Thursday, October 25, 2007

Party Animal



Years ago, friends of the Cowboy and Bag Lady were involved in horse racing. They had several horses in the barns at the race-track, and the Bag Lady and her Cowboy used to go to the track and help out with the work (and the beer-drinking).
There is quite a bit of work behind the scenes in the racing world. Racehorses need a lot of care – they are fed a special diet, their stalls need to be cleaned, they need to be worked and walked and monitored closely, etc.
There is always time for some fun, though. At least, in our friends’ barns. The Cowboy and the Bag Lady would visit on a fairly regular basis, and sometimes lend a hand with whatever needed to be done.
On one such occasion, after the work was done, we all sat down in the barns for a beer. There was much laughter and story-telling, and the occasional horse poking his head out of his stall to check things out.
Now our friends had one racehorse named Barney who had injured his leg and wasn’t able to run. They kept him with them at the course so they could care for him and monitor his progress. Barney was a bit of a clown, and we ended up sitting right outside his stall. He hung his head out the door and seemed to be paying close attention not only to the stories, but also to the beer.
The Cowboy was sitting closest to Barney, and set his beer down within Barney’s reach. When he reached for it to take a drink, it was gone. Turns out Barney really wanted to join the party…
Everybody looks better after a couple of beers...


Fortunately, no-one was driving home that night.

9 comments:

Leah J. Utas said...

Barney the Beer-Drinking Horse? Oh, my.

the Bag Lady said...

Barney did love his beer. Couldn't win a race to save his life, though, but loved to clown around.

Crabby McSlacker said...

Um, any chance the beer drinking and the race losing were related?

Sounds like a great horse though!

Reb said...

Sounds like Barney had the right attitude towards life. Good photos.

the Bag Lady said...

Gee, Crabby, maybe you have a point there, but they never let him drink before a race... :)
Hey, Reb, yup, Barney had a great attitude. Didn't help him win, though - probably 'cause he was too laid-back.

Hilary said...

Great photos.. good for what ales ya!

the Bag Lady said...

Hilary - words fail me...

Anonymous said...

as we say here in montana (actually from the C&W song).. whiskey for my man, beer for my horses :)

gp in montana
http://etchedbystone.wordpress.com

the Bag Lady said...

Hey, gp - too true!! Always think of Barney when I hear that song!