Mr Ford (71) was the oldest competitor at the World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships in Invercargill.
"Shearing keeps me in shape," he said, after competing in the Southland All Nations blade shearing heats.
It was his sixth world championships — he competed in his first in 1998 — and it was his second in New Zealand.
From Massachusetts, where there were quite a few small flocks of sheep — "enough to keep me busy" — Mr Ford enjoyed the athletic aspect of shearing. He had no intention of retiring, hoping to compete in the next world championships in France.
There was very little in the way of competitions in the United States and, sometimes, the only one he got to in a year was the world championships. He failed to make the semifinal this year.