It has been a couple of days trying to figure out why the gate in the barn is open. I spent some time thinking it was my tired old mind to only learn it was the horse learned how to open it. Now that I know I am not totally insane and losing it, I have been trying to figure out how to keep him inside his side of the barn.
I am not a lock down like Fort Knox kind of place. If I have to fool with something to much it most likely will get forgotten to be done. Maybe it is that part of me that hates to add to any thing to a job and want all things done with as little effort as possible, only want to do stuff ONE time, one time only. Just one of the quirky personality things that has gotten out of control as I have aged. I try to set routines to everything so I get it all done without forgetting. Take me off task for just a split second and I forget everything. Hell thinking to far in advance and I miss so much. I try not to think of things even the next thing to do as it screws me up.
Now those Damn animals have caught on to this problem of mine and are using it against me. Elliott knows if I am in the pasture I may forget to lock a gate and off he goes to check all the gates to see if he can get out. The fact that he has learned how to open the latch on the gate in the barn has created another problem of how to add something to the gate to keep him from opening it. I am tying a rope around the gate and post. It was good for a couple days till he learned to grab the end and pull. No more tying a bow. It's cold and trying to tie a rope and then untying it is very difficult in gloves. Enough of my lazy excuses the damn horse knows.
The Nubian boys sleep on the same side of the barn as Elliott, their choice. A few of the older chickens and the other goats sleep in the front of the barn. Nubian boys don't like change or separation it sends them screaming Maaaaaaaaa Maaaaaa .... to the top of there lungs.
I locked all the critters up and went in to eat and settle down to the news. I thought I could hear the boys but was not sure. Got caught up in the latest news and did not go check. At the end of the news I went to put dishes in the sink and then I can hear the blood curdling screams from the barn. My first thought is predator in the barn. I ran to the back door to look out and see the big dark shape run past the end of the house. I was stunned at first as the bears are hibernating now. Too big to be a bobcat or coyote. The screaming is off the charts. I grabbed my shoes and ran out the door to see Elliott standing in the middle of the yard goats are out chicken off the roost and making the GAWD offelest noise as if they were being eaten alive. Now the fact that the barn is closed had me baffled. How the hell did they all get out? It did not take long to see the gate open and Elliotts horsie door open. The Nubian boys standing in side the door screaming their heads off. No predator just the horse gone walkabout in the dark and the boys yelling for me to come put him back in.
I will be getting new hardware as the whole rope thing just is not working.
