Except it was a woolshed on a quiet rural North Otago road, just out of Oamaru, and those de-fleecing their woolly charges were a group of extremely novice women keen to build their skills.
"We’ve got a new shearing gang," farmer Jo Scott beamed as she explained how she got talking to nearby farmer Colin Gibson, who spent 36 years as a Wool Board shearing instructor and agreed to give some lessons to Ms Scott and other interested women.
Last week, Ms Scott and her neighbours Jess Devlin and Renee Hooper, under the watchful eye of Mr Gibson, honed their skills on unsuspecting lambs.
Ms Scott said she would never have the confidence to go to a shearing school, so it was perfect that he was happy to lend a hand.
She saw being able to shear a sheep as a "wee life hack", while there was also the fun and camaraderie that went with the lessons.
Being a self-described people’s person, it could get quite isolating on the farm, so it was nice to involve other people.
She hoped that the women could continue to catch up regularly and she was keen to hear from other women who wanted to have a go.
Ms Devlin, who works for a local fashion boutique and has three young children, had never picked up a hand-piece before and acknowledged it was a big change but one that she was enjoying.
Her two sons were "absolutely farming mad" and she sometimes helped Ms Scott on the farm.
She saw it as more than just learning to shear, it was also about the fellowship of women.
Ms Hooper, whose partner Justin Meikle and son Tye Meikle recently competed successfully in the Golden Shears, was better known for her wool-handling abilities, but said she had done "bits and pieces" of shearing.
Tye, 16, who only started shearing a year ago, was a close second in the recent junior Golden Shears final, while his father was taking part in his 20th Golden Shears and won the Maori Pakeha Golden Shears invitational event with Hemi Braddock, of Eketahuna.
In his 36 years instructing between 1971 to 2007, Mr Gibson only taught two or three females.
He was impressed with the number of women now shearing throughout the country and their abilities.
Through his role with the Wool Board, Mr Gibson spent time in the United States where he taught many women to shear.
It was not unusual over there at that time as there were lifestyle blocks aplenty and women saw it as a good money earner.
The key to shearing was about technique and he expected it could take "a wee while" for his latest pupils to become proficient.
"Rome wasn’t built in a day, was it?" he said.
