Just an old goat

This is a Boer goat. They are originally from South Africa. They are
bred for meat production, and they also produce milk. I have been
seeing more and more of these goats on farms here in Louisiana and
Texas. They have comical expressions and behavior. I often see
them climbing on typical farm objects like bales of hay, tractors,
fences. I love to watch the baby goats; they are always so playful.

I've already mentioned that we spent some time on a friend's ranch
when I was growing up. They had Spanish goats, and they were
adorable. We were there one summer, and there was an orphaned
baby goat that the rancher was bottle-feeding. What a treat for a
city kid...to get to feed that baby goat. Then, he would follow me
wherever I went. The rancher kept telling my Dad, "I think Gail
needs to take that goat home." Well, he won that battle, and we
loaded up that baby goat, and headed to the suburbs of San
Antonio. We had a big backyard, and kept him out there. I named
him "Friskee", and we were big buddies. I would walk him around
the neighborhood just like a dog, and he would bleat at the neighbors.
I am sure they thought we were all crazy. Well, we only got to keep
the goat about 2 weeks. He got into my mother's flowers, and made
a real mess, and she said he had to go. We gave him away to some
friends in the country, and my days as a livestock owner came to a
close.

I did another painting of a goat one time, and I titled it; "George".
A woman came in the gallery, picked up that painting, and said she
had to have it. Puzzled, because goat paintings don't exactly fly
out of the gallery, I asked her why she felt such a connection to that
painting. She said her husband's name was George, and she always
referred to him as an "old goat". Who knew!?

"Gracie" original watercolor 6 x 9 $35.00 SOLD
http://www.peapatchgallery.com/ sheltongail@hotmail.com