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Four of the oldest Angora studs in the world, Martyrsford Angoras (established in 1871), Borden Angoras (established 1898), Thorn Park Angoras (established in 1876) and Wheatlands Angoras (established in 1849) came together to offer their top Angora rams at one venue for the first time, namely Wheatlands Farm in Graaff-Reinet.
The farm is the property of the well-known international cricket star of yesteryear, Arthur Short. This prestigious venue created quite a stir and buyers from as far as Lesotho, Caledon and Sutherland travelled to make use of this unique opportunity.
House of Fibre was the auctioneering firm. The prime minister of Lesotho, Samuel Matekane, bought the most rams, but Max van der Wath en Emile Janse van Rensburg from Sutherland stole the limelight when they paid the highest price of the day. They paid R80 000 for a ram bred by Sean Hobson of Matyrsford Angoras, Jansenville.
The average price of R15 126 per ram for the 80 rams (100% clearance) is also a record for an Angora ram sale. – Press release, The House of Fibre
Martyrsford Angoras: The legacy lives on
Sean Hobson’s grandfather, Arthur Blake Hobson, once said about farming: “The way people judge you is by your integrity. Integrity is everything.”
Sean Hobson is the sixth generation of Hobson to farm on Martyrsford in the Jansenville district of the Eastern Cape. He farms with sheep, cattle and Angoras. The latter can be traced back all the way to the first Angora studs that were established in South Africa.
