ENTERTAINING

Oct 22

1 min read

Sheep Racing

Towards drawing people to attend an attraction, venue, event, and to provide entertainment for the people who attend it, one entity which some providers use is a sheep race.

The essential format is to have a race track along which sheep ‘race’, and with or without some type of hurdles to be leapt over. Each sheep carries something of an individual colour - a fabric ‘jockey’, or a fabric ‘saddle’, or a piece of cloth - so that the sheep can be easily identified from the others. The spectators can therefore choose a favourite, and if they wish, bet on it.

Sheep racing is provided as an attraction at The Big Sheep theme park, at Cannon Hall Farm, at Masham Sheep Fair. The first two are visitor attractions operating as businesses; the last is an endeavour to aid charities. The first two stage sheep races routinely; and Cannon Hall Farm has sheep races more than once in a day. Each of them has a special race course as part of their complex. The Masham Sheep Show is of different type. It is a two-day event each year. Its sheep races take place twice daily. The race track is a temporary provision, in a field beyond the churchyard.

Sheep’s natural way of life does not include engaging in sheep races, and watched by a crowd of people. Sheep races bring loss of dignity to sheep; sheep races demean sheep. Sheep races act against bringing humans to respect sheep.

22nd October 2026