Ruminations: The Fair

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

The Fair

So glad that this year Glenn got to see draft horses at the fair. 120 of them in the arena at one time!! I had tried to explain the feeling of awe you get when you hear them thunder past....or when you are face to face with one in the barn--all 18 hands and 2000 pounds worth. You just can't fathom that sort of thing--the experience is what makes your jaw drop.

I was also pleased that now that he's had over a year of horse experience he can look at them as more than giant scary beasts--he laughs at their antics (like the Oak bear) and came home to really see the draft in Oakley. (next thing I'll have to bring him to a dressage event so he can see why I get all excited and even more smitten when I see Oakley move like he does...)

The sheep and poultry barns were shut down for cleaning on that first evening that we were there to see the 6 horse hitch, so that was disappointing, but this is what we saw instead....

Last Friday after my TRC shift G took the bus from downtown St. Paul to meet me at the fair, so we finally got to see some chooks, goats and sheep.

A few shots:

G is convinced we need Nigerian dwarf goats...We saw a few, they didn't appeal to me until this crew, with their lovely spots. We spoke to the farmer and got his card. Had a few questions about milk production, behaviour, how easily they could be contained..(since goats are notorious escape artists). These ladies were all bottle fed and hand raised so were very friendly and charming. I'm not a fan of goat milk, but I do have a pretty major chevre addiction....Also, we have some pretty serious weed problems here, so think that a goat or two would think this place was goat heaven. I really like the alpines, but they are quite large. For future farm discussions I suppose....I might worry that the big ewes would pick on the wee does....