The Otago Daily Times counts down the 150 greatest moments in Otago sport.
No 59: Snow Quinn in action at the Alexandra A and P Show in 1963.
It is that physically demanding - and that is why Brian "Snow" Quinn's effort in coming out of retirement to win the world championship in 1980 is so extraordinary.
"He was the shearer of his time. And then to come back out of retirement and win the world championship was just incredible," Shearing Sports New Zealand chairman John Fagan told the Otago Daily Times earlier this year.
Quinn was initially more familiar with a dairy shed but he was a natural when he was given his first opportunity with a handpiece.
"The first job I ever had was for a friend of my father, whose son was away doing compulsory military training. I dagged 1500 ewes and then he said I might as well start on shearing them."
Quinn moved around the sheds and then established his own shearing business.
He soon discovered shearing could be more than just a job, and he completely dominated the fledgling competitive shearing circuit in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
He won the Golden Shears - the Wimbledon of shearing - in 1965, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971 and 1972. He also won the New Zealand merino title three times, and held a lamb shearing world record.
But it was in 1980 that Quinn wrote the most memorable chapter in his legacy.
The second world championships were on "home boards" that year, in Masterton.
Quinn decided to come out of his retirement from competitive clipping to see if he could still cut it with the best.
He duly won the world individual title, and teamed with Martin Ngataki to claim the teams championship.
Quinn (now 70), who received the MBE for services to shearing and still lives near Alexandra, enjoyed the culture of shearing and the excitement of the competitions.
"I just liked the job. And then it became a lot of fun to go to the shows, because it was about seeing who could do the job the best.
"The first year I went to the Golden Shears, I couldn't believe it. It was big enough then and it's just got bigger and bigger."
