It has been about 5 years since we have had horses, and this past fall we went to a small animal auction looking for guinea hens. I made the mistake of taking a few of the children with me. The auction started and I was thrilled to find what I was looking for at the price I wanted. We stayed to watch the hogs go through then the sheep but in the middle out comes a few mini horses. The first was a cute spotted mare she sold for $30.00. Then out came a mare and foal sold for $35.00. I was in shock and my kids were making a HUGE scene begging on knees for me to buy a silly pony. I stood my ground...NO WAY!! A few more came out the price dropped. The kids are dying at this point. The auctioneer is laughing so hard he can't do his job. The last little horse comes out, a yearling gelding. The kids are having an absolute fit, the auctioneer is now trying his best to send this little guy home with us...needless to say all those pleading puppy dog eyes got to me. SOLD to the lady with the pleading children. UGHH!! What did I just do? Well he was very cheap at least #4 will have fun brushing him.
I went to the auction to buy a few birds..I did not drive the truck...so home we go with a mini horse in a mini van.
The horse was named Albert and the kids had a blast with him. He was a pretty good little guy with people...little did I know.
I know a fellow farmer that gets bottle lambs and often we get some and feed them out. The kids love bottle feeding anything, and lambs are so darn cute. We feed as many as 10 some years. Last spring we had lots of bottle lambs. The kids did a great job and soon the lambs were ready for the pasture. Sometimes the bottle lambs take a few days to a week to integrate with the existing flock and they tend to hang out together by the front gate.
We started finding dead lambs. These things happen, it is hard but sometimes it is a reality. We got a few more lambs. More dead lambs...now I thought a coyote was in the area. I fenced the lambs in the front pasture at night to protect them. Weeks go by and all is well so I turn the lambs out...dead lambs. UGGH by this point I am frustrated and think that the lambs have some illness. I call the vet but there are no symptoms. Healthy bouncing lambs one day and dead the next....it was a mystery.
In October Coco had a calf in the pasture. Coco is a beautiful healthy cow and never has had any issues...her calf was found dead. We had no idea what happened.
A few months ago we were gifted a few super cute lambs. They were weaned so went out to the pasture.
They were so sweet. They did great for about a month, then I found one dead.
A few days later I went in the pasture to find Albert swinging the last lamb around by the neck.....He was going crazy over this lamb. The lamb looked like a rag doll. I ran shouting in to the pasture, he ignored me.
By time I got to the lamb he was dead. The mystery was solved and I was sick to my stomach. I never thought he would do that. Needless to say he went right back to the auction house...he sold for $30.00. I got a bill from the auction house for $7.00, this is what I owed after the commission and the coggins test. So I had to give them $7.00 to get this silly horse that had caused so much trouble off our farm... Best $7.00 ever spent.
1 comment:
As much sorrow and expense as this horse brought, I hope your children have gleaned some deep lessons from this crazy event. There is so much in this story...thanks for sharing it.
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