my mind says college but my heart says isolated sheep herder in Iceland
@the-tao-of-fandom is this a legitimate career choice
Only about once-twice a year, really, if you’re thinking of herding specifically. Most sheep wander all over the damn place (usually on the farmer’s land, but that can reach all the way into the mountains) during the summer, and they only get herded in the late autumn to bring them back down to the lowlands for réttir, I think.
@pipuhattar, I believe this is one of your areas of expertise?
Yes, sheep are herded only once or twice a year. Sheep are released into the mountains or the specific farm-land they are supposed to occupy over the summer. Since sheep do not care about fences and will destroy them or find a hole somewhere, they often go someplace else than where they are supposed to be. (For example to a neighboring mountain, farmland or near a river and will hang out with other sheep. Or: this is important: if your sheep used to belong to another farmer and you bought it, it will go back to its home-field(s) because it/them does/do not care that it now belongs to you, it/them wants/want that sweet grass that is on the field it knows and it will go on an epic journey to that farm whether you like it or not).
Sheep love roads, and will often be on them, so watch out if you are driving.
When herding:
- Herding usually takes 4-8 hours on a single, small farm. If you want to be on an isolated farm or a big farm, it can take days to herd all the sheep.
- You will or someone will bring trained sheep-herding dogs (border collie, Icelandic sheepdog, rough collie. Border collies are the most common, though.) The dogs are vital, as they are far faster than humans and know their stuff. The person who brings the dogs is in charge of them and will shout a lot. Be wary of half-trained sheepdogs.
- Most of the time you will either be on horseback or walking.
- If not, you will be on a tractor or a sturdy truck that has seen better days (vital as the sheep will hate the car and might try to attack it).
- There will be a lot of people: Farmers, their children and relatives, friends and possibly even people that have no idea what they are doing but have been called in to help, various children and teens, people that semi-professionally herd sheep or/and train sheepdogs and various families connected to the farmer on the land that you are herding.
- Expect people to be wearing lopapeysa/wool sweaters/knitted hats with bobbles, horse-riding clothes, mittens, raincoats, angry expressions and warm socks along with good rain-boots.
- As finding and forcing the sheep to go in a particular direction in order to catch them all is vital. Most people will be walking in a line, forcing the sheep to run in the opposite direction.
- People will be stationed at certain points which have weaknesses (such as a bad/broken fence, gates that cannot be locked, etc. They are not allowed to move. At all. Until the sheep have passed them.
- Sheep move fast when scared and it is possible that they will break a leg in fear. You will have to carry that sheep home.
- Some people will bring their pet dogs, only to have them bark excitedly at the sheep when the sheep are almost in the rétt/big round fence that the sheep are kept in after being herded. (the purpose of this is to scare the sheep so that they hurry into the fence, and the pet dog is usually placed near the last normal fence that the sheep will see before being caught. The sheep will (in their desperation) try to jump over/find a hole/jump at that fence in an attempt to escape (hence why the dog and all the remaining humans are placed near that last fence).
- Sheep are crazy. They do not care that you are in their way. They will jump at you, try to leap over the fence you are guarding or anything at all. They will attack you with their horns. They will run at you. You will get hurt and covered in bruises.
- Leaping sheep: Sheep can jump really high. It is kinda magnificent.
- Swimming sheep: Some sheep have learned how to swim over rivers. As mentioned above, sheep are insane. They will jump into the river and jump-swim over to the other side of the river. Ewes will teach their lambs to do this. You will take off your socks and shoes and go into the ice-cold water to get the sheep. Your feet will be numb instantly. You don’t care. Then you tackle the sheep and hold it still. And wait for people to come help with the other sheep. Scream for their assistance.
- When the sheep are caught and in their locked fence, people will pat you on the back and when inside the farm, you will be served Icelandic meat soup (lamb, rice, turnips, potatoes, herbs).
I love this long, long post so much because it so beautifully answer the perrenial disaffected teen question about life by saying, “oh idk, should you spend the next four years indoors reading things or should you devote your life to standing in the rain and the mud while hundred of irrational wool-covered monsters leap at you while screaming their horrible herd animal scream?”
I suspect sheep-herding in iceland, a place where sheep have no natural predators, is different from in many other places.
I am pleased to know this, because I have considered this before.
