Gifts for my father - part four

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I’ve talked about my father’s sheep studs before. As well as breeding Merinos, he had Suffolks and Poll Dorsets. He exhibited all these breeds in agricultural shows. The Merinos in a particular class would be pulled out into a line and held by the wool either side of the face. However the ‘British breeds’, as they were known, were hard to hold in this way and usually wore rope halters. So for one Christmas, I got the local boot-maker to make some white leather halters for the sheep. I thought they’d be more ‘classy’ than the rope ones. I took in a rope one for sizing and got the leather ones home in time for Christmas. I have one more of these ‘gifts for my father’ discussions but the last one wasn’t a real success. The photo is of Monty, a Suffolk, whose mother rejected him and he ended up a pet. How could a mother reject such a lovely animal?