The Icelandic Canadian - 01.04.2007, Síða 20

18
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 61 #1
characteristics in their genes, there is still a
population of 1000-1200 sheep within the
national population of just under 500,000.
Most of the leadersheep are coloured
and horned, even four-horned in a few
cases. They have a slender body conforma-
tion, long legs and bones generally, yet of
lighter weight than other sheep in the flock
because they have been selected for intelli-
gence, not for meat traits. Leadersheep are
graceful and prominent in the flock, with
alertness in the eyes, normally going first
out of the sheep-house, looking around in
all directions, seeing if there is any danger,
then walking in front of the flock when dri-
ven to or from pasture. They may even
guard the flock against predators. There are
many stories on record about their ability
to sense or forecast changes in the weather,
even refusing to leave the sheep-house
before a major snowstorm. We certainly
want to preserve the Icelandic leadersheep.
Interested individuals founded the Leader-
Sheep Society of Iceland in April 2000.
Amongst the priorities is to improve the
individual recording of these sheep
throughout the country and plan their
breeding more effectively. We know that
the best leadersheep are found in flocks in
NE Iceland but farmers in all parts of the
country are interested in their conserva-
tion. Support is also coming from individ-
uals who are not keeping sheep. Icelandic
sheep, not least leadersheep, have clearly a
special role in our culture.
Leadersheep written by Dr. Olafur R.
Dyrmundsson, The Farmers Association of
Iceland.
Icelandic Leadersheep
“THE FACTS” is mainly from the
Icelandic Sheep Breeders of North
America (ISBONA). “People may argue
that sheep are not intelligent and clever.
However, it is well known that sheep have
their own intelligence although not compa-
rable with that of people. We should not
underestimate the wisdom of domestic ani-
mals anyway.”
The Sheep Stories
“The leadersheep usually had an acute
sense of the weather. They could sense
change on the way often a whole day
before a deadly blizzard hit. In these
instances they often refused to leave the
barn to go on pasture. If the weather was
good and going to stay that way, the leader
usually was the first sheep out in the morn-
ing. If, on the other hand, the leader stayed
in the barn and refused to leave, it indicat-
ed bad weather. Woe to the shepherd who
ignored the forecast of their leadersheep.
Often, when the weather appeared good,
the leader and the whole flock were forced
out. In these cases, the leader usually did
his best to stop the flock or at least tried to
delay the driving. Then on pasture they
usually did not graze but stood alert. At the
first sign of weather change, they rounded
up the flock and headed home. The weath-
er in Iceland is extremely changeable and
often it takes less than an hour to change
from sunshine to raging blizzard. In many
cases when flocks were caught in that kind
of a situation, the leader found the way
home even though the shepherd was total-
ly lost. The shepherd trusted the ability of
the sheep to find the way. A good leader
would go home as fast as possible, though
never faster than a speed which allowed all
of the sheep to keep up.”
“The leadership ability runs in blood-
lines, equally in males and females. There
were farmers who bred leadersheep and
these were usually priced two or three
times over what good sheep traded for.
Bloodlines even became famous for their
ability and were sought after. Often they
do not have what one would call prime
meat conformation. When in a flock of