Summertime is our flock’s favorite time of year here on the ranch. We’re well past the work of spring - lambing, docking, moving the sheep to the mountain - and are now able to enjoy the long days of summer at the cool mountain elevations of our summer pastures.
Sheep are well-suited to the high country environment. The cooler temperatures keep them more comfortable in their wooly habits and the mountain vegetation suits their tastes. Sheep are naturally browsers; they prefer to eat shrub, leaves, and herbs over grass and the mountainsides provides plenty of these delicacies at this time of year.
The days of summer fall into a regular rhythm of foraging and resting. Our flock rises from their bed ground soon after first light and begins their day’s work. The shepherd with his horse and a watchful detachment of guard dogs will accompany the flock as they migrate out for their morning feeding. Around noon, the shepherd will guide the sheep back to their current source of water - a creek or stock tank - and they all will shade up for a midday rest before returning to pasture for the afternoon. Before sundown the shepherd will guide the flock back to their bed ground for the night.
All too soon these long days will come to an end, but for now the ewes and their fast-growing lambs will feast along the mountainsides and spend their afternoons resting under the cool dappled light of the aspen trees in the high country summer.