Draft sheep

[Nat(wasIxy)]

My partner says I’m welcome to have a go at training some of our just weaned kerryhill wethers. they are smart looking animals with their upright ears and distinctive facial markings, and wethers grow to quite a size so i think it could be good for simple leisure cart pulling!

found a good pic of the kind of thing I’m thinking of:

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_HUr9Hlcl7Yk/R2YEMQFcX6I/AAAAAAAAEsk/Mk9p136btdI/Millennium+City+-+sheepcart+&+monkey.JPG

[bivol]

yep, that’s a good idea!
sheep are very afectionate, and i think could be trained to pull carts, etc.
just, you’d have to trim their coats so they don’t overheat!:p

[mother katherine]

Ixy, you’re my kind of girl. I’ve seen a picture of a draft wether and have wanted to try it myself.
I couldn’t make the link you sent work.
Keep us up to date on the guys’ progress.
oxnun and shepherd

[near horse]

This thread prompted me to think about “other” draft animals again which, in turn, led to my recollection of a photo (pre-photoshop) of a moose pulling a small sleigh. Remember – don’t try this at home with your local moose! But it does go to show that animals are very flexible in their adapability. BTW- are there any reindeer herders on this list?

[goodcompanion]

I remember my cousin and I hooked a suffolk ram to a sort of a go-cart that we built a covered wagon type thing onto. We were maybe around 10 years old. That ram pulled us pretty fast for about 50 feet, then crashed.

[Nat(wasIxy)]

Well the lambs went off to a rented field elsewhere and it was going to be too fiddly to pick two out and bring them back here…but, we have 2 adult wethers in ‘sick bay’ for fly strike. We’ve ad to treat them so much they are getting used to handling and they are BIG sheep, so I may try getting a halter on and so on….

[Vicki]

A few years ago at my county fair, I saw a young lady in a beautiful costume, looking Alpine to me, driving a large sheep pulling a small cart, through the crowds. I could not stop to talk at the time. Wish I knew more about her and her trained sheep.

[Nat(wasIxy)]

I’ve been gradually getting ‘Scabby’ and his friend used to human contact but we never seemed to progress past them coming up eagerly for some silage, but never daring to eat while I was near.

So I just caught and haltered him – they ran around the pen and I just kept them running until they got bored and then Scabby easily gave in and I got the halter on. Now he’s tied up and fighting it out with the fence rail…I’ll just keep an eye on him so he doesn’t hurt himself and will let him off when he’s calmed down…

[Nat(wasIxy)]

The draft sheep project rides again! I’ve been allowed to milk our biggest ewe – ‘Big Fat Blackface’ (they are kerry hills and she has huge black patches ove rmost of her face – no good for showing!) and she has two wether lambs at foot. As they will be kept at home and getting fed, they should grow up tame, and, being twins, well matched with any luck! They should also be BIG as she is a big ewe, and they are crossed with a Wensleydale, which is big AND they’ll have hybrid vigour 😮 So we might get some serious weight pulled when they get to 3/4yrs old!

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