[5] Ryelands have a smaller head than most terminal sires which makes them a good choice for maiden or Merino ewes but they have a fast growth rate and early maturity.

An Elizabethan observer wrote that 'among short-wools, Ryeland has pre-eminence with Leominster as the centre of its trade'.

[citation needed] The Ryeland is featured in David Low's book The Breeds of the Domestic Animals of the British Islands, published 1841 and a famous pioneering work illustrating the forerunners of all of the days' most important breeds of horses, cows, sheep and pigs.

David Low was a professor of agriculture at the University of Edinburgh and was concerned that the relatively simple basic concepts of matching a breed to its environment whilst improving its productivity were not understood by the majority of farmers or breeders.

With the help of a government grant from Earl Spencer, Low set up the agricultural museum in Edinburgh and commissioned William Shiels of the Royal Scottish Academy to produce these beautiful paintings of all the significant breeds of economic significance in Great Britain at that time.