Here horsey, horsey...

We were almost home from church last Sunday when we saw a runaway horse galloping down the road in front of us. We drove back to the house we assumed it came from and no one was home. Some guy pulled up the driveway and asked if we were missing a horse... Uh, no... He said it went into the nearby sod field. We drove by slowly, but didn't see it. As we drove the rest of the way home, we had a family discussion about whether we should search for it and return it to the owner. The kids answered with a resounding "Yeah!!" Finally!! We get to put into practice all of th0se cool roping moves we've watched on Roy Rogers during family movie nights!

We went home and Paul put on his horse catching shoes (I prefer to work in flip-flops, I know, NOT smart). We grabbed the nearest rope and a small bucket of goat food (well... if it's good for the goat, it's good for the gand... I mean, horse) and off we went. Well, to make a long story short, the horse obliged us by putting it head in the loop and following the grain bucket all the way home.

I stopped back by later in the day to talk to the owner and let him know what happened and he was very thankful. He had just had the horse brought to that field that morning and hadn't gotten the chance to get the electric fence mended. He was an older gentleman that was taking care of the horse out of sentiment for his daughter who is living in Whales. (My boys kept asking me HOW she lived in whales. I had to explain that unlike Jonah, this lady actually lived in a country near England named Whales) Anyhow, since nobody intends to ride the horse, he asked me if I wanted to ride her and said that he would like me to if I want. All the kids were so excited to hear that we now have a horse to ride! Paul and I were excited too that this free riding horse didn't require feeding, watering, cleaning up after, milking, bottle feeding, veterinary maintainance, etc. by us!!

So, today, John, the owner, dropped the saddle, bridle and other supplies by our house and said to feel free to ride it as if it were my horse. So... we just got back from visiting our new horse, Cheyenne. The boys and I brushed it and tried to get a few of the cockle-burrs out of its mane. The kids love it. We didn't ride her yet. We'll attempt that another day when we have more time... There's also a cute little donkey, Petey, that came with the deal. The boys were eyeing it up for riding being that it is much more their size... We'll see.