| At this time, The Painted Desert Sheep is known for the ram's ability to grow a trophy class set of horns. They are in demand for stocking exotic hunting leases. These sheep have been crossed with other breeds such as Mouflon, Corsican, Merino, Rambouillet, Jacob, and Navajo Churro to improve the horn and reach trophy-class quicker. Rams will have different shaped horns according to the influence of other breeds. Tight horn curls growing close to the head are indicative of Barbados blood and can cause problems if the horns are close enough that they grow into the face. Breeding rams of this type are discouraged. Mouflon influence is shown by large supracervical (sweeping out and curving behind the neck), heart-shaped horns. Homonymous Horns (Most common type) sweep outward in a spiral. There are also 4 horned and webbed horns. Horns should be well-balanced and symmetrical. Ewes normally don't have horns unless they are the result of a cross where the ewes are horned (Mouflon or Jacob, for instance). Also when ewes have horns they remain small and do not get as impressive as the rams. All rams should have horns, no naturally polled rams can be registered. |
