And Rachel got hit by a herd of goats...

Every winter, our neighbor goes down south, and every time me and Sarah, partner up  and do her animal chores for her.  Of the animals she has, are goats. 

This was taken last spring.  The goats are much wider like a barrel right now.

They are put out in their pen morning and brought into the barn at night.  And they usually,knock on wood, go where they're supposed to. 

And then....
All chaos broke loose.
All because...of one...little....black....dog.

At the time, it seemed like a great idea.  I mean, why not?  Why not bring Skeeter and Lucy along with me while I do chores?  They can search around in the barn for varmints, mess with the cats and run off some energy.  Who knew what was going to happen.  It didn't enter my mind that maybe barking dogs, especially a certain little black one, would spook the goats.  Or that a dog that had never seen goats in its life would chase them.  Nor did I think that I could be so easily knocked down by a bunch of goats. 

So... this is how it went down. 

I opened the stall door in the barn where the goats were to let them out to the north side of the barn. We started out fine when.. *cue barking dog*.  Spooked, goats run to the south side of the barn towards the open entrance.  I didn't want them to get out that way because they can't get to their pen that way, and herding them back into the barn would've been a back breaker.  So I go dashing off to try to get in front of them to block them off.  Turns out, those goats are sturdier than I thought.  I can't remember how I ended up in the midst of the goats, but I soon realized that goats are sturdier than you think not to mention they're like puffer fish right now.  Knocked down to my knees, I'm scrambling to get back up before I'm fully trampled.  Got out of the mob, and blocked the doorway. 

Whew!

Now to get them to go the other way.  Turns out, Lucy is blocking that way.  Goats won't budge that way and are trying to escape.  Thankfully, Lucy gets bored and goes back to exploring.    With her out of the way, the goats go down their normal route and get out into their pen. 

So chores were a bit more exhilarating than normal.  And thats when I noticed that the cats were clawing up the rafters of the barn.  I guess they were none too pleased with Skeeter and Lucy's visit either.   

Lessons learned:
1. You can't just knock a goat the way you want it to go.  They're like cement walls.
2. Goats don't like dogs, same goes for particular dogs such as mine.
3. Don't bring the dogs while doing chores.

Sillies