GR translation: reaching as far as they can

[Mike Jing]

V134.24-27, P136.39-40   Eia—strange thousand-year sigh—eia, wärn wir da!
were we but there. . . . The tired men and their black bellwether reaching
as far as they can, as far from their sheeps’ clothing as the year will let
them stray.

The published translation took the "reaching" literally, as in reaching out
with their arms. That can't be the intended meaning here, right?