Horse on the Loose (Part I)

A few weeks ago, our organization hosted a two-day educational event called Ag Adventures for elementary students in northeast Louisiana.  The event was designed in a format for schools to spend two hours on site, with the first hour involving rotations through educational exhibits and presentations about agriculture and 4-H, and the second hour divided between our outdoor mini-farm and time for a picnic lunch.

Though I know nothing about livestock, I have somehow been roped into working the mini-farm area at this event (and two other big events we have) every year.  Something about it being an opportunity to learn... Anyway, there were three women and two men stationed at the mini-farm, and of course the men did most of the legwork with borrowing the animals and transporting them to the barn.  Us ladies got to do the easty stuff like put up educational posters/signs, and collecting the 4-H livestock project books to show the kids.

We each agreed to take turns talking about one particular animal for each of the groups.  Thanks to my mini-obsession with baby chicks at our last event, I agreed to talk about chickens, while the others chose pigs, goats, horses, or beef cattle.  It's worth mentioning that I also drug myself out of bed following a fever-filled night on the first day of this event.

Our first day was smooth sailing, except for some uncomfortably cold temperatures.  On Day 2, I was a bit late to arrive because I wasn't quite sure about my health, and I also had a slow morning following some blood work I had previously scheduled (re: #18 on 20 in 14).  When we all headed out (from our warm indoor staging area) to prep for the school groups, I happened to notice the horse we had on Day 1 was no longer in its pen.  Little did I expect my off the cuff comment to have such an impact on our day...

"We're missing an animal." - Me

"Nah, the heifer is tied up over there (pointing to a different area of the barn). -Jim, a coworker

"No, the horse.  Did Brandon take him home overnight?" - Me

"What?  He's not in the pen?" - As Jim turns to look toward the horse pen

*Brandon, the horse owner, walks up, carrying supplies*

"Brandon, where's your horse?" - Jim

*Flustered* "What?  He's not in the pen?" - Brandon

source

Want to know what happened next?   Come back for Part II tomorrow!

-Lauren