Here’s a question for ewe to dip into: How many baaaad sheep references wool I be able to get in to one sentence?

The reason for my ewe-phoria? I’ve just come back from an afternoon at Raising the Baa. “What the flock’s that?” I hear you ask. Well it’s team building with sheep.

You know the old BBC TV show “One man and his dog”, where a shepherd (and his dog) move some sheep around a field and into a pen against the clock? It’s like that. Only without the dog…or the shepherd.

Early September in the glorious Wiltshire countryside – a group of disparate yet like minded small business owners came together (for one afternoon only) and shifted sheep around a field. Once the insinuated closeness of a Welshman and and some sheep had run it’s inevitable course it was time for some action: Teamwork, smiles, communication, fresh air, sunshine, wellies, sheep wrestling, fun, frustration and loads of laughter were seen in abundance. Not to mention a real sense of achievement once the pen was securely shut.

I learnt three important things during my afternoon out standing in a field:

1. Herding sheep is like organising a rugby defensive line.
2. Not all sheep are followers, some want to be leaders.
3. It’s easier to move the pen across a field to 8 happy sheep than it is to move 8 hot, crabby and generally pissed off sheep across a field and try to get them into a pen.

Next time I’m faced with a herding problem I’m definitely thinking “outside of the box”.