Horseback Riding with the Farm Hand

I received permission from Terpening to be allowed to ride horses whenever I wanted. The horses needed serious work. They were being fed and watered and some attention, but there were not enough volunteers at the farm to take care of everything. People were still dropping off animals and horses, even though Earth Services was closed.

I met the farm hand at Earth Services (who happens to be the boyfriend of Terpening's sister). I was out in the pen brushing horses when he arrived. It was previously planned to meet him because I wanted him to show me the tack room and what equipment to use to go riding. After this, I planned to go alone on a regular basis. The date of this is 3/22/12. 

It took us several minutes to get the horses rounded up that we were going to ride. The horse I rode had to be chased all over, then tricked with a bucket dirt (she thought there was grain in it). She rode well, but there were multiple times I had to dismount. We rode to Jamie's from Terpening's farm to take pictures of horses for sale on her property. 

During the ride, I mentioned to the farm hand if his girlfriend was the jealous type. He said yes, but that was because he had cheated on her in the past, and it was on Christmas Eve. He mentioned Michael catching him and taking pictures of him cheating, which was one reason for his disdain for Terpening. 

I was like, "Wow, so you screw around on Xxxx? Why be with her if you are going to treat her that way?" He explained that he loved her, but made a general comment about "guys will be guys, it's just pxxxy." I explained I did not need any hassles with his girlfriend and that we were working together and no more. She needs to understand that I am not a home wrecker, I am here to work." 

I never had any issues with the farm hand. We talked about a lot of stuff, that is for sure. But, we rode horses for awhile, even went cross country to get to Jamie's to find out we were blocked off at the fenceline and had to turn around and go back to the road to get to her house. The farm hand had to spend a bit of time waiting for me to get back on the horse once I was off...I mean, it has been about 12 years since my last ride...lol.

We went riding for a couple of hours. We talked back and forth about the case, Terpening. He expressed his anger about the case and mentioned that the government need to lock him up, drop the charges, or whatever. He felt the case had went on too long already. He was angry about his name being mentioned. I thought it very odd that he would mention to lock Michael up so nonchalantly, if he truly was innocent.

I was aware there was some seriously bad blood between this person and Terpening, but never understood why. I would imagine that being around Earth Services for six years, he probably knew a thing or two.

We kept our conversation pretty limited, and once the ride was over, we packed up and left Terpening's farm immediately. I was exhausted and sore from the ride. 

The next day, I received a text message from the farm hand. He informed me he was going back out to the farm again that day to move hay. I thought it was odd he would text me just to tell me this. I really did not feel like going to Earth that day, but chose to go anyways. A gut feeling, perhaps.

Again, the farm hand and I were alone for a couple hours. We were moving hay and cleaning up the upstairs of one of the barns when he started talking. He revealed to me that there were "many sides of Michael Terpening", including a side that allegedly had gotten physical with his wife in the past.

Other allegations made by the farmhand reference to Terpening's sexual nature, and that he did not witness anything, per say, but wouldn't have been surprised if there hadn't been some "sword fighting" taking place between Terpening and Rodney.  

The more I heard the farm hand talk, the more questions I had when I got home.

What the heck was going on? Something was seriously wrong. My heart fell to my feet and a huge feeling of dread filled my chest. 

It was time to go home and talk to Reigh...