The Boys of Summer

Came across some photos of the boys standing waist deep in clover  last summer  - which reminded me of an old Don Henley song, the title of today's post. It was fun finding these shots in my archives as the days shorten and we get our first taste of winter.

 

To follow up on my last post: the vibe in the carriage barn has mellowed considerably. Yesterday I enlarged the pen, to see what would happen if I gave the guys a little more space. The usual amount of shouldering ensued between Tea and Cilantro, but it was just posturing really. At dinner last night, wee Cinder put his ears back and challenged one of the big wethers, so cute to see him acting brave and rammy. When the wether answered the challenge, Cinder was quick to assume the posture of "just kidding!", when he realized, I think, that he was outsized by about 150 lbs.

So today I gave Holly the sign that it was fine to let the whole group out into the yard. We watched to be sure everyone was behaving.  In a comment to my last post Valerie asked what would happen if we didn't manage the re-introduction of the boys carefully. In past years, we've had some bloody heads when the fellows had just a bit too much space, enough room to clobber each other. We've since learned it's best to take things slowly, make the pen tight at first, until the boys re-establish the pecking order.

Naturally, Tea and Cilantro are sticking together this morning. They hip checked each other on the way out the door into the pasture, but appear to  have declared a truce. Looking at the photos from last July, they were pretty much side by side even then. I suppose it's a yin-yang thing, and they always seem to work it out, eventually striking a balance.

 

Of course, we're careful to administer equal amounts of attention to all of them.

 
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Comments

[Manise]

It's so nice to see pastoral summery photos of the boys as the weather starts getting so much colder and color in nature sparser. Is Cilantro a relative of Helena?

~Hi Manise! The black and white speckles are the tell-tale signs of Cocoa, our flock matriarch. Her sons & daughters (and grandkids) are the only sheep to carry those markings. So yes, Cilantro and Helena are cousins!~

[Konna]

Beautiful pictures of the rams! They must have had a feast on all that clover! I had the opportunity this past summer to spend some time with some sheep that were being herded by a friend's border collies. Great fun to watch and they actually let me pet them. It was a great day!

[Lynn]

I miss knee-deep green grass already...

[Lesley]

Saw that you had to start copyrighting your material - hope nothing too serious happened! Love the picture of the boys :)

~Nope, just good g.p., but thanks for asking! Off to feed those boys now . . .~

[Valerie]

So they really can do some damage to one another. It's good they have you to look out for their best interests!
Those summery fields certainly look bright and green in juxtaposition to the greys and browns I see outside right now.

[Madeline]

When it's grey outside and the grass is dull or even covered with snow, we forget just how gloriously green spring really is and the beautiful color of clover. Thanks for the uplifting photos.