Dino -- what in the world are you doing?!?!?

"Who, me?  Well...I noticed this nice, tall, green grass on the other side of the fence that you won't let me eat.  I was leaning over the fence this morning to munch on some breakfast and suddenly the fence rail just came undone.  Being the quick learner that I am, I decided to knock off all the top rails so I can eat this yummy grass a lot easier.  This way my neck doesn't hurt so much."

Eight top rails later and I finally decided I'd better let him in the front pasture before he knocked down the entire fence.  Scott was in Virginia Beach Monday through Thursday, so I needed a temporary solution until he returned home.  Dino had free reign and an "all-he-could-eat buffet" for a few days...until Scott got home.  Dino is not very happy right now since Scott immediately put up electric tape along this side of the fence too.

Dino has worn a trail along the fence line...We think he'd be much happier and content if he had a horse friend...We've learned that horses are herd animals and most of them prefer company.  And...this 40 year old fence is no match for this eight year old, massive -- and mischievous -- equine!  His owner just mentioned to me the other day that really he could jump all three rails with no problem.  They (Dino and his owner) used to do it all the time before his injury.  Let's hope he doesn't want to make the effort!  Fortunately, she doesn't seem worried...

This boy is wearing us out and ... this is not his first naughty deed.  We drove up to my parents' house this past Saturday for a family reunion and returned home late that night to find that Dino had broken a rail and loosened a post near the barn.  We decided he was safe and we would take care of it after church the next day.  The next morning we were driving past the pastures on our way out to Sunday school and noticed that he had somehow gotten on the other side of the electric fence.  So he was stuck in a 9 foot wide strip between the electric tape (which wasn't working) and the neighbor's fence. 

We presume that lightning struck our new electric box because it was dead after only one week of use and we recently had a big lightning storm, but we didn't think Dino would test it.  Well, he figured out that the tape wasn't zapping him and he wanted to be next to his friends (the neighbor's horses).  Ugh.  I trudged over to him, put his harness on, and led him to the front pasture.  We then drove to Lowe's to buy a new box and returned home to install it.  Dino was not happy.  He "charged" the barn at full gallop from the opposite side of the pasture a few times.  It was all a bluff -- he didn't hurt anything.  We made it to church just before our pastor started the sermon -- a little dirty.  Oh well.  The joys of "farm living".  I wonder if I smelled like a horse?!?  ;-)  We're definitely not making money on this deal!  Just gaining lots of experience!