In order to bring the vehicles and licenses up to speed, we needed more cash. So one of the horses had to go. It was a toss-up between Lady and Cookie but my husband was leaning more towards Cookie because Red and Lady are best buddies.
The chicken feather guy made an offer for Cookie. As soon as I heard that, I vetoed the idea. Absolutely not. I’ve seen how malnourished his animals were. My husband said that no matter whom we sold Cookie to, she might be mistreated. I pointed out that with the chicken feather guy is was 100% sure. So no deal.
I think the chicken feather guy wanted Cookie because there is a distinct possibility she is pregnant with his stallion’s colt. Odds are Lady is also pregnant, which means if we didn’t sell one or both of the mares, we’d have 5 horses next summer. We don’t have space for the animals we have now, let alone FIVE horses.
Then an interested party in the next village over offered 5 goats in exchange for Cookie. I again vetoed that deal. We don’t have room for the 10 goats we have now, much less 5 more. And we need cash for the vehicle permits. Did my husband think we could just take a goat down to the office and settle up? No, not happening.
Finally, one of La Yacata guys offered $300 USD for Cookie. We knew the guy, we knew where Cookie would be stabled, and we knew she’d be fine. Since my husband paid $10,000 pesos for a pregnant Cookie earlier in the year, it was a substantial loss. Of course, we kept Red who in a year or so will be valued quite a bit, so it might work out in the end. Maybe.
I also vetoed the payment being in U.S. dollars since then we’d have to run around and try to get the best exchange rate, wasting valuable time. So, the guy went and had his money exchanged himself. At 18 pesos per dollar, my husband received $5,400 pesos. A fabulous deal on a perfectly good mare for the other guy. Not so much for us.
The money was surely burning a hole in my husband’s pocket because he went immediately to the Honda distributor to order some parts for his motorcycle. They ought to be here next week.
We also went to ask about the cost of all the paperwork we need to do for my new Kymco, his Honda and Butch the truck. It’s going to cost a pretty penny. But first, I need to renew my license to have the Kymco put in my name.
So back to Red. The first night he was extremely upset. He couldn’t be put in with Lady because he’d try to nurse and she wasn’t having any of that. So being all alone in his stall upset him. When we opened the door the next morning, he ran over to Lady’s stall. She reassured him with nose kisses and gentle mane grooming. He calmed right down.
But when the herd went out for the morning foraging, he became agitated again and ran around for a while. He eventually gave up the search for his mother and settled by Lady to graze.
The second night was easier. Papa Chivo went out several times in the night to make sure he had enough feed, which kept his agitation to a minimal.
That afternoon, however, there was the rooster incident. When my son went out to check the water supply for the animals, the rooster, FuzzyFoot was lying on the ground in Red’s stall dying. He had me come out and as we watched FuzzyFoot died.
Certain that my husband would blame the dogs, we tried to figure out what had happened. It’s possible Red kicked the rooster or maybe laid down on him by accident. We were sure that it hadn’t been any of the dogs since there were no bite marks, scattered feathers or blood.
When my husband got home just a few minutes later, we gave him the news. He thinks the rooster may have eaten a scorpion and thankfully agreed it wasn’t the dogs. Of course, now we need a new rooster to greet the morn’ and encourage the egg-laying.
Our dogs really disliked FuzzyFoot. When he would crow, all three dogs would set about howling in perfect harmony or at least what they believed to be harmony. So now that he’s gone, the mornings are quite peaceful.
Red carried on for another two nights, but then seemed resigned to his fate. As long as he can check in with Lady and has a full barrica (barrel) of feed, he’s ok. We’ll just have to wait and see if Lady presents with a foal next year, which will again put a strain on our animal living quarters. By then, Red will be a young stallion.
****
Would you like more fun animal stories?
Surviving Mexico 