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Author Topic: Halter training sheep/lambs  (Read 12070 times)

Foobar

  • Joined Mar 2012
  • South Wales
Re: Halter training sheep/lambs
« Reply #15 on: September 02, 2013, 10:22:52 pm »
Looks like that halter is on upside down :).
If you imagine that your "handle" will lift the chin up (from underneath) when you pull it upwards.
(lifting the chin is like applying the brakes to a sheep)
I hope that makes sense!

ladyK

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Conwy Valley
Re: Halter training sheep/lambs
« Reply #16 on: September 02, 2013, 10:43:35 pm »
Try to go a step back and train 'putting on the halter' before you train 'walking on the halter'.
I've started with dangling the halter next to their face while feeding (mine feed from my hand). Once they took no notice, the next step was to eat of my hand with the halter lying on top of the feed, then I started holding the halter up a bit so they had to stick their nose into it to get to the feed, eventually I was pulling the halter up towards the head putting some pressure on it, etc. Any time the animal could choose to walk off / shake off the halter but the halter excercise was the only way to get to the treats, and I would just wait til they came back for more.
It took me 5 days (working maybe 15 mins each day) to get 2 of my Soays to willingly stick their nose in the halter loop and let me buckle it up while they keep feeding with not much concern.
Next step for me to attach a rope....
"If one way is better than another, it is the way of nature." (Aristotle)

Foobar

  • Joined Mar 2012
  • South Wales
Re: Halter training sheep/lambs
« Reply #17 on: September 03, 2013, 06:49:00 am »
That is the advantage of halters with buckles, you can get them on quick without having to do the "rope halter dance".   :)

mowhaugh

  • Joined Jul 2013
  • Scottish Borders
    • Facebook
Re: Halter training sheep/lambs
« Reply #18 on: September 03, 2013, 07:23:10 am »
Well done! 

Simon O

  • Joined Mar 2010
  • Bonkle
Re: Halter training sheep/lambs
« Reply #19 on: September 03, 2013, 08:04:59 am »
Thanks foobar...damn, I thought I had it sussed! Back to the drawing board.
Thanks for this good advice ladyK, that did not seem to take you too long, i imagined that process would take a lot longer and figured I did not have time for these niceties, but I know, it's better to do it properly from the start.
I wish I had got these buckle halters now but having spent this money on the rope halters, and not expecting to do a lot of showing, I thought I would now make do with what I had.
Magnus did feed unhaltered from my hand this morning for the first time so he has obviously not lost all trust in me.
It is quite fun anyway.
 

kelly58

  • Joined Mar 2013
  • Highlands, Scotland
  • Home is were my animals are.
Re: Halter training sheep/lambs
« Reply #20 on: October 09, 2013, 08:52:13 pm »
What a  gorgeous boy ! What breed is he ?

Simon O

  • Joined Mar 2010
  • Bonkle
Re: Halter training sheep/lambs
« Reply #21 on: October 10, 2013, 10:01:15 am »
Kerry Hill! He got in and out of the ring fine with me at the smallholder show and behaved better than I did. Got 2nd prize in hill sheep tup lambs.............(out of 2, but the winner was a very nice ?wiltshire horn)

 

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