IT WAS by chance that Strathbogie's Marilyn Mangione got started with Shropshire sheep.
But their temperament, hardiness and distinctive wool have made Ms Mangione a strong advocate for the breed.
She had been living and working in town, but yearned to have a farm since she was a child.
In 1999, that dream came true and she bought a 26-hectare property at Strathbogie, in the picturesque ranges.
She was running Wiltshire Horns and then a friend of a friend had a Shropshire ram that needed a new home.
Ms Mangione had always liked black-faced sheep and had the resources to look after this ram.
"Everything fell into place, I also realised that my father had served on HMAS Shropshire and some of my ancestors come from the Shropshire region [of the UK]."
Named Clarendon, this ram from Robert Breeschoten, of the now dispersed South Windrest Shropshire stud at Bittern, gave the founding genetics and name to Ms Mangione's stud.
She was impressed by the ram's placid nature, and in the following years bought rams and ewes from other breeders.
A challenge of running a heritage breed is the small – and shrinking – gene pool in Australia.
Australian Stud Sheep Breeders Association's 2014 stud flock book has 10 registered Shropshire breeders, of which seven are in Victoria.
Ms Mangione's goal is to breed Shropshires that are true to type: a well-developed head, an open face, their distinctive short and thick ears and short and strong frame (from their neck through to their legs), and good spring of rib.
She is working to get the preferred clean face by using a ram she bred Clarendon Lancaster who has "a lovely clean face and lovely feet".
"Actually, I've never had to trim my sheep's feet," she said.
Another strong line in her flock was from a ewe lamb Ms Mangione got from Anne Grice, Benalla, named Katie-Anne.
"I've made a tradition of naming sheep in that line a name that starts with K or C and ends in Anne," she said.
She said Shropshires were excellent mothers, and the animals all kept their condition well through winter. Commercially, she sells lambs to a Wangaratta abattoir.
Ms Mangione currently has 126 sheep, including young stock and some crossbreds.
She has 12 young ewes to soon send to a South Australian cherry orchard, because as Shropshires have short legs and heavy bodies, they cannot stand up on their back legs so cannot reach higher branches.
One of her favourite aspects of the breed is its "most fantastic wool". Shropshire fleece is the densest of the down breeds, and it has a spiral crimp that gives it a unique spring and resilience.
"These attributes make it perfect for mixing with other fleeces and making them less likely to stretch out of shape," she said.
A private processor buys 20 kilograms of her wool every year, and she also uses it to hand spin, knit and needle felt to produce items including blankets and socks.
Her ultimate aim is to have 50 full bred, top quality Shropshires.
She continues to fly the breed's flag at the Australian Sheep & Wool Show and this year will take five ewes and one ram to the Bendigo event.
