Beyond Limitations

Thursday, February 13, 2020–

Yesterday, something about which I’ve thought, that finally, I got up and did, put a smile on my face. I snapped lead ropes onto the collars of my two African Dwarf Goats and we went for a walk. These twin sisters live in a sheltered area, with several hens, and each weighs about 75-pounds. They’re cute as can be, but overweight and need more exercise.

That was their first time walking around in a larger world. Intermittently, the two behaved willingly, timidly, boldly, worried, and interested. Breeze is the more confident and she’s dominant. Poppy tends to yield but can hold her own. As we walked, their little hoofbeats on pavement made me laugh, for comparing their tappings to the beats my horse makes while pulling a cart.

Breeze took our event in stride, mostly walking closely behind me with regular little hoof-sounds. But Poppy worried, sometimes stopping and pulling backwards, forcing me to tug her lead rope (it’s surprising, the strength of a low-profile 75-lbs). Other times, Poppy led us, pulling Breeze and me forward.

We traveled the streets and wove toward the nearby power-lines where a dirt road leads to an active canal. Once out into the open, the goats, wide-eyed, moved slowly. They paused lots, in curiosity, to explore ground smells or listen to whatever, in the air beyond my perception, captured their attention.

I let them be and we moseyed forward. After about an hour, as we neared home, we bumped into our neighbor and friend, Susie. She’d just returned from a big trip and we spent several minutes catching up. With much to talk about, I forgot to ask Susie to take a photo of all us hikers.

Dear Friends: These animals are fun, for a goat can learn to tote a pack and to pull a cart. Diana