Boofy’s rocky road to stardom
Fame and an edgy makeover appear to have gone to Boofy’s head.
Or maybe he’s just staunch. He saunters over the grassy slopes of the Fagan farm and strikes a defiant pose when paparazzi edge too close.
He doesn’t have much time for humans. But best mate and bodyguard Mojo the horse? He’s there. Boofy’s haughtiness reached its peak with the new haircut.
Sir David Fagan’s son Jack gave him the Honey Badger-esque mullet a while back. Jack shared his handiwork on Facebook and somehow it ended up on All Black Brodie Retallick’s Instagram.
Pretty soon people on both sides of the Tasman were cracking up at what Sir David called a ‘‘majestic’’ pose. So the mullet’s here to stay.
‘‘At the moment he actually quite likes the mullet,’’ Sir David says from Boofy’s paddock in Te Kuiti.
‘‘He thinks he’s a bit of a celebrity, a bit of a star. He loves it. As you can see, he’s a bit of a poser.’’
Jack was supposed to completely shear Boofy ready for warmer weather.
‘‘[Jack] said I might give it a mullet so he looks like one of the All Blacks supporters,’’ Sir David says.
‘‘I thought this is a bit stupid because it’ll look ridiculous and we’ll have to shear it off anyway.
‘‘But it actually worked out quite funny and it’s made a lot of people laugh.’’
In fact, Boofy has become a trendsetter. Sir David’s heard of others trying to give their sheep mullets, too.
Although few are likely to pull it off with the same magnetism.
But the country’s adored ovine came from rocky beginnings. He was once at risk of becoming roast mutton. Boofy had been the pet lamb of Fagan’s brother, until he grew too big.
The family didn’t want to eat him though, Sir David says.
It just so happened that his own 16-year-old pet sheep Joe had died the year before, so there was a sheepshaped vacancy next to the horse.
‘‘We brought Boofy here to be mates with the horse Mojo cause Mojo always had a sheep with him.
‘‘They’ve paired up now and they’re great mates.’’
When Boofy was taken to the shed to be shorn, Mojo wasn’t impressed.
‘‘The horse just neighs and goes around panicking that we’ve taken his friend away. Yeah, they’re a bit of a pair.’’
‘‘At the moment he actually quite likes the mullet. He thinks he’s a bit of a celebrity, a bit of a star. He loves it. As you can see, he’s a bit of a poser.’’
Sir David Fagan says of the star in the family, Boofy (pictured left).