I open the gate to the barn and Lori comes running. I call to Kim who is still at the feeder eating hay. It takes me singing her name a few times, Kimmy-Kimmy-Kimmy before she comes.
And when she does Constance is following her.
Lori is already in the barn, so I open the gate and let Kim in. But I hold up my hand to Constance. It’s not for you, I tell her and as if she understands, she turns and goes back to the feeder where the rest of the sheep are eating.
I give Lori and Kim grain in the winter because they are older and need the extra nutrition. Except the coldest days, the rest of the sheep get what they need from the hay.
It doesn’t always happen, but once in a while one of the other sheep will try to get some grain as Constance did this morning. No matter who it is, they listen when I tell them it’s not for them. They seem to understand me.
It still surprises me when they don’t try harder to come in the gate, that they just return to the hay feeder.
But I think I have learned, as they obviously already know have, that there are times when I can simply talk to the sheep and they’ll do as I ask.
That doesn’t work during shearing, but it often works when it comes to our daily routines.
