HIGH ROAD SHEEP

HIGHLAND TROOPER  WAS BORN IN FEBRUARY 2013,  SO IS PICTURED AGED SEVEN. HIS SIRE CAME FROM LITTLEDALE IN WISCONSIN, AND WAS HEAVY IN IMPORTED GENETICS, INCLUDING THREE CROSSES OF THE IMPORTED BROTHERSTONE TROOPER, WHICH EXPLAINS THE NAME.   WE KNEW TOMMY DUN WHO BRED THE RAM IN SCOTLAND, AND TOMMY FOUND US TWO BORDER COLLIE PUPS, ROB AND CHRIS THAT WE IMPORTED IN THE EARLY SEVENTIES. 

       I THOUGHT ENOUGH OF THIS RAM THAT I ALWAYS PLANNED TO KEEP HIM  BUT TOOK HIM TO THE PETERBUG SALE IN WV TO LET PEOPLE SEE HIM. I BID HIM IN AT $900

      TROOPER HAS BEEN A STANDOUT SINCE A YOUNG LAMB. HE IS ONE OF THOSE RARE ONES THAT ALWAYS LOOKS GOOD. HE STAYS IN SHAPE ALL YEAR WITH NO GRAIN, AND HAS BRED EVERY EWE HE WAS EXPOSED TO. HE HAS LAMBS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY AND IS NOT BY ANY MEANS DONE YET. I HAD A SOUTH DAKOTA SHEEP MAN CALL ME JUST TO TALK ABOUT  TROOPER. HE THOUGHT THE POCTURE ABOVE WAS THE BEST RAM PICTURE HE EVER SAW, THOUGH I DID NOT ESTABLISH WHETHER HE MEANT THE RAM OR THE PICTURE.

     THE PICTURE SHOWS THE REAL SCOTTISH STYLE NORTH COUNTRY, MODERATE IN FRAME BUT SUPER THICK AND MASSIVE, WITH GIRTH AND CAPACITY TO CONVERT FORAGE.

       I REALIZE HE MAY NOT SUIT EVERYBODY, ESPECIALLY THE SHOW JOCKS ,BUT HIS KIND WILL PRODUCE THE GOODS FOR TRHE GRASS BASED SHEPHERDS THAT WE PRIMARILY SERVICE FROM COAST TO COAST.

     Bred by Joe Neil in Highland County, VA ,a twin born in 2016, his sire is CR 506 RR, a Ron Fletcher bred son of Highland Banner., as strong a ram as we ever sold, that sired several good ones including a $1600 ram for Ron in 2012 where at the same sale we sold one for $2000 

The dam of Voyager was a ewe bred by us .sired by Littledale B205.      

       Joe Neil had some North Country rams with his commercial ewes that had enough daughters coming on, he felt they needed to move on. That is when we got lucky.. We bought 4 rams, all half brothers by the Fletcher ram, and all out of sister ewes bred by us. We resold 3 of them to purebred flocks, and kept the one we liked best, but still are not sure that he is the best one. 

    He is a fine example of the kind of ram we seek.  Big barreled, wide tracking with muscle shape  and mass. Ultra correct on feet and legs, with strong bone and authentic breed type. Full of red meat and retail product. This picture shows the ram right after shearing,  so what you see is all sheep.

      We sold him as a lamb to Dee Samson in Oregon in 2014. Maybe the best son of TANK we had, and sad to say, from his only lamb crop, since TANK hung himself in the fence. TANK was phenotypically as good as  any we ever raised - ask anyone who saw him. 

     Traveler's dam was a daughter of Highland Piper, full brother to Highland Banner. Piper sired the $2000 High Road 0085, sire of TANK, which means Traveler is double bred Highland Piper, paternal great grandsire, and maternal grandsire.

   Dee used Traveler heavily and kept several daughters. One of them was Grand Champion in the National junior ewe show for Dee's grandson Emmett.   A Traveler son from Dee was Reserve Champion at the National sale in West Virginia, selling for $800.

      When Dee elected to move the old ram, since I had sent her a Trooper son, she called me and convinced me to take him home in the fall of 2019  The freight cost more than the ram, but I was happy to have him back.

    He fits our template, with attractive pattern and good length of side,  width of top, breed type and ideal disposition.

  With our flock reduced, we sent Traveler to work in what has been described to me as "God's Country", Greenbrier County, West Virginia,

in a new flock owned by Annie Stroud, whose dad John has bought many a ram from us. 

      I consider a ram like this somewhat of a collector's item and will keep him in the circle. His registered name is high Road 414, but given his nationwide career, I thought he deserved better.

WE SOLD SOME EWE LAMBS TO JOE NEIL A FEW YEARS AGO. THEY WERE SISTERS BY THE LITTLEDALE B205 RAM. JOE LIVES ABOUT 50 MILES AWAY IN HIGHLAND COUNTY. HE RECENTLY HAD A GROUP OF NORTH COUNTRY RAMS THAT HE HAD RAISED and  USED IN HIS COMMERCIAL OPERATION, ALL OUT OF THE HIGH ROAD ORIGINAL EWES,  AND SIRED BY A RON FLETCHER BRED SON OF HIGHLAND BANNER, MAYBE THE BEST RAM WE EVER RAISED. JOE FELT HE WAS READY TO REPLACE THOSE RAMS DUE TO HOW MANY DAUGHTERS THEY HAD IN THE FLOCK. WHEN I SAW THIS GROUP OF RAMS,  I WAS STRUCK BY HOW MUCH THEY LOOKED LIKE "MY KIND", THICK, BIG BODIED AND DEEP, WITH BONE AND BREED TYPE.

   I BOUGHT 4 OF THEM, THINKING I MIGHT KEEP THE ONE I LIKED BEST,AND SELL THE REST SINCE I WAS GETTING CALLS FOR RAMS BUT HAD FEW TO SELL. THE 59A RAM WAS THE ONE I ELECTED TO KEEP, SO HE IS SHOWN WITH THREE YOUNG TROOPER DAUGHTERS AFTER TURNOUT. 

The pictures on this page illustrate the kind of North Country sheep we want. Thick and massive with girth and bone. We do not want the tall slim kind.