Hi. We haven't found Hebrideans at all difficult to keep. Once you have learnt that they don't necessarily flock as other sheep do when you round them up, and once you have developed your strategy to get around this, you won't have a problem.
Hebs are small to handle, with ewes weighing about 40kgs, tups about 60kgs. Most Hebs are two horned these days, but there are still about 6-7% multihorned, including our Ancient Type. For a beginner, two horns are easier to manage.
Just what you are looking for in your sheep when you purchase them will govern your choice. If you want to show them, then you will need a different beast compared to if you want a sturdy, rainproof, independent animal for general use.
For showing, your sheep needs to have all the qualities of any good animal, plus a very black double coat, longish but not too long. The horns on ewes need to curve back and slightly outwards, not be too close to the face. The tail shouldn't hang below the hock (this is a shorttailed breed) and should be covered in thick fleece.
In two horned Hebs, the head should be 'clean' ie no topknot, the eyes bright and either dark or light brown. The face should be slightly dished in ewes and straight in tups, but never a Roman nose. There should be no white spots or marks anywhere on the fleece, and you may need to search well for these. As lambs it is acceptable for a small white spot on the head, as long as this disappears by 4 months, ie when offered for sale.
Hebs are slightly less stocky than a four-square sheep, but should still stand well, sturdy leags well placed, good rib cage and for a tup a good strong straight back. Tups horns curl around and can eventually manage about 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 turns. Their horns mustn't touch the face, nor should they be widely set. They have a slightly triangular cross section and are fairly heavy, more so than, say, a Shetland. Obviously a tup should have all his dangly bits, and you should check the penis for discharge or infection.
I always check sheeps feet, teeth including molars and bite, all over including the crutch for fly strike, skin for mites, lice etc, eyes for brightness and no discharge, all that.
I would also always ask for the age and history of each animal, including if the tup is proven, and see the registration doc which goes back to gggsire, so you can cross check for too close a relationship with the proposed ewes.
Hebs are long lived and you can expect ewes to produce lambs until they are a good ten yo. Some of ours have gone on til 15, as long as they have kept their teeth.
Hebs for general purpose don't come so black, often with a grey 'blanket' over the back. They are more very dark brown than black and don't always have the fleece double all over. Both the undercoat and top hair coat are water repellent, so as long as the fleece has a good 'spring' to it that's fine. Occasional ewes are polled but as that is genetically multihorned, if you are concentrating on 2 horned Hebs then you won't meet one.
If you're interested in multihorns then I can go into them too.