Sheeps

[weisyboy]

We don't call them sheepherders, we call them graziers.

Grazier's dogs are fine for smaller paddocks, yard work & hard to get to places like creeks & gulleys but to cover large acreages, you need a motorbike.

a good horse is what ya need. mutch bettter than a bike.

[Cliff Rogers]

Last century.... too slow, too much farting around getting going in the morning & packing up at night.
Bike wins hands down.

[Lignin]

Yep, until it runs out of juice, stakes a tyre or throws a chain!!
Horses and dogs for sheep, helicopter and contract musterers on horses for cattle!!!

[Ed Reiss]

...you have got to kidding !!!!!!

That's fantastic

those dogs really know their stuff

[weisyboy]

running costs on bikes are to high.

there fine if all youv got is perfictly open padocks without any big rocks or branches lying around. but whos gunna stick rake 50000 acres.

a horse can go anyware a sheep can

[Cliff Rogers]

Depends on the rider I guess, we haven't used horses for sheep at home since 1960something, even in thick scrub & pulled gidgee paddocks full of rocky out crops.

[Howdya do that]

There's a fair of drivel here

Where a bike wont go a horse is not agile or quick enough.

Unlike the old days where 10 station hands were available for mustering it is mostly now a one man job with a good dog or dogs depend on the numbers. The only time I ever see mustering with horses now is school holidays and the dogs are still doing the work. Most people would do it in their air conditioned utes if wasn't easier to open gates from a motorbike.

Carl, where the hell did you get the idea that it is cheaper to run a horse than a motorbike

[weisyboy]

from experiance.

[Howdya do that]

Where?

[Vernonv]

Got to agree - bikes have it hands down. Like Howdya says mostly it's the dogs doing the work, the bike rider is just overseeing/controlling things.

However one area where horses have an advantage is their height - working in long grass and/or working closely with cattle (especially nasty ones).

Horses certainly cost more to purchase/run.

[weisyboy]

my family has run cattle up here for over 100 years. we jsut sold off teh last of the place and destocked 3 years ago.

it is imposable to ride a bike in amy of the country round here. verry steep and timberd. a horse can go anyware a cow or sheep can. agreed that dogs do most of the work but you still need to be able to chase the mob around.

try cutting out a mikky and throwing him from a bike. you just cant do it. ya have to yard the mob and run them threw the crush. i know witch one is quicker and easyer.

it costs nothing to keep a horse and most stations bread there own so there is next to no cost in obtaining them.

[Vernonv]

it costs nothing to keep a horse ...

If it just sits in a paddock doing nothing.

... and most stations bread there own so there is next to no cost in obtaining them.

Yes but there is still the cost to break and train a horse (many, many hours) and the additional maintenance required daily to keep a horse in top working condition.

[weisyboy]

a working horse that is worked most days needs little attention. a bit of grain and some grass is all thats needed.

as for breaking that is not hard to do. just a little time. most horses can be broken in a few days and you can only spend a couple of hours a day on each horse.

[Cliff Rogers]

The title of the thread says 'Sheeps' not cow, cattle, mikky.

Most of Oz is as flat as a pancake, particularly the sheep country, 20 kms from one horizon to the next with not a tree, stick, or creek in sight.
On a bike you can cover that distance in 10 minutes, on a horse it will take you most of the day just to get there & then you have to turn around & come home again.

If you give the choice to the blokes that have to do the sheep work for a living, I'll bet you most will pick a bike over a horse 'cos they will get more done in a day for sure.

Granted that there are places that a horse will go that a bike won't but now days, nobody is silly enough to bother trying to run sheep in a paddock that rough.

Next, horses are boring... when you are following a mob along a fence line on a bike you can stop & do a burn out on an antnest or pop monos or do a few doughnuts or a bit of 'speedway' with one boot in the dirt & the backwheel hanging out chucking up dust & dirt making lots of noise.

Horses are 'girls toys' bikes are 'boys toys'.

I grew up in the bush about 50 miles west of Longreach & my parents are still there.
The property they live on has been in my Dad's family since 1880 something.

How are we doing with the pissing contest?

[prozac]

my family has run cattle up here for over 100 years. we jsut sold off teh last of the place and destocked 3 years ago.

it is imposable to ride a bike in amy of the country round here. verry steep and timberd. a horse can go anyware a cow or sheep can. agreed that dogs do most of the work but you still need to be able to chase the mob around.

try cutting out a mikky and throwing him from a bike. you just cant do it. ya have to yard the mob and run them threw the crush. i know witch one is quicker and easyer.

it costs nothing to keep a horse and most stations bread there own so there is next to no cost in obtaining them.

And you can eat 'em too.