From Chelsea

So…the story goes like this:

We were sitting at a rodeo (approx 10 years ago), watching a few too many goat tiers tie a few too many goats, when one of the mom’s- Durena, had a startling, life-changing revelation.  The boys and men who helped bring the goats in and out of the arena all treated the goats a little bit differently. Some were really sweet with the little goats- carrying them into the arena and scratching their little ears while a horse and rider barreled towards them at full speed.  There were other guys who weren’t quite so endearing with the goats– they drug them by their little collars, acting annoyed at their goat duties.  Durena said to take note of the way those boys handled the goats– they would likely treat their future wife the same way they interacted with the little goat.  It became a really funny way to analyze a man– unbeknownst to him, of course.  Often we didn’t need to say a word to one another, we’d just make eye contact and make an “uh-oh” kind of face when one of the guys was too rough with a goat.  It was particularly disappointing when a particularly cute cowboy didn’t treat the goats as we might have liked him to– sort of broke the deal before there ever was one, if you know what I mean.

That being said, I married Buck without ever seeing him bring a goat neither in nor out of an arena.  It was risky, really.  In hindsight, I probably should’ve been a bit more conscientious of the “goat test”, but I’m sure I would’ve married him irregardless of how he handled the goat scenario, so maybe it was just best to not to know then what I know now.

So, here we are 6 years post-wedding and I was finally able to observe Buck in two goat interactions.  The first interaction took place at Rodeo Bible Camp a couple of weeks ago.  There was a competition at the end of camp for the instructors- a goat roping competition.  It was on foot and was team roping style, except with kids’ ropes rather than real ropes.  It’s a friendly competition- mostly just to give the instructors a chance to appease their competitive nature after a week of teaching kids how to compete.  It looks something like this:

(FYI… Buck isn’t pictured above, this is simply a picture to represent the event.  OK, truth be told, I was Buck’s partner for the goat roping, so I was unable to take pictures while he/we were competing.)

At any rate, Buck was pleasant enough with the goat he roped- he was the healer, so there wasn’t a whole lot of interaction between him and his goat.  It was fine.  I didn’t think much of it, really.

Then there was this past weekend… it was our local Stockgrowers Ranch Rodeo. 

Buck was in charge of the stick horse:

 goat tail untying event that is put on every year for the 2-7 year olds.   It’s a pretty intense event, as you can see in the picture. 

So… the morning of the rodeo, the girls and I went with Buck to pick up the goats from our friends who have a herd of about 30 goats.  Upon arrival, the girls and I walked up to the fence and started petting the friendly goats.  Buck walked up a few minutes later with a rope in his hands.  To which I said, “Really?”  To which he said, “Oh, you watch, they’re wild!”  To which I said, “Yeah, this one licking the girls’ hands seems like a real beast.”  To which he ignored me and jumped the fence, rope in tow.  As he began swinging his rope, the goats scattered, running this way and that, which made my cowboy smile and mutter something about them” being wild indeed“.  To which I rolled my eyes.  He proceeded to rope 3 goats, being particularly proud of himself for 2 out of the 3 loops he threw.  After roping each goat, he tied a string around its neck, and then handed the little animal over the fence to me where the girls and I led each little wild beast to the trailer to be hauled to the rodeo.   

Now here’s what I didn’t tell you, and what really gets me– after unneccessarily roping  each goat, he then took the time to give the goat a little pat on the head, look it straight in the face, and say something to the affect of “You’re a cute little goat- that’s why I picked ya!” 

I don’t know what to make of it!  None of it makes sense- it’s suppossed to be a simple test of a man and Buck has somehow made it all very complicated and confusing.  I’m losing sleep over it.  I’m shaking my head in confusion over it.  I’m eating too many chocolate chips because of it.  On one hand, I’m utterly disgusted with the unneccessary roping, but on the other hand, it was done in such a cute little boy-ish sort of way- not a mean-spirited bully kind of way!  Then…. THEN! To top it all off…. the pat on the head?  The loving gesture to the scared little goat?! 

WHAT?! MY FRIENDS?! DOES IT ALL MEAN?!

–Chelsea ;-)

P.S.  Random outbursts (RO’s) like this one should be coming much more often from me– internet is on its way!  I’d say less than two weeks! My life isn’t the same without you.  I’ll expand on that in a future RO.