Monastery Miniature Horses

About one o'clock today, my sister, Pam, and I headed out to a monastery to see the miniature horses that the cloistered nuns there raise. We drove to Brenham and stopped at the Chamber of Commerce because we couldn't find route 105. The volunteer there was very helpful and soon we were back on our way to the monastery.

The afternoon really warmed up as we went on the self guided tour. The fee was $3.00 for seniors and we got a small map of what to see. The first stop was the horse barn where we saw several yearlings in stalls. There were also several outside in a pasture.

You can get an idea of their size compared to Pam squatting down for a photo.

The little horses are quite friendly and come to the fence to be petted. Feeding by visitors is not allowed so no one gets bitten. The nuns have been raising these miniature horses since 1981, and there are about 60 horses presently in the herd. These miniature horses are used for pets, in specialty horse shows, and are quite strong at pulling carts, for their size.

These are all of the mares that will be ready to foal this coming spring. The foals are born during March-May. The nuns sell miniature horses and the prices range from $500 to $5000.

After this visit we headed out to visit a winery that the Chamber of Commerce had told us about. It was located on a back rode and we weren't quite sure we had found the right place when we arrived. We went into a small out building and sure enough there were folks inside serving up tiny sips of wines. Little did we know that tasting a few wines would cost us as much as it did. I only had a sip of one variety, since I was driving, and Pam tasted three. She did buy a bottle of a wine she liked, but was surprised that the cost was ten dollars more than the stated price. Turns out if you taste anything, it will cost you five dollars each. It would have been nice if they told us this beforehand.

We got back to the campground about 4:45. It was my turn to fix dinner and I had "red stuff" brewing in the crock pot while we were gone. It is kind of a goulash that my kids are familiar with. After dinner, we spent some time around the campfire and headed back to our rigs around 8:30. I'm not sure what we'll do tomorrow. Stanley will, of course, watch the SuperBowl.

Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later, Judy