I decided to give the ram lambs halter lessons today. I intended to do them one or two at a time, but quickly became frustrated with the head bobbing and nodding that several of them perform when I put a halter on them. So, I decided that it was time they learn to stand tied . 
Trinity was one of the worst of the head bobbers and he quickly figured out that it did him no good ~ AND that if he stood, nicely, I'd walk over and scratch him and give him an animal cracker! ;-)
Bravo coached Hershey on the fine art of standing still...I walked up and down the line of ram lambs ~ making sure nobody got tangled and giving pets and reassurance ~ and kept a close eye on them as they adjusted to standing tied.
Rhinestone Cowboy found the whole experience exhausting! Using the fence posts as 'hitching posts' worked great! 
As soon as Rocky figured out there were cookies involved, he decided that this was a pretty cool game! Notice the black lamb walking, free, down the line of tied boys? That's Diamond. I didn't have enough halters! Diamond very much enjoyed walking from lamb to lamb and reassuring them that everything would be fine...
Nestle didn't think it was real fair that Diamond wasn't tied up.After about 15 minutes of playing this game, Diamond and I performed the final inspection:
All the boys were standing quite nicely! A job well done.
...."Silly Boys! I could have told them there's nothing to this halter lesson stuff!" 
After a day at the fair yesterday, I felt like Rhinestone Cowboy looks in that picture - you must have been laughing your head off...
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your lessons. T.
Hi Nancy,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the suggestion this post gave me. My ram lamb - and first sale! - leaves for his new home on Sunday, and I thought it prudent to finish his halter training. After reading your blog, I decided to use the fence as a handy helper, and was pleased with how things went. When I first got my bred ewes and we didn't have a pasture fenced for sheep yet, I frequently put their leashes over steel posts to allow them a little grazing time. Hadn't thought to use the fence for the lambs....
By the way, I referenced you in my blog. :-) If you want to check it out, go to www.boulderneigh.blogspot.com.
Great minds do think alike! I had sheep tied up everywhere last weekend! My neighbor thought I was going crazy (crazier?). Just explained that they had to learn their manners! :)
ReplyDeleteBut I know it adds insult to injury when I laugh at them and their antics. (Hehehe)
Nancy-
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! I loved the pictures...there must be a calendar page in there somewhere....