19/07/2026
Can we have a real chat about being a small stud?
We've been pretty quiet since Friday because, honestly, it knocked the wind out of us. Maybe we were already run down and chasing sickness, so we slipped into a fabulous ol' pity party. 🥳
But it wasn't about ribbons.
It wasn't about placings.
It was the sudden realisation of just how far we still have to go.
We attend these shows to benchmark ourselves, to learn, and to keep ourselves humble. Safe to say this year we achieved that... just a little harder than anticipate.
Standing alongside some of the biggest and most respected Dorper studs in Australia was a 'Holy cr@p moment'. We know we're improving our sheep every year, and we're incredibly proud of that. But breeding from the bottom takes time. It made us realise we could still be 5, 10, maybe even 15 years away from consistently standing shoulder to shoulder with these incredible studs.
That stung.
Not because anyone made us feel small, but because WE suddenly felt small.
The funny thing is, everyone is so welcoming and down-to-earth that it's easy to forget the calibre of the sheep and breeders around you. We want to be clear that none of these feelings take anything away from the sheep on display or the studs showing them. The quality this weekend was unreal, and we're so proud to have shared the ring with them!
Thankfully, the weekend didn't end on Friday.
The chats, the laughs, the encouragement and the support reminded us why we started Kype Park Dorpers in the first place.
Then tonight, something else hit us...
Our beautiful homebred Wally had stood proudly in a very strong class and come away with a cracking 3rd place!! Maybe we'd become so focused on how far we still have to go that we'd forgotten to appreciate how far we'd already come.
If you're a small stud, have you ever had that moment where you questioned everything? Wondered how long it'll take before you're consistently standing shoulder to shoulder with the bigger, more established studs?
Or is that just us?
To everyone who checked in, had a laugh with us, offered encouragement, or simply believed in us when we were struggling to believe in ourselves—thank you. We'll keep doing what we've always done: breeding the sheep we believe in, one generation at a time. ❤️
Photo care of DSSA:
DP 49 1st Dell 2nd Deepdale 3rd Kype Park
