wife Charly, and kids Cody and Cheyenne, travel the world shearing on ranches in New Zealand, Australia, England, Scotland, France, Belgium, and Sardinia. Shane says, "We love the travel and mostly the people we meet and work with. These are all genuine, down-to-earth farmers and now we have friends all over the world." Charly agrees, "It's a lot of work. Sometimes we go two months without a break, but we love what we do; the travel, the people we meet, the experiences. We also feel that it is a great education for Cody and Cheyenne until they start school."

Shearing at Bill's place brings in friends and family to help out with the sorting, bailing, and moving the animals around. The shorn wool is bundled into huge bales by hand. Anna Jensen, Bill's mother, packs in the morning and Eileen Jensen, Bill's wife, helps out in the afternoon. It takes about three days to complete the shearing with a steady pace and with Shane behind the shears. But the best part of the days are the delicious home- cooked lunch provided by Anna Jensen, who liberally dishes out salads, fried chicken and fuels the crew up with rich chocolate brownies.