Our farmstay guests often seem to have a romantic view of what I do as a shepherd. I have come to realize that they really have very little knowledge behind the skills of a shepherd. It’s as if they are looking through mist, only getting half of the picture of the life of a shepherd. They can see the general forms and shape of my work but not the day to day details. If I were to write an ad for a shepherd position, here is a list of skills and attributes that would make a fine shepherd:
Skills of a Shepherd
- Must be tough at heart. Shepherding is not just about sweet lambs and bucolic pastures with sheep grazing. It is about the survival of the fittest. It is about making life and death decisions that will tear your heart apart.
- Must be willing to do hard work. Shepherding does not just require hard physical labor of moving fences, moving sheep, and handling 40 pound bales of hay. It is about heart work. It is having to do hard things and making hard decisions. It is about learning to go with your instincts and let your gut be your guide.
- Must be willing to be humbled daily. Proud people need not apply. If there is any one thing that can bring you to your knees, it is shepherding. There will be days when you make the wrong decision, when you overlook the obvious, when the not so obvious will attack and leave you on your knees. If ever you thought you knew it all, forget it! There will always be days when you realize there is much yet to learn.
- Must not be afraid to learn new things. On a regular basis, you will be required to learn a new skill, a new task, a new way of doing things. An experienced shepherd once told me as she was coaching me over the phone on how to do an internal exam on a laboring ewe, “if you don’t want to do it, then you should not be a shepherd.” Shepherding will take you out of your comfort zone at times and you have to be willing to step forward.
- Must have great endurance. Shepherds must be willing to work in all adverse weather conditions-rain, sleet, snow, subzero degree temperatures, extreme heat, and humidity AND they must be able to keep sheep alive in such adverse conditions. They must be able to work with little sleep, lift with little strength, study with weak knees.
- Must exhibit ability to observe. One time my husband found me just standing in our paddock area with the sheep. He asked me what I was doing. I responded, “getting to know my sheep.” It takes great observation and getting to know what normal looks like to identify what is NOT normal.
- Must have the patience of a saint. Sheep will test you and you must be able to outlast them and outsmart them. Once you think you have them figured out, they are at it again.
Does this list leave you feeling a bit overwhelmed, a bit unsure of whether or not you want to be a shepherd? Or perhaps this list makes you wonder why anyone would want to become a shepherd in the first place.
Shepherding has allowed me the privilege of:
- Seeing new life come into the world
- Doing things I never thought possible
- Living a life of constant learning
- Holding life in my arms one minute and letting life slip out of my arms the next
- Nurturing beings
- Surviving lambing during -40 degree wind chill
- Experiencing the quiet of a barn at 3:00 in the morning
- Keeping my body strong and my heart tender
- Knowing that all sheep are not created equal
- Discovering that sheep are smarter than most will admit.
So, shall I sign you up? Are you ready to become a shepherd?
Judith Falk
I REALLY loved this post. It is absolutely perfect, spot-on, and can be applied to any kind of farming, but particularly livestock. Thanks for posting this. I have been pushed out of my comfort zone many times, done things I wasn’t sure I was capable of doing, experienced heart-swelling triumphs and crushing disappointments….and watched my flock grow, my skills improve, trained my Border Collies, and loved (nearly) every moment of it. Pretty sure that shepherding is in my blood.
Kim Goodling
Judith-Thank you for your comment. I love this…..”heart-swelling triumphs and crushing disappointments”. Those words so perfectly sum up a shepherd’s life. Indeed, this job description could fit just about any farmer. I think often, people go into farming unaware of the details behind the mist. It is hard work on multiple levels. Keep up the good work shepherd!
Sandy Hall Bourrie
This is all so right on; it feels like coming home. Thank you, Kim.
Kim Goodling
I am glad it struck a familiar chord in you.
Patricia Howitt
Brilliantly written! In the middle of our winter this year (July) I spent 2.5 weeks in the field keeping an eye on an in-lamb ewe. So as not to waste time, I used the hours for cutting gorse (it grows to about 8-10′ in this country), dragging it into a burning pile, picking up sticks after a massive slashing job by a contractor, and generally doing paddock maintenance. I am at the highest point of the land for many miles around, and a bitter wind blew daily from the North.
The effort paid off, the ewe lambed without incident, and I didn’t get a cold or the flu. But “life and death decisions” are there for sure, along with the feeling at times that one could have done better. As well as being the doctor and the midwife, there are times when one has to be the undertaker.
Not for the faint-hearted or those enmeshed in pride. Thank you for this post.
Patricia
Kim Goodling
Thank you for commenting! It is so interesting to hear stories of shepherding on the other side of the globe. The challenges are the same regardless of where we keep sheep.
Kristen Judkins
That is pretty spot on Kim. There truly is a new learning opportunity every day in shepherding. Challenges and triumphs, heart wrenching failures and bizarre twists of fate. Thank you for your guidance on my beginning days of this journey…can you believe it’s almost 10 years since I brought those first goats home?
Kim Goodling
Ahhh 10 years? That time has flown! Seems like yesterday.
Kathryn Burgoyne
You must truly love what you are doing. The sheep only trust those who love them.