Why are their eyes so weird?

One of the questions we get asked often is about sheep eyes, especially when people meet us at events where we have the sheep in a pen with us.

Sheep, goats, horses, and other prey animals depend on their eyesight to protect them. Their horizontal pupils allow them to view nearly 360 degrees around their bodies! Their only blind spots are directly in front of their faces.

Their binocular (seeing with both eyes) vision is fairly limited, but they have excellent monocular (one eye) vision. This also means that they must process input from both eyes at once most of the time, looking for food, their flock mates, and keeping watch for any predators. This is why, even though they can see everything, you still see them looking around in the pasture to get an idea of distance.

Sheep are intelligent and docile by nature. They only require patience and understanding. And treats. Our sheep at Horse 'n' Round are treated with kindness at all times to produce beautiful wool and happy creatures.