Shepherd's blog: Short Memory

I trundled off this morning to herd (shepherd) some tups. Go around and bunch up sheep and check all is well is basically what the job entailed. The sheep are all off the hill ground and held in fields which makes the task a lot easier.

On arriving at my destination I noticed the highest ground on the farm, the hill tops, had a greyness about them, a covering of snow. Upon leaving yesterday my wiper blades on the car were fighting with lumpy rain so it was of no suprise to see the sight infront of me.

God it was cold! How short our memories are. Just days earlier we had been experiencing a very mild autumn/early winter and here I was, nithered, nose running with the cold, eyes watering with cold air stinging them, wishing I'd put ski pants on instead of waterproofs and not because I would be going skiing but for extra warmth on the quad. Even my double layered goretex gloves weren't stopping my hands from feeling the cold. It seemed like it had been cold like this for as long as I could remember. But it's really only the start of winter, we have been fortunate up until now - short memory!

There were some sheep in a planting.... now they ain't gonna get tupped in there are they?

There are a few farms I work on where it is sometimes necessary to retrieve sheep from forestry or plantings such as this, I am always nervous of working a dog in such conditions, there are so many hidden dangers. To start with the ground is undulating, cut through with drains, then there is the brash left from felled trees which sticks out at all angles and basically lies in a tangled mess everywhere. Tree stumps are at least larger and the new trees themselves don't worry me too much at all, being 'Christmas' trees they don't really have hard spikey branches to poke a dogs eye out.

Moss was sent in to the 'danger' zone. Dogs get focused on the job in hand, the sheep they have to find and drive out, they don't always look where they are going, what they are travelling upon and the hidden dangers held therein, I am always nervous for the dog on ground such as this. Hardly noticeable on the photos but it was beginning to snow, just to add to the 'excitement' of the moment. Thankfully sheep and dog came off the ground, sheep were set off in the direction of tups and dog was praised and a beady eye ran over him to check all was well.

Years ago Moss' father Tyne was sent into a similar situation, he worked well and retrieved sheep, on returning to me I noticed blood on his face. It wasn't until the gather was finished and sheep were in the pens that I looked closer. The dog was showing no ill effects and worked well but closer inspection showed he had a twig which had pierced his cheek and entered his mouth, a pair of pliers were needed to pull the offending article out of his flesh. He was very lucky as the piercing was just below his eye - no wonder I am nervous of running dogs in such conditions.

On continuing my journey I found lying snow. Brrr.... no wonder I felt cold and me nose was still running, thankfully the fancy gloves have a soft cover on the thumb - specially put there for runny noses, it was getting a lot of use!

These were just small patches of snow, tucked in the back of the planting where the ground was sheltered from the wind, at the time I couldn't help but think how pretty it looked, umm..... that was soon to change.

The trip around the tups didn't go as well as possible, a few problems to iron out and a few which weren't, getting colder by the minute, nose still running, eyes still smarting. 'Twas cold!

Then it really did start to snow, ugh! real snow.