Wednesdays always leave me exhausted but it's my favourite weekday this semester. There's 2 hours of Animal Systems lectures and 3 hours of practical animal handling down at the Vet Farm in the arvo. What more could I ask for.

It was all about the horse industy yesterday during lectures. Clearly, horses play a very big role in the economy of Australia and are used for many purposes - working, sporting, entertainment, showing, war (at least when big technologies didn't exist) etc. We all had a little laugh when the lecturer said, "And we do see some miniature horse owners come in ..." and he stops short to clarify, "I meant miniature horses, not miniature owners ..." The lecture theatre burst into a complementary laugh but the lecturer took it so much upon himself that when he tried to continue his lecture, he kept bursting into fits of laughter which influenced everybody else to laugh with him. I laughed too but only because he was laughing so if he didn't stop, I couldn't stop either!

So, anyway, the amazing part about Wednesdays is the farm practicals. I did horse handling last week which involved haltering a horse from the paddock and leading it into a crusher. We learnt many things thereafter: putting on a bit, tying slipknots, farriering (holding a hoof) and trotting a horse. It was so much fun. One of the best bits is that horses don't get you dirty. My overalls were squeak clean at the end of the session. I just wished I had more time to try haltering other horses to practise.

Yesterday was sheep handling. Unlike horses that are quite confident (size maybe?) sheep just don't get any used to humans no matter how much they were handled before. Unlike horses, halters and leads aren't enough to control and restrain a sheep. So it was a rather awkward experience trying to handle them and getting them to Stay Put.

Tasks:

1. Restrain sheep
flank method (grab some skin and flop)
farmer's method (face to flank; press the rump)
shearer's method (lift and sit)
buckle method (face to flank; buckle a hindleg)

2. Tie sheep
triangle method (measure length of sheep; tie a knot; triangularize hindlegs and head)
lasso method (tie all 4 legs together)

3. Hoof trim
4. Bloods

It was pretty tough for me because the sheep were skittish but just before you get ahold of them. When I did and by the time I was done with them, my feet were cramping. A lot. And it took a lot of brute strength (at least where I'm concerned) to position one and let it allow me to do what I had to. My best task had to be taking bloods - I had it at one try and did it bleed. I'm just glad I didn't have to poke the poor thing too many times. THAT would make ME upset.

My arms are aching!!!