Mustang Saga

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming in order to show you what I was up to today.

Every now and then I get to help out with some very nice sheep at my friend's farm.

Here are two of the Great Pyrenees coming to see what's up:
Here are the sheep, coming obediently when called:

And the rest of the flock follows:

Here the ladies are in the home stretch, almost to the barn:

And here's my good buddy Angus, a really sweet & impressive dog:

Today we put hands on all 60 sheep, grabbing, holding, bending, struggling. It really was very mellow, not near as hard as it has sometimes been in the past. They are a very nice, sedate flock of sheep. Unfortunately all the bending does a number on my back. I think I really can't do it anymore. It scares me thinking what damage I may be doing to my back that I won't be able to reverse. It really bums me out, because I really enjoy the time with my friend, talking about mutual interests. And I love the sheep. They're just so sweet with their big eyes looking up at me. The dogs are a joy to visit with too, treating me like a long lost friend. I'll have to keep going up just to visit. And I'm on the schedule to work at least half of shearing day. That's not the same though, it's so rushed and chaotic.

I have to say that I am totally impressed and inspired by my friend Melissa. She's a woman farmer who does all the work on her farm, has excellent marketing skills, speaks well in front of a class, has great ideas, and is a great teacher. She actually manages to make a living solely by raising sheep. That's quite an accomplishment these days, and I applaud her.

Anyway, just a little break from the horsey monotony here on the blog, and a look at someone else's passion and life work. It's really a great thing.