QUINDANNING was home to 14 shearers involved in the Shear Easy training program designed to improve the health of shearers and their skills in the trade recently.
The course, which was the third of its kind in Australia, was designed for shearers from novice to elite level.
The 14 participants from across WA included sheep producer and shearer Mark Buscumb, Quindanning, who said he had learnt a lot from the experience which would help him take care of himself and also improve his shearing ability.
Mr Buscumb’s wife Sarah heard about the course running in the Eastern States and contacted personal trainer Dylan Fowler, The Evolved Shear Fitness, who was co-ordinating the course, to see if they could run it in WA as well.
“This is the third course that has been run in Australia so far,” Ms Buscumb said.
“It is such a positive for the industry.
“We are hoping to run more of these courses in WA in the future.”
The course concentrated on performance nutrition, hand-eye co-ordination (in relation to shearing), improving endurance, strength and mobility training, goal setting, footwork, angles and positioning sheep in order to make shearing easier, as well as learning grinding and gear maintenance to help make the work easier.
The attendees paid a fee to cover food and accommodation, while the training component expenses of the course were covered by Australian Wool Innovation.
“Participants were educated on the best nutrition to fuel their body to carry out their day’s work,” Ms Buscumb said.
“The course involved going to the gym each day and working with Mr Fowler to learn how to best exercise as a shearer,” she said.
“The second part of the day was out in the shearing shed learning from some experienced and high profile trainers, Wayne Hosie and Stacey TeHuia.
“The group also learnt a lot about mental preparation for shearing in order to shear at the best level.”
Katanning participant, 22-year-old Karl Terry said the course was well worth it and it had changed his thinking about the role of a shearer within the wool industry.
“We are athletes, doing this every day,” Mr Terry said.
“It is hard work and so we need to treat our bodies like athletes and be physically fit and healthy so that we can do the best job possible and maybe push through more sheep in a day and earn better money.”
For those considering doing the course in the future, whether novice or experienced shearer, Mr Fowler has posted videos on YouTube with interviews from previous participants about what they got out of the course.
