FRIDAY 8 JUNE 2018 :
From 6.00 pm onwards the boxes start to get filled out !!!!
The sheep are arriving ! 
Just a few more minutes until the competition begins !
Christophe Riffaud presents the whole team who are going to be a part of the 24-hour sheep shearing event – competitors, judges, woolhandlers… the President thanks all the partners, local farmers and volunteers as well as local elected representatives such as MP Mr Jean-Michel Clément and the Vienne Councillor, Mrs Abbaux.
Eléonore and Jalle Resneau are each at 9 ewes !
The woolhandlers have to keep up with the pace as well !
Since this afternoon there’s been a constant back and forth of trucks bringing the ewes to the Marché au Cadran in Les Hérolles for the 24-hour record, already 1159 ewes are on site ! Many thanks to all the local sheep farmers who have made this event possible.
The women have been shearing for an hour already !
There are more and more of you coming to cheer on our shearers !
The women have completed their first 2-hour round, now it’s the turn of Gilles Grancher and Hugues Lachaume to continue !
And it’s an ex-eaquo for Eléonore and Jalle Resneau ! Well done to them !
Here are some photos of the women’s first run. The seniors are now up !
Our senior class shearers have been going for nearly an hour ! And the pace is holding !
On the occasion of this 24-hour shearing event, the Marché au Cadran and Crédit Agricole bank, both AMTM partners, signed a partnership agreement.
The shearing machines are working at full speed. Christophe Riffaud and Pierre Grancher are on their first run of the day
So here’s a little update on the scores so far !
At this pace, you wonder if there will be enough sheep left to shear at 6pm tomorrow…?
SATURDAY 9 JUNE 2018 :
It’s 7.10 am, one more round has passed in the night, we’re waiting for you !
After the first 2 runs Team 1 with Eléonore Resneau, Gilles Grancher and Christophe Riffaud have shorn 647 sheep.
Team 2 with Jalle Resneau, Hugues Lachaume and Pierre Grancher have shorn 652 sheep.
From 8.00 until 10.00 am, it’s Gilles Grancher and Hugues Lachaume shearing !
The machines have not stopped since 6.00 pm yesterday. Will it be team 1 or team 2 who shear the most sheep ? Come and hear the verdict at 6.00 pm!
Dress yourself in AMTM colours and come down and join us at the Marché au Cadran des Hérolles !
We want to thank all the sheep farmers and transporters without whom this competition would not have happened !
The judges have just validated the first half an hours shearing of this run. Christophe Riffaud has shorn 28 ewes with 10.5 points and Pierre Grancher, 31 ewes with 11 points.
The 24-hour shearing event is happening now at the Marché au Cadran des Hérolles (86) until 6.00 pm, and after that it’s a party evening !
Regional, international and national media are here of course to report on the 24 hours of shearing. Media groups like Agence France Presse and Reuters are carefully following the progress of the number of sheep shorn. Many thanks to them.
Our partner, Credit Agricole, has mobilised its whole team of advisors and representatives from the Haut Limousin to come and support our competitors. Thank you to them !
Interview with Christophe Riffaud, Président of the AMTM before the start for 24-hour sheep shearing record ! 
The wool is continuing to pile up on this 3rd run of the day, the scores being maintained despite the difficulties linked to the thickness of the wool. 118 for Christophe and 121 for Pierre, now on the podium. Their 2nd run has already been surpassed.
Eleonore Resneau and Jalle Resneau have just taken over to start their 4th and final run. The heat and the pressure is adding to the challenge of the changeover. The judges have just announced the number of the previous run, 118 ewes for Christophe with 10.63 points and 122 ewes for Pierre with 10.88 points.
240 ewes for 2 shearers in 2 hours, that’s 1 ewe a minute.
Very impressive…
It’s now 18 hours that the arms have been pushing on the shearing machines, without stop, due to the team relay. The woolhandlers sort each fleece.
1914 ewes validated up to now !!!
Eleonore 251, Gilles 331, Christophe 374, Jalle 258, Hugues 311, Pierre 389.
Go, go, go…
Klaus Kiefer, our international judge is explaining the judging conditions, which ensure the regularity and quality of the shearing, allowing the #24htonte record to be ratified.
All naked under the flashlight 
Just 6 minutes left for Jalle and Eleanore… it’s their 8th hour of work over the 24 hour period.
The results from the 4th run has just arrived : 80 for Eleonore with an average of 9.63 points and 87 for Jallle. 670 ewes shorn in 8 hours during the womens’ 4 runs and only one animal not counted. There’s just 4 hours remaining. 2075 ewes have already been approved by the 6 judges.
Volunteers, woolhandlers and farmers continue to work with the shearers to maintain the best conditions for the collective success of this exceptional record.
Among the remarkable results of this record, the average points for quality are exceptional, 9 and 10,1 for Eleonore and Jalle respectively.
Thank you to the sheep farmers and transporters for lending us your sheep and getting them here today !!
The interviews continue at the same time as the runs follow on from one another. Thank you @centrefrance.
The 24 hour event #24htonte, is also 6 tonnes of wool, a product of sheep farming which also needs to be handled and transported.
Another 40 minutes for Hugues and Gilles. The last run for the senior competitors. The muscles are tensing up and the sun has made a return which is increasing the tiredness. 2233 ewes shorn. There are 277 sheep left to shear in the two and a half hours remaining to achieve the target of 2500 ewes over the 24 hours. It’s tense !!!
Michel Picoty and Jean Luc Mangin, from @Picoty, have come to support Christophe Riffaud and all involved in this extraordinary event.
Last run of the competition with Christophe Riffaud and Pierre Grancher ! Will they be able to shear enough sheep to beat their initial objective of 2500 animals ? Suspense !
Looking back on the highlights of the last few hours, an overview of these 24 hours of shearing, when everyone came together to ensure its collective success: shearers, coaches, farmers, transporters, volunteers, judges, and partners. Every detail was covered to enable the AMTM to achieve its goal on this extraordinary day: to promote the sheep shearing profession through a sporting challenge which impressed the numerous visitors who came to watch. But also to raise awareness of the importance of the sheep industry in all its dimensions, from the rearing to the shearing.
Thanks for coming to support our shearers. After 30 minutes of shearing, Christophe Riffaud is at 31 ewes with 10,5 points. Pierre Grancher has shorn 33 brebis with 11.75 points ! Still 75 minutes to go ! 
So how many sheep will have been shorn by 6.00pm ? What are your predictions ?
Just 30 more minutes left of this 24-hour shearing event! Christophe and Pierre are keeping up a good pace, in order to, we hope, finish this two day challenge of non-stop shearing in style ! Les Hérolles is getting hot !
The 2500th ewe (unofficially) is sent down the slide with 20 minutes still to go.
12 minutes until the judges go to check the last batch of sheep of this exceptional record ..
2566 !!
An exceptional result achieved by our two teams during 24 hours of shearing.
In more detail:
Team 1: 1279 ewes shorn : run 1 : 333, run 2 : 314, run 3 : 307, run 4 : 325.
Team 2: 1287 ewes shorn : run 1 : 337, run 2 315, run 3 : 308, run 4 : 327.
In addition to that, only 8 ewes were not counted, out of 2574.
An average of 106 ewes per hour by 2 shearers, which is 53.45 per shearer, demonstrating clearly the endurance of our competitors. And an exceptional quality of work, scoring 9.97 on average for the whole 24-hour period for the 6 shearers.
A big thank you to everyone : to all our volunteers and partners : Reine-Marie Waszak conseillère à la région Nouvelle Aquitaine, Yvonne Jardel, conseillère au département de la Haute-Vienne, Bénédicte Martin sous-préfète de la Haute-Vienne, Marie-Ange Magne, députée de la Haute-Vienne, Arnaud Bourry, de la Chambre d’agriculture de la Vienne, Jean-Marie Delage de la Chambre d’agriculture de la Haute-Vienne, Raymond Gallet maire de Coulonges, Christine Marquis vice présidente du Crédit Agricole Centre Ouest, Paulette Goudeseune présidente de la caisse locale Montmorillon, pour le Crédit Agricole Tourraine Poitou, Patrick Van Aubel gérant de la brasserie de Bel Air, Klaus Kieffer pour l’ATM, David John, Lister, Jean-Marc Guillot, Marché au Cadran des Hérolles, Bernard Magnin maire de le Dorat, Claude Lebraud, communauté de communes Haut Limousin en Marche, Pascal Combecau maire de Villefavard, Stéphane Joncquet, garage et Claude Souchaud, Président de Tech Ovin.
Certificates of achievement are given to each of the participants by Klaus Kiefer on behalf of the French Shearing Association (ATM)
Lister Shearing, the event partner, gives each competitor a handpiece.
