Herding is the act of bringing individual animals together into a group (herd), maintaining the group, and moving the group from place to place—or any combination of those. Herding can refer either to the process of animals forming herds in the wild, or to human intervention forming herds for some purpose. While the layperson uses the term "herding" to describe this human intervention, most individuals involved in the process term itmustering, "working stock", ordroving.
Aherder orherdsman is apastoral worker responsible for herding, i.e., the care and management of aherd or flock ofdomestic animals, usually onopen pasture. It is particularly associated withnomadic ortranshumant management of stock, or withcommon land grazing. The work is often done either on foot ormounted. Depending on the type of animal being herded, the English language can give different professional names, for example,cowboy for cows,shepherd for sheep, orgoatherd for goat.
Herding is used inagriculture to manage domesticated animals. Herding can be performed by people or trained animals such asherding dogs that control the movement of livestock under the direction of a person.[1] A competitive sport has developed in some countries where the combined skill of man andherding dog is tested and judged in a "trial", such as asheepdog trial. Animals such as sheep, camel, yak, and goats are mostly reared. They provide milk, meat and other products to the herders and their families.
Tibetan herding communities living in theTibetan Plateau in theSichuan Province ofsouthwest China continued to graze herds on common lands even after the 1982Household responsibility system. Several reasons have been given for the endurance of the traditional pastoral lifestyle:[2]
Grassland degradation has been an issue. Herding communities and their leaders have taken steps to reach a consensus aboutsustainable grazing practices. These include developing the community political organization to enforce commitments to seasonalrotational grazing.[2]
Acowboy is an animalherder who tendscattle onranches inNorth America, traditionally onhorseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from thevaquero traditions of northernMexico and became a figure of special significance and legend.[3] A subtype, called awrangler, specifically tends thehorses used to work cattle. In addition to ranch work, some cowboys work for or participate inrodeos. Cowgirls, first defined as such in the late 19th century, had a less-well documented historical role, but in the modern world work at identical tasks and have obtained considerable respect for their achievements.[4] Cattle handlers in many other parts of the world, particularlySouth America andAustralia, perform work similar to the cowboy.The cowboy has deep historic roots tracing back toSpain and the earliest Europeansettlers of the Americas. Over the centuries, differences in terrain and climate, and the influence of cattle-handling traditions from multiple cultures, created several distinct styles of equipment, clothing and animal handling. As the ever-practical cowboy adapted to the modern world, his equipment and techniques also adapted, though many classic traditions are preserved.
There are numerous regional types of cow herder, many with a specific name; these include thestockman of Australia, thebuttero,campino,csikós,gardian andgulyás in Europe, thebuckaroo,charro,cowboy andvaquero in North America, and thegaucho,huaso,llanero,morochuco andqorilazo [es] of South America.
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Agoatherd or goatherder is a person who herdsgoats as a vocational activity. It is similar to ashepherd who herdssheep.
Ashepherd is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks ofsheep. Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations; it exists in many parts of the globe, and it is an important part ofpastoralist animal husbandry.
Because the occupation is so widespread, many religions and cultures have symbolic or metaphorical references to shepherds. For example,Jesus called himself theGood Shepherd,[5] and ancient Greek mythologies highlighted shepherds such asEndymion andDaphnis. This symbolism and shepherds as characters are at the center ofpastoral literature and art.
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