First held at the Masterton War Memorial Stadium in 1961, the Golden Shears competition has become the iconic event for the shearing and wool-handling industry in New Zealand.
Sheep
Events In History
6 January 1953
At Akers Station at Ōpiki, Manawatū, Godfrey Bowen set a new world record, shearing 456 full-wool ewes in nine hours.
4 March 1855
In March 1855, shepherds searching for 1000 missing sheep in the upper reaches of the Waitaki Valley apprehended suspected rustler James Mackenzie, one of New Zealand’s first and most enduring folk heroes.
20 May 1773
During his second voisit to New Zealand in 1773, James Cook released a ewe and a ram in Queen Charlotte Sound. They survived only a few days – an inauspicious start to this country’s long association with sheep.
