THE uniform might have been prison greens instead of the traditional blueys and dungarees, but the work was just as hard for everyone in Shear Outback's shearing shed.
Included in the most recent course for shearers and shed hands at the Hay facility were eight inmates of the Ivanhoe Warriki Correctional Centre.
The course, run by the Riverina Institute of TAFE, is designed to help unemployed and indigenous people gain skills, and that's exactly what the inmates were doing over the past two weeks.
They, and several other locals, felt the heat when temperatures reached 47C in the shed.
But there was a sense of achievement too as the eclectic group of inmates and locals "graduated" recently.
Inmate Alistair Ahoy admitted he had never even touched a sheep before but was now considering doing a bit of shearing when he left the correctional centre.
"It's not as easy as it looks and it's mainly about getting the position of the sheep right," he said.
"I wouldn't do it professionally (shear) but it would be good to be able to earn a bit of money by shearing."
Fellow inmate Rory Bromhead said the closest he had been to wool before the course was wearing a jumper, but he had enjoyed his two week stint on the classing table.
"It was everything I thought and more, and great to learn there are so many strengths and microns in wool," he said.
First class correctional officer Larry Baker said he was impressed with how the inmates had "got into it and really had a go".
"It was 47C in the shed one day but they stuck to it, and it is great to see the inmates gain skills in an industry they could go out and work in," he said.
