Why rare breeds and us?

I blame Paul Heiney! I think that it was through his book “Pulling Punches” that I first became aware of the RBST and rare breeds. At the tine we had a smallholding of 5 acres in Shropshire. I was wondering what we could get to eat the grasses the horses kept leaving behind. Sheep-ooh no( how times change) a goat? “Difficult to keep in” a very chilly voice on the end of a phone told me. A cow? Then followed a conversation with the RBST who soon directed me from the lofty financial prospect of a Red Poll to the much more practical solution, especially for a smallholder of limited experience, of Shetland cow. The prime attractions then- and now- are their smaller size, their thriftiness- they do very well, sometimes too well, on just grass- they generally calf very easily and are good milkers and mothers.

I was never going to keep sheep, never, ever! What changed my mind was the fact that we have certain areas of the farm which cried out for sheep- unfortunately the darn things will not stay there but that is another story! So having decided to keep sheep, which breed? Thought that I may as well stick with the rare breed theme again looking for something tough enough to stand the weather here, easy to lamb, milk well and be good mothers. The obvious choice here would be the North Ronaldsay but because their principal habitat in Orkney is along the sea shore they can suffer from copper poisoning once they are kept on farm land. If you are planning a trip to Orkney, take the time for a quick jaunt up to North Ronaldsay to see these beautiful sheep, with their glorious range of colours, in their natural setting. The Shetland sheep-another colourful breed- is no longer a rare breed so the next one in line was the Hebridean –who are very beautiful too, in case any of them are listening- so that is what we have. I would not be without them.

I have always wanted a pony- some folk just never grow up! I fancied a couple of ponies to drive and do some jobs around the farm. Again going with the rare breed and what had also become an island theme I chose the Eriskay. A couple of other pluses for the Eriskay is that they are a reasonable size and sturdy enough to carry a small adult. They are also renown for their good temperaments – the “backdoor pony”.

The most wonderful aspect of these animals to me is that they are very people friendly. We have sheep who come to collect me from the field gate at tea time and cattle who come to the call when I want to move them to fresh grazing. When you consider that for years they have been bred on crofts and small holdings where people lived and worked closely with them then their temperaments and easy of working would have been very important. I. along with many others who are owned by these wonderful animals, reap the benefits daily of the work done by previous generations in first developing the breeds and then preserving them.