Defying the back-breaking odds of the shearing industry, Peter Allen is comfortably hitting the clippers at age 75.
He first started shearing on the family farm in Kendenup, about 350 kilometres south-east of Perth, when he was 18.
Now decades later, from September to January, he still shears about three days a week on Western Australia's south coast.
The extra cash, and competitive side to the job, has kept him in the game.
"When you get to pension age, just relying on the pensions a bit, well, you don't have much spare money," he said.
"If you go out and shear, you could make four or five hundred dollars a day."
He is paid by individual sheep shorn, which for Mr Allen, is usually around 100 per day.
"If you can shear them fast, I suppose you make more money," he said.
"There's a lot of prowess in being able to do it faster than someone who's younger than you."
Older and wiser
Mr Allen prioritises his physical wellbeing, using a back brace to protect his body and help keep him in top shearing form.
"Younger you, we think you're bulletproof — and you are slightly — and you work long hours," he said.
"We used to work for 11 months a year, and that was six or seven days a week, that was tough."
"As you get as you get older and wiser ... you realise that you need to eliminate the stressors, like don't drink too much, and also eat the right foods."
Mr Allen is in no rush to quit shearing, and sees himself running the clippers for a few years to come.
Nearly a record holder
Before working for himself, the veteran shearer ran a number of shearing teams.
Looking after about 50 workers at a time while trying to keep them on the rails was a challenge but the era did leave some fond memories.
Like the time Mr Allen gave shearing world-record holder Michael James Terry a run for his money.
Mr Terry knocked on Mr Allen's door, asking for a job.
When he pulled out a newspaper clipping highlighting he had set a three-stand shearing record in New Zealand, he was a shoe-in for the team.
"The first run the best of my shears were shearing up around 45 to 50 [lambs] per run every two hours, [Mr Terry's] first run, he shore 80, so he was just on another level."
Mr Allen was very fit at the time, and had shorn 80 lambs in a run before, as well as 300 lambs in a day.
"I thought maybe I should have a go at him, and [with] my competitive nature, I just thought if I beat him, then that … shows me that I've beaten a world-record holder," he said.
But Mr Terry had his boss covered by three lambs after the run.
"He still beat me, so, he kept his world record status and I was humbled."
