What did you do today?

[Nanno]

Aw, thanks! This whole year has been a doozy for me and not because of Covid-19. I'm glad you like the calendar!

[Taffy]

It was another gray cold day today but my 3 year old twin grandsons, Jasper and Noah, and I were dressed for it and had some fun with Bourbon.

I had saddled him up and they wanted to ride.  They’re technically too heavy for him now but Bourbon was a good sport and stood still for the photo op and then they rode him for a short distance.

We walked him around around the farm then down the road to one of our hay fields.  The boys were laughing at the huge mouthfuls of grass Bourbon was eating.  They decided to taste the grass to see why Bourbon thought it was so good!  Silly boys!

Tomorrow we’re finally supposed to see the sun in the afternoon and reach 50!  We haven’t been out of the 30’s for a few days.  This will be a nice change!  We'll all probably be running around in t-shirts and shorts!

   
   
   

[Nanno]

That's so cute! I don't think the boys are too big for Bourbon. He looks like he's enjoying himself.

[Taffy]

The boys weigh 40# so I was concerned they would be too heavy with the additional 6# of the saddle.  Bourbon hasn't had a lot of work this year with the Covid and our new business keeping me busy so he's not muscled up.  They didn't seem to tax him at all.

The boys both  wanted to hold the lead rope and lead him.  Bourbon let them lead him but only so far away from me. As you know, we're joined at the hip!

[Nanno]

I generally figure the 50# limit is for all-day travel over rough terrain. At Rendy 2017, Finn and Merciless carried about 70# each (35# per pannier so it didn't include their saddles) for several short treks back and forth over level ground when we hauled rock for trail building. The weight didn't seem to bother them one bit since we didn't make them carry it very far. It's like me... I could probably only carry about 30# on an all-day hike, but I can haul a 75# hay bale across the yard if I have to. I let my nephew Sam ride Finn around the yard for a few minutes when they came on Thanksgiving and Sam is 10 years old and probably weighs around 90#. Finn didn't seem bothered by the weight at all. Sam had a hard time hanging on though! (Finn wasn't wearing a saddle.) I figure these short little jaunts with the kids can't hurt anything and it always seems to amuse goats and kids alike. I think your grandsons will be able to enjoy riding Bourbon around the yard for a few years yet.

Taffy was it you who posted the video a few years ago of the kids who tied their sled to the goat and she raced back and forth across the yard with them? I loved that video! Everyone was having so much fun!

[Taffy]

When I got home this evening I stopped at the goat pen to give them their nightly hay.  The gate to the hay mow was open and Leif was standing on top of the hay bales.  The rest of the goats were standing around chewing their cuds pointing their hooves at Leif and saying "He did it!"

   

[Nanno]

Haha! Nice! It's always someone else's fault.

[Nanno]

My girls were INSANE all day today. When we got up this morning, Sadie was in full battle with FOUR of the other girls at once. Cupcake, Snowball, Mocha, and Rita were all pounding away on her and she wouldn't back down. This continued the ENTIRE day with only a few short breaks here and there. Cupcake went up to the buck pen first thing and eventually Rita got bored of the fight, but Mocha was battling on and off all day and Snowball and Sadie never stopped. When I put Cupcake back with the other girls at the end of the day, the fight resumed. This time Rita stayed out of it but the other three kept hammering away at Sadie until dark. Sadie did her part to keep the fight going, so it's not like they were just picking on her. It was very strange. I've never seen such a long, serious fight in our herd. Everyone knocked their scurs off first thing so by noon it looked like a bloodbath out there. The girls had splodges of blood from head to toe and there were drops in the snow. Luckily it snowed most of the day so they looked pretty clean by evening, but what a mess! I wonder what caused this melee? I've never seen them act like this. My herd is usually very mellow and everyone gets along famously. There must be some hormones raging or something!

[Kat]

Wow sounds bad!

[Nanno]

The goats were exhausted today. The girls laid around their pen and did NOTHING all day long. I think it's the most sedate I've ever seen them. They all seemed to be friends too. Goats are so silly!

I trimmed my horses' hooves this afternoon and went for a little ride. We've had bad weather for the last week and a half and I haven't ridden so it was nice to get back on. Looking forward to Christmas next week!