Training For The Stage

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31943, 21 March 1969, Page 1

Training For The Stage

Thirty of last season’s top ram lambs from weight breeds are “in camp” at Levin undergoing an unusual training course. Given to the Wool Board by top breeders through out the country, 15 of them will ultimately go on stage at the Expo 70 Exhibition in Osaka. They will be part of a fleece-to-fashion act aimed at demonstrating the value of the sheep industry as a source of protein food and textile fibre. The sheep are being trained to answer commands and

be capable of standing on stage in front of an audience without having to be held. Individual sheep have been trained to do this, but this is the first attempt with a group of mixed breeds. The sheep are also being trained to eat concentrates rather than grass, which will not be available in Osaka. In charge of the training is Mr Peter Bryant, a retired farmer living on the outskirts of Levin. Mr Bryant, who has had a “fair lash” at both sheep and dairy farming, ran a

Perendale, Cheviot and Romney stud at Manakau for more than 20 years. Mr Bryant says he does not expect to have too much trouble, but it is very much a venture into the unknown. One of the immediate worries is how the sheep will develop while feeding on nuts. The Department of Agriculture will make weekly checks on weight gain and a farm products firm will advise on the foods to be used. • '■ The photograph shows Mr Bryant restraining an unruly Cheviot on the day of it* arrival at Levin.