I Should Have Known!

Well, I should have known! Matt heads out for Vegas and everything goes to &%** in a hand basket.

First - the farrier-he's the guy that puts shoes on the horse - and why this horse needs shoes for strollin' around in the pasture is something that I just don't understand but at $70.00 a pop I don't say much because that means there's a mani/pedi in it for me....even exchange right? Anyways, the farrier arrives and appears to be stuck at the gate...I let him linger there for a bit thinking to myself "surely Matt gave him the gate code, how else would the he get in?"(I'm usually at the gym at this time) and then I see him scale the fence and head toward the house....I meet him halfway yelling the 4 digit code to him while my viscious Chihuahua is barking his head off protecting his territory!! A tiny bit of frustration begins to set in but at this point in time I'm still okay! I do, however, think to myself "good thing I was home to let him in or I'd be out of a much needed mani/pedi!!!" WHEW!

So, the farrier is doing his thing, I take my morning walk/run, and it's then time for me to head into town to get the kids. Upon arriving back home I realize that the farrier is no longer here and the horse is nowhere to be found. Hmmmmm? I, again, think to myself "was he given the directions to put the horse in the front pasture?" At this point I'm seriously doubting this mans ability to do a job -- I grab my cellphone and call Matt...."Did you give the farrier the gate code? Did you give him instructions to put the horse back in the front pasture where she belongs?" Response? You guessed it - no gate code given and Matt couldn't remember if he told him to put the horse in the front pasture or not....he thought the farrier would remember from the first (and only other) time that he'd been out to shoe the horse not only the gate code but also where to put the horse! HELLO, anyone home?!?!

So, before getting frantic, I look toward the back twenty and there she is, tail a swishing, in the pen with the five calves. She's completely devouring their feed! GREAT! Matt's horse is going to founder (collapse/kill over) on medicated calf feed while Matt's not even here...just my luck! Exactly how am I supposed to dispose of a rotting horse carcus before the buzzards settle in making our back twenty home while partaking in an overfed horse buffet???

Off we go! Caleb, Berkleigh and myself load up the 4-wheeler with all the necessary feed supplies, jump on, crank it up (after about six tries!) and head down to the calf pens. Once we get down there we can't find the harness for the horse. We place yet another call to Matt..."any idea where the farrier might have put the horses harness?" Matt calls the farrier and in the meantime we search high and low and finally realize that the farrier has placed the harness on the gate at the very opposite side of the arena. Of course! We "kill" the electric fence, which means I have to get on and off the 4-wheeler four times and retrieve the harness, ride back over to the calf pen and approach the horse with the pretty new shoes and OFF SHE GOES! Wouldn't you know it, the horse and all five calves run off into the extremely muddy pasture/roping arena. It's a pretty sure thing that I am NOT chasing her down so Caleb and I begin jumping up and down singing some song about feeding while bouncing the horses feed bucket so the horse can "hear" the feed-at this point I'm not sure if Caleb's making this up as we go along or if it's something he learned at school or from Matt for that matter -either way, it looks as if it's working when suddenly...OFF SHE GOES again! Needless to say, I'm hot and unhappy but refuse to get frustrated so I pull the feed trough out of the calf pen and decide to give it another try after our nap. Looks like this story is to be continued......Hope Matt's having fun at the craps table!!!