At least, not if you're married to A., who considers life a sad and empty thing if there aren't wool-bearers somewhere on the property.
The last sheep we had were the three ram lambs A. bought to fatten over the summer and feed us over the winter. The last proper flock we had was at least five years ago.
It was a long, sad five years for A.
But no more! For yesterday, the sheep man brought home the beginnings of his new flock.
Baa.
Those are Merinos. A. drove to the southern part of the state to get them (sleeping in the open trailer on the open range so he could be at the ranch early in the morning, but that's another story) and got them from a large sheep operation that was shipping older ewes to Mexico. There are six ewes there and one ram lamb. Most, if not all, of the ewes are probably pregnant and could have a lamb anytime in the next couple of weeks.
A good start to a flock, indeed.
Although A. and the children were very excited at the arrival of the sheep, you know who wasn't? Samson.
Well, that's not strictly accurate. He got excited all right. As soon as he caught the scent of the sheep when A. was preparing to unload them, he galloped right across the pasture and jumped two five-foot-high fences to get away from them.
Twenty-three-year-old horses are NOT supposed to do that.
Luckily, we live in a ghost town, so he can run quite a ways before he gets to anything. What he did was make a beeline for one of our neighbors about half a mile away to visit her horse. A. went after him and brought him home with no trouble, and thankfully no injuries from his athletic endeavors.
Then A. spent some time in the pasture with Samson and his halter, feeding him hay, patting him, and reassuring him that his new pasture-mates were nothing to be afraid of. He's fine now.
Don't even think about trying to leap that fence again, Samson.
I have no idea why Samson freaked out the way he did. He's been around plenty of cows, but I guess the scent is different. Luckily, the sheep are accustomed to both horses and dogs, so they were perfectly placid.
Anyway. The current menagerie stands at four chickens, two puppies, one horse, and seven sheep, and who knows how many lambs to come.
At least it's never boring around here.
3 comments:
Maybe Samson's thinking he's going to suffer the same fate. :)
Linda
;) One always wonders what the heck animals are thinking. I do anyway.
My Louie never quite reconciled himself to sheep when Gary had them. Samson looks like he's in excellent condition. The sheep, which A reports are Debouillets (a breed developed in NM from Merinos and Rambouillets), appear to be excellent specimens. Excellent. I bet A. saw some pretty excellent stars, even though the moon is fairly bright in the current phase. I think it's all very exciting, and I can't wait to come out and see them all the livestock and all the children. And exactly why does Miss Amelia have a horse? Probably because she has always had a horse, and why not.
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