The Goat .. is back

I was doing a portable radio competition in the unused horse shed on a rainy Saturday night. Weather was unpleasant but the new horse shed was snug and leak-proof.

Red kelpie, Winstone, ran down in and kept looking in on me, make sure I was ok, while he kept watch lookinginto the dark. Mare Keisha kept winnying worriedly. Something was up, but what? Next morning I could see, The Goat was back, happily sheltering from the weather in Keisha's shelter. I escorted it off the property, seen heading back to it's ramshakle farm.

It returned two hours later to the screams of panicked and flighty Goober. Yes he's still here. P this time escorted him away.

Six hours later, near dinner time, he's back, but this time Winstone had returned from O's cross-country lessons in Scone and he visibly panicked the Goat, for once, by chasing him all the way back across the adjoining properties. On the largest neghbouring field, Win must've reached 40kph. The Goat was hightailing it, but Win was easily outrunning it.

This morning he's back again! But curiously, M had the idea to put all the horses in the one, long grassed, paddock, which they all happily did because of the nast billy-Goat. Well, amazingly, he just turned and left of his own accord. Amazing!

The day the goat came

Win woke us up barking out the back. There was a goat/ram whatever in the paddock with Keisha and Mickey both looking terrified. I raced down with a rope to try and catch it but forget it - it dive +through+ barbed wire like it was butter. But oww it must have gotten cut. Didnt do the fences much good either. Two hours later it was back, same place, though this time it dived through a difficult fence into Cedar's paddock, then back again, then into the big paddock with the boys, Mickey (now), Sunny and Gooba, all running around like girls screaming because the goat was *chasing* them. I'll give him chase - though it was hot and after running through three paddocks to catch the mongrel I was relieved to see it slice through another barbed wire fence and keep heading out towards the camels.

M came back and a neighbour told us it has been causing havoc with everyone's stock and fences since its owner went away for the weekend to Wollongong. Just shoot it, they all said. I had a very similar sentiment!