Sheep

[blitzen_]

this post is especially for blauereiterin, who seems to have discovered a newfound love for ovines.

(edit... a very large amt of photos. i had no idea i had so many sheep pics. and i claim to be indifferent...)

Comments

[blitzen_]

meh. stockhorses (not that he is one, shhh) should be bloody well trained not to pull back & to be reasonably bloody bombproof. i've been flamed on Eq for a variety of things incl... leaving the leadrope trailing on the ground. OMG *dies* horses can tread on the rope you know, and break their necks!!! omg.

i don't think it was the Crutching that was the prob, but mulesing. we don't do that down where my dad lives. the climate is good & the farms are relatively small - mulesing is for the big sheep country farms - i'd never HEARD of it until a few years ago, lol, and i've grown up with sheep. we get flystrike but nothing like you do in more arid climates.
ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulesing

and dorpa's are shedding sheep. they're a relatively new breed from south africa (along with damara's) and they're predominantly a meat sheep. they've dominant genes too, so several x's with merino's or x'breds will result in almost 'pure' dorpa's after a few generations. they don't need to be shorn. this is good for my dad because he doesn't want to run sheep anymore as money makers - he likes having them around to sell as fat lambs, but managing wool etc is too much work. SO breed in the shedding gene and he can just have a flock running in the tree plantations to keep the firehazard/grass down. all good.

[blitzen_]

that's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulesing

[maggies_lens]

Gawd, I get flamed whenever I mention I leave my horses out in winter. I think they just do it very differently over in the States, altho I have seen plenty of American horses do ground-tying so I don't see what the problem is, not to mention Mustangs living out FAR harsher winters than we get here. Hehehehe, he looks like a perfect little stockhorse :-)
Dorpa's shed... that is awesome! I have never heard of a sheep shedding. That's def a new one on me. Can just imagine someone walking around the paddock with a lint-remover muttering under their breath about bloody shedding sheep messing up the place. ;-D

[w_hisp_ered]

Just to add to this:

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=egqu0i&s=3
Oh no! Its a pony outside in the middle of winter with a halter rope around her legs! And shockhorror the apparently imported warmblood in the background is outside, and he has FLUFF. and om MUD on him.
I should be shot for bad horsekeeping!

(Please ignore the trucks and stuff in the background, the horses paddock at that place was fine, but the other paddocks wernt. Oh and pony is not actually that bum high in real life)

And those sheep are so cute! i like the suffolk one

[lurath]

Yay sheep! Very cool. When we worked with sheep in my classes, they were always like "AHHH HUMANS, run away and crash into things!" But these sheep are much more mild mannered.

Ugh, I've gotten bitched at IRL for having my leadrope trail on the ground. I've had people see that and lunge at my horse (grazing peacefully, maybe even with a foot on the lead) to grab her before she SCARES herself, resulting in her going WTF!? and spooking at them. *Facepalm* When my gal steps on the lead she just goes "huh? Oh, okay" and moves. Not all horses are freaking skitzos (like owner like horse though :))!