bellwether

Wether is a ram, usually to be the leader of the sheep herd, with a bell around its neck. Therefore, bellwether.

Nowadays, this tem is synonymous with trendsetters, or leaders of a pack. Something or someone that influence the industry or similar followings.

More on sheeping, ram is usually a term for a intact male of a sheep, meaning, reproduce-able. While a wether is usually castrated. Proud as it may be, being the leader of the pack, it has.. erm.. no balls.

So why the need? apparently for taming purposes. Those lifestocks that are castrated grows bigger and fatter (chicken, pig etc), easier to be tamed for haulage and plouging (for the case of horses and bulls).

"
In so far as the shepherd views the castrated male leader as a member of the flock, it belongs to the category of the dominated group. But being castrated, he is alienated from being an essential element of the flock's reproductive process. From the point of view of the culture or learnt behaviour of the sheep, the flock leader is an agent of the dominator. Tani's thesis is that the bellwether is a mediator between the dominating shepherd and the dominated flock. If most of the flock consists of ewes, the wether takes the role of the guardian of the female group.
Any technique of herd control can be regarded as a pastoralist people's cultural expression of how they look upon and treat their domestic animals, and, in the past, their slaves. From this premise Tani goes on to propose that the position of the eunuch in ancient human societies corresponded to that of the castrated male flock-leader. The eunuch was a mediator between the king, (the dominator) and his harem, (the dominated). "

interesting piece i read about domestication of animals. So, the bellwether is made to be a subdued leader of the shepherd, kinda like a middle-manager. Mediator, hmm.. you go think about the anology yourself.