A real woolly jumper! Lavender the ram saved from the pot after farmer discovers his love of leaping over fences up to 3ft high
For one lucky sheep his ability to be a
real woolly jumper has saved him from the pot after a farmer's
grand-daughter spotted his extraordinary ability to leap over fences and
began training him.
The ram, named Lavender because owners initially thought he was female, now follows 13-year-old Isobel Brown, wherever she goes in the fields near Ellastone, Staffordshire.
Lavender can be seen jumping over hurdles and streams in a video of one of their training sessions.
Scroll down for video
She said: 'I train him to jump. The highest he's ever jumped is about one metre.
‘I train him once a day - as much as possible basically - when I'm free and he follows me around.’
Isobel uses treats to train Lavender, ‘He likes anything - from corn to croissants - he's very greedy.
'He even started licking my drinking bottle a few weeks ago - it had Ribena in it and he now can't get enough of that either.
‘I show him a jump, I jump it, and then he follows me - most of the time. And if not I have to stand over the jump, with one leg each side and entice him over.
'And then he knows to jump it and gets rewarded. It's basically how you train a dog - you reward it when it's been good.
The two-year-old sheep, on of 60 on her grandfather's farm, was spared the slaughterhouse when Isobel noticed his agility.
Isobel added: ‘He's not a perfect specimen for breeding and was going to go for slaughter but granddad now says I can keep him.’
Isobel has made a special hurdle for the jumping sheep - she has measured different heights for the bar to go on.
She normally starts him off at 2ft and gradually raises the bar to as close to 3ft as he can manage before he gets full up with treats and wanders off to play with the rest of the flock.
Isobel's mother, Victoria Goodall, said: 'I think it's wonderful that Isobel absolutely adores Lavender. After school she makes sure the sheep are okay and reports back to her granddad.
'It's lovely she takes so much care in training Lavender.'
The ram, named Lavender because owners initially thought he was female, now follows 13-year-old Isobel Brown, wherever she goes in the fields near Ellastone, Staffordshire.
Lavender can be seen jumping over hurdles and streams in a video of one of their training sessions.
Scroll down for video
Lavender the ram was trained to jump over hurdles and streams by being given croissants and Ribena as rewards
Farmer's granddaughter Isobel Brown demonstrates to Lavender the jumps she wants him to do and he follows suit
VIDEO Lavender is jumping for joy after he was saved from the pot
Isobel can be seen rattling a metal cup to coax Lavender to jump, calling out commands and words of encouragement: 'Over! Good boy!'
She said: 'I train him to jump. The highest he's ever jumped is about one metre.
In daily training sessions Isobel jumps over obstacles and calls out commands to Lavender the two-year-old ram
A special hurdle has been made for Lavender, who has been trained to jump up to 3ft over the wooden bar
Lavender was saved from the slaughterhouse when Isobel noticed his ability to jump very high over fences
Isobel uses treats to train Lavender, ‘He likes anything - from corn to croissants - he's very greedy.
'He even started licking my drinking bottle a few weeks ago - it had Ribena in it and he now can't get enough of that either.
‘I show him a jump, I jump it, and then he follows me - most of the time. And if not I have to stand over the jump, with one leg each side and entice him over.
'And then he knows to jump it and gets rewarded. It's basically how you train a dog - you reward it when it's been good.
The two-year-old sheep, on of 60 on her grandfather's farm, was spared the slaughterhouse when Isobel noticed his agility.
Isobel added: ‘He's not a perfect specimen for breeding and was going to go for slaughter but granddad now says I can keep him.’
Isobel has made a special hurdle for the jumping sheep - she has measured different heights for the bar to go on.
She normally starts him off at 2ft and gradually raises the bar to as close to 3ft as he can manage before he gets full up with treats and wanders off to play with the rest of the flock.
Isobel's mother, Victoria Goodall, said: 'I think it's wonderful that Isobel absolutely adores Lavender. After school she makes sure the sheep are okay and reports back to her granddad.
'It's lovely she takes so much care in training Lavender.'