A Typical Sunday Affternoon Gone Hog Wild

Well, I have been having problems uploading photos to my blog, so I am running behind, but have no fear, I will catch you up.





Sunday began as a normal Sunday morning. We all got up and went to church. My parents are Catholic, which is what I raised. In fact, I went to Catholic schools from 1st grade through high school. I used to consider myself a strict Catholic, but have more recently been attending a Methodist church there in Florida. I really enjoy the services at the Methodist church and that is where I feel comfortable, so that is where I go. Anyway, to get back to life here in Missouri, the Catholic church my parents attend feels like home too when I am there. Not to say I am going to start going to a Catholic church again, but it was nice to feel mroe connected to my roots again.



So, anyway, after church we took the kids to McDonalds as my mom had promised them. While the kids played on the playground with PaPa, my mom and I ran across the street to the grocery store. Not much excitement there, that comes later.



We returned home from our morning out to do some routine cleaning. I cleaned my area of the house, while my parents focused on the outside stuff: hot tub, deck, patio, etc. A little while later, my cousin, Karen, came down and we enjoyed some pina colodas my mom and I had picked up at the store. We played a game with the kids and then headed out back to pay my dad's horses a visit.



Allow me to pause here and give you some background information before I tell you about the adventure we stepped into!



My dad breeds paint horses. If you aren't familiar with horses, that basically means he has several mares (females who are still about to have babies) and one stallion, also called a stud, (the male who does the impregnating). When the mares go into heat, he will allow the stud to have its fun with them and then months later a baby is born, which he then sells to make a profit. This is his business on the side. He works as an engineer primarily. Currently, he has 8 horses: 1 stallion, 1 gelding (a male that has been fixed...he uses this one for riding), 5 mares, and 1 new baby for sale.

Here is a picture 6 of them. The stallion, named Rocket, is not pictured because he has to be kept seperate from the others to prevent accidental pregnancies. And, one of the horses was off grazing elsewhere.

This is a close up of the new baby. Also, this mare's name is Sugar. This is the horse my father bought for me when I was 18. He takes care of her though since I don't live close enough to. I would love to have her one day, but by the time I have the land and the money, it may be too late. Her markings are beautiful!

This is the barn my dad built by hand. He even dug the holes with a post hole digger! Inside it has horse stalls and a large open area where he keeps his tractors, brush hog, mower, farm truck, 3 wheeler and boat (among other farming equipment). It also has an upstairs wood shop (my dad also builds cabinets and furniture when he has time).

Okay, now that I have given you the tour of the outside (well, the parts you need to be familiar with anyway), back to the adventure. I left you by telling you that Karen, the kids, and I had all just went out to visit the horses.

Here's the kids on my dad's hay trailor:

Our adventure began by trying to get Sugar and her baby up to the fence so the kids could pet them.

Kylie thought that if she ran and galloped, the horses would come.

Eventually, the kids were successful, but not for too long.

Long enough for me to snap this photo though!

Well, after our success with this, we decided to see what PaPa was up to. He was inside the pen behind the barn running electric fencing between the pen the and main pasture. His stallion had been acting a little wild and trying to get out of his pen, so he wanted to make sure this didn't happen. While he was doing this, Rocket, was in the barn running free in an area he has just outside the stalls. Well, all at once Rocket came barrelling out the back of the barn, breaking through an aluminum gate, and heading straight for the fence my dad was wiring up! It was so loud that it sounded as if the entire barn shook. My dad threw up his arms to divert the horse from the fence keeping him from running through it in his crazed outburst. Next, I ran into the barn for a lead rope so my dad could get ahold of him and take him back into the barn, this time into a stall that has steel fencing! The excitement was far from over though.

As my dad continued to work, Rocket was getting increasingly angry about being in that stall. He was pawing at the ground, snorting, and what sounded like him hitting his body up against the barn trying to break out again. The kids were a bit scared and worried that PaPa was going to get hurt. It was a rather tense situation. Anyone who has any exprerience with horses can tell you that they can really hurt you. They are very strong animals. It all ended well though. My dad finshed the fence and the horse was let free again, this time inside a hot wire!

With the horse out, Karen, the kids, and I all sat watching to see what the horse would do. To be quite honest, we were waiting to see Rocket run into the electric fence and get shocked. For some sick reason, we thought it would be fun to witness. Who knows why?? LOL Well, we waited for a good 30 minutes, and nothing. So, we ventured back indoors for showers and bedtime.

Karen helped me get the kids showered, and then we enjoyed our nightly root beer floats. After all the excitement, Kylie was so tired, she fell asleep on the recliner with Karen holding her.

We later learned from my dad that Rocket did run into that fence. He was shocked and learned his lesson about trying to get out of the pen behind the barn!