I thought I would write a blog to celebrate Cheer the reindeer.
She has a very distinctive white patchy face and often reindeer with white noses or faces stand out from the herd and get lots of attention. But in general I would say Cheer has avoided the spot-light for most of her life as naturally she is quite shy around people, preferring to keep her distance, and she’s not super dominant towards other reindeer either. On Hill Trips she’ll often be more in the distance and definitely not muscling her way in for the hand feed amongst the greediest of reindeer.
Cheer in September 2021 looking beautiful.
Cheer will turn 14 in the spring so definitely falls into the ‘old girl’ category and has been retired from breeding after her last calf was born in 2024. This means she now can spend the vast majority of her year out free ranging enjoying a peaceful life.
I don’t really remember encountering Cheer when I first came to be a herder for around 10 months in 2017 – 2018 (sorry, Cheer!). However, when I returned to reindeer herding in 2021 I got to know her much better. She had a calf in 2022 (Choc-ice), 2023 (Shannon) and 2024 (Chai) which meant Cheer spent a bit more time in our hill enclosure (as opposed to free ranging out in the mountains) during the calving season in the spring and again in the autumn so she was around more.
I’ve now got a real soft spot for her. She is greedy and does love feeding from the hand feed bag but only if there’s no pushy reindeer around and she’s confident that we herders don’t want to ‘do anything’ to her! Then her shy and suspicious nature kicks in.
So here’s just lots of photos of her, and her offspring, taken over the past few years. Enjoy.
2021
One of my first photos of Cheer, when I bumped into her on the free range in August 2021. She’s the one in the background looking a bit suspicious of me! Addax is closest to camera. Cheer back in the enclosure for the rut in October 2021. Still an uncertain look in her eye.December 2021 – Cheer is back out free ranging and curious to know what’s in the feed bag!
2022
Cheer and her calf Choc-ice out free ranging in August 2022. Unfortunately they didn’t want anything to do with me! Still nice to see them looking good and enjoying themselves in their mountain home. She grew small antlers over the summer as she diverted more energy into her son. As soon as we brought Choc-ice and Cheer back into the enclosure in September 2022 it became apparent Choc-ice had not inherited Cheer’s shy character! He has a naturally tame and bold personality.
2023
September 2023 – Cheer back in the enclosure and clearly has been in the feed bag looking at the crumbs on her nose!Shannon and mum Cheer in November 2023.
2024
March 2024 – Shannon and Cheer free ranging together. Cheer and daughter Chai – October 2024. Both are back in the hill enclosure after free ranging all summer. Cheer (and Chai just behind) in December 2024. Clearly not feeling shy today!
2025
Shannon in March 2025. It appears she has inherited Cheer’s shyer characteristics, but she’s also greedy so she’s becoming more and more confident the more we gently work with her. Cheer and Chai in May 2025, as Chai turned from calf to yearling. Chai and Cheer in August 2025 – the pair have remained bonded and are often seen together whilst out free ranging.I bumped into Chai and Cheer again in September 2025, free ranging together, but today Cheer was feeling suspicious of me! and perfectly happy to be left in peace. Choc-ice stripping the velvet from his antlers in September 2025. He was one of our main breeding bulls in the rut the following month, so fingers crossed he’ll have passed on his and Cheer’s genes to the next generation of reindeer calves, greatly expanding Cheer’s dynasty.Chai enjoying the snow in November 2025.
