Gaining Trust

I recently read a story about a boy who tamed a wild horse by following it all over the place and running after it to keep up and just being always visible to the wild horse but not trying to catch it. Finally, he went back down to his home and the wild creature followed him and looked at him as if to say, "O.K. what's next?" They went on to have a beautiful relationship.

Ten days ago, I said it was time to shift focus and work with the lambs to be able to put a harness on them. Well, I have not begun yet but I have been noticing most of the lambs are getting friendlier and trusting me more and a couple will seek me out and Norma Jean came up and licked my hand today and I had no food. Lambs are not generally as friendly as goat kids. They will come up and chew on a pant leg if you hold still but they do not come up to get scratched like older sheep that have learned to trust. Maybe it is different if they are handled often by young kids from day 1.

I have always given animals space and they say sheep do not like people to make eye contact. I think this is true unless they come to you for attention. Sometimes Mirabai will come up and look at me with her big eyes seeking much attention. She will sometimes choose being scratched under the chin over grazing down below for a long while. Greta, her daughter, is very cautious and does not like me to get close to her or even look at her. This evening I was scratching Mira and putting my head next to hers and Greta just looked at us like she couldn't understand and I told her her mom wasn't afraid and she should not be either. We will see what tomorrow brings.