Yesterday I went out to the field and started picking my lambs for this upcoming 4h year. You may be thinking "Whaaa?" See in our 4h club our achievement day is at the end of August. This may seem really weird to you cattle 4hers who just finished wrapping up your 4h year. To be frank, my year has really just started. This year my 2year old ewe Mayonnaise had twin boys. I will be bringing her back with her lambs at foot to compete again. My Yearling, Ketchup just gave birth to a big girl who I named Heinz. And finally I just picked out my ewelamb for this fall. I picked Relish. (Do you see a trend in names here?) This is when I start getting excited and begin to dread 4h at the same time. First of all I'm excited to wash up my lambs and go to the show. What I dread is the few months before that can happen. This is the time where I get to halter train my lambs. They may not be as big as cows or horses but breaking-in a lamb is not an easy task.Over my years in 4h I have learnt that there are two types of lambs on average. These types arise once you get the halter on them and try and lead them for the first time. The first; the jumper. Holding close to its name, these lambs flail about jumping up and down and often hit me in the face (Don't laugh kamikaze sheep are terrifying). The second type; DEAD. No they don't actually die but this type plays dead. It feels the halter on them and it falls over. Much like a fainting goat they just fall, lie stiff and hope that you don't notice them. Neither of these lambs are easy to train. Either they are running around in uncontrollable circles or they simply won't move and you find yourself dragging dead weight. I'm really not going to lie here when I say that halter training is my least favourite task in 4h. Sigh. Another year another dollar right? I do suppose it has taught my patience and understanding but in the heat of that frustrating moment it never feels worth it til achievement day.
