Well, howdy do!

Miniature burro near Charm, Ohio

I met some family at the Chalet in the Valley restaurant near Charm Ohio yesterday. We had a nice meal but better conversation. The place was not as crowded as what I expected. There were a few out of state license plates in the parking lot.

After our meal, I meandered over to the nearby pasture and put a quarter in the feed machine. I placed the bucket under the spout and maybe ten kernels of field corn rolled out along with my quarter. I put it back in and turned the knob again. Another ten and my quarter. Again, and once more. That's all you get for a quarter. About 40 kernels. The little goats were running to me as soon as I picked up the bucket.

As for the burro, he (could have been a she, I didn't look) was not interested in the corn. Just wanted a pat on the nose. I haven't been up close to a burro in years. Since my last visit to a petting zoo, I suppose. Probably five years or more. This one has the image of a cross on it's back. Very friendly little things. I could see another goat across the field. It appeared as though he was tied to a dog box of sorts. He may have been the mean one.

On the other side of the restaurant was a field with one horse. He was up by the fence and I walked over to say hello. He was completely miserable. They had cut off all of his forelock and the flies (there must have been a hundred of them) covered his face. It must have been maddening. All the poor thing could do was dip his head and rub his face against his front legs. His tail wasn't going to reach that far around. If he had his forelock at least he could shake his head and the hair would swing around and shoo them away. He needed to find a buddy and they needed to stand side by side, head to butt so they could swish each others' faces with their tails.

But, I didn't see any other horses in the field. Just the ones tied at the front that went with the Amish buggies. They were harnessed up and on the other side. Beasts of burden.