PEDICURE, POLISH & TRIM, SIR?

.. Or how to cut the nails on sheep

AS YOU KNOW I don't like sheep ... awful animals that spend their time either trying to escape or perform some kamikaze act to end it all. After my last experience with these subversive creatures I told my other half that in future we would have no further dealings with them. I really put my foot down.

STORMIN' NORMAN Obviously 

contemplating his next mad mission 

 So, he-who-should-be-obeyed-but-rarely-is, duly nodded and then went out and bought two Zwartbles rams from a friend's prize-winning flock!
 Sheep are high maintenance and I'm usually the one who has to bail them out of trouble, chase them around the field, unpick them from barbed wire fences, drag them from the roadside and generally save their lives at least twice a week. The latest woolly drama began when one of them started limping and so hubby decided what was needed was a pedicure.
 We went to a local shop in Hawick where they sell all sorts of things for farmyard animals and instead of buying a pair of trimmers the assistant readily offered to give the sheep a pedicure himself while showing hubby how it's done. Sheep need their toe nails clipped on a regular basis and if neglected they end up with all sorts of foot problems ... a bit like humans in that respect.

NAILED: Our 'foot doctor' shows how to perform

a pedicure on a reluctant ram.

 However, when the 'foot doctor' arrived hubby wasn't around and so he set about with the smaller of the two rams. The secret with sheep is to get them off their feet and balance them on their bottoms so they become entirely helpless and are basically unable to struggle. As you can see from the picture on the left, our expert did this with the greatest of ease and set about chopping off the overgrown nails with some sort of blade-cum-nail-file.
 He was about to start on Stormin' Norman, the larger of the two rams when I said this was a pity since my husband was really missing out on some hands on experience.
 The foot doctor agreed and said he would come back later and  teach him. I can't wait to see he-who-should-be-obeyed-but-rarely-is wrestling with Norman trying to put him on his woolly backside. Methinks I will get the video cam on stand by so I can share the occasion with you.
 In the meantime while busying myself in the virtual reality world of Twitter (@yvonneridley) I was introduced to a neighbour who really loves sheep. If she reads my blog she will probably be appalled because she really appears to adore them. In fact Annabelle loves them so much she shares her own blog with another like-minded soul and it's called Flockable Lasses: http://flockablelasses.com/ There you can read about the adventures she and another young shepherdess called Sophie have as they give their life experiences of working with sheep in the Borders. There's even a ewe-tube clip! Here's a snippet about their blog:

We are two young, blonde, female shepherdesses that have the drive to change the future of the farming industry. We’re going to show people that it’s interesting, rewarding and exciting! We both love what we do and wouldn’t change it for the world as you will find out through our blog. Our love for sheep will be contagious and will inspire new entrants to the sheep and agricultural industry!

Despite the fact I loathe sheep, I really enjoyed reading their blog and was quite blown away by the passion and enthusiasm shown. I did feel a tad guilty for dissing the animals they so clearly revere - perhaps we can meet up one day and who knows, may be some of the enthusiasm for the woolly ones will rub off.