It is widely reported that high levels of anxiety can impair memory and learning. This study examined the effect of anxiety on the memory and learning performance of sheep in a maze. Merino ewes (22 months, n=128) were randomly assigned to one of the following treatments (n=3 per treatment): 1)Saline (control), 2)Anxiogenic (m-CPP, methyl-chlorophenylpiperazine, 2mg/kg), 3)Scopolamine (impairs memory, 100ug/kg), and 4) m-CPP+Scopolamine. Firstly, treatments were administered I.M. to each animal 30 min prior to placing them in an isolation box with a meter attached to measure the number of movements made for 30s (agitation score). On days 1, 2 and 3, treatments were administered to each animal 30 min before maze testing to assess their learning performance. On day 63, 64 and 65 animals were retested in the maze test without receiving treatments to examine memory retention. Maze data were analysed by survival analysis and agitation score by ANOVA. Agitation scores ranged from 1 to 153. Administration of m-CPP increased agitation score (62) compared to the control (41; P=0.03). Agitation scores were lower in scopolamine (24) and scopolamine + m-CPP (25) animals than controls (P<0.001). Animals receiving scopolamine alone were slower to complete the maze on day 3 (160s±22.2) than controls (108±17.3s; P=0.0006), and were slower on day 63 (135s±13.9) than controls (70s±12; P<0.0001). Animals receiving m-CPP alone did not differ from the control in maze performance on any of the days of testing (P>0.05). Total time to complete the maze did not differ between treatments on days 1, 2, 64 and 65 (P>0.05). Learning performance in the maze was reduced in animals receiving scopolamine. Treatment with m-CPP appeared to increase anxiety in the sheep as shown by the increased agitation scores, however this did not impair the ability of sheep to learn or retain the memory of the maze.