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An old John Mionczynski Story - Nanno - 11-22-2020
Yesterday we said "goodbye" to TinCup. She's on loan (either temporarily or permanently we don't know) as a companion to some old wethers who live out in Beulah. One of the old wethers is declining rapidly and the owners, Steve and Pam, wanted to get them a companion before their herd is reduced to one. I haven't been eager to breed TinCup because of a recurring problem where one of her teats develops a calculus and blocks up for weeks at a time whenever she freshens. She gets along well with our horned boys so I figure she can live with a couple of old wethers without any problem, and she's the only pure Alpine in our herd and Steve and Pam love Alpines and have a lot of past experience with them. In fact, Steve and Pam used to breed goats for John Mionczynski and keep his packgoats for him in the winter. Some of John's best and most "famous" packgoats were raised on Steve and Pam's farm. One of the most memorable was TinCup--a goat that John wrote about in his book. I think that's one reason Steve and Pam were drawn to our gal.
While I was there Steve got to sharing old John M. stories and my favorite was about the time TinCup and another goat ran off with a herd of cattle one spring when TinCup was just a yearling. The goats were wild so John decided to let them run with the cattle all summer and catch them when the cattle were brought down in fall. When the cattle came down the goats were still with them but John and Steve couldn't catch them. They tried lassoing them to no avail. Finally, John got close enough to TinCup to grab the goat's horns. As soon as he did, Steve said that goat whipped around and started spinning like a top with John still clinging desperately to the horns. John was pulled right off his feet and the goat kept spinning, twirling John around in a circle like a kid with his feet up in the air! Steve said it was the funniest thing he's ever watched.
They finally got the goats rounded up and TinCup eventually became a prominent member of John's pack string. He was one of John's strongest but also one of the most stubborn. I believe he eventually retired in Beulah and spent his last days with Steve and Pam.