Farmer rows to the rescue of prized sheep, Eebygum.

perthshire: Farmer saves prized tup after it gets stuck in freezing pond

A Perthshire farmer was forced to paddle to the rescue of his prize sheep after the animal decided to take a dip in a frosty pond.

Ken Headspeath’s Zwartble tup, the gloriously named Eebygum, became stranded after leaving behind his ewes to venture out on to ice at Borland Farm near Blairgowrie.

By the time Ken got to him, the recently purchased reserve male champion was bleating loudly and stuck fast in the middle of the water.

There followed a treacherous, if slightly comical, rescue attempt involving an old boat.

Thankfully, the rescue ended in the successful recovery of Eeybygum – though not before his affectionate nature threatened to capsize temporary ‘captain’ Ken.

“I’d set out on my feeding round and I immediately noticed that he was missing from his ladies,” Ken said.

“As i went to the stern to paddle back, he joined me, near knocking me in and leaving the bow pointing skywards. KEN HEADSPEATH

“My first thought was that he must have got in with the neighbour’s ewes and there was a brief moment’s panic before I heard a faint bleating.

“I never would have guessed in 1,000 years that I would find him standing in the middle of the pond. I obviously couldn’t leave him there – it was freezing for starters – and he didn’t look like he was going to move on his own.”

Ken’s work on the 750-acre farm – where he also raises Highland and Belted Galloway cattle and Hebridean sheep – came to a halt as he pondered his next move.

With the ice too dangerous to venture out on to, Ken remembered an old boat lying overturned nearby.

And though there were no paddles to hand, he improvised with a beater for heather burning and made his way out to his stranded animal.

“He was water logged and so heavy that every time I tried to pull him in, the edge of the boat neared the water line and images of capsizing flooded my mind,” said Ken.

“Eventually I managed to haul him aboard and told him to stand still.

“As I went to the stern to paddle back, he joined me, near knocking me in and leaving the bow pointing skywards.

“We eventually got back to the bank and I was able to jump out and secure the boat.”

Prized Zwartble tup Eebygum is brought safely on to dry land after his dramatic dip.