It’s interesting how some of our strengths can also be our Achilles’ heel. Status quo is not a concept which I am comfortable with. My brain is constantly at work thinking of new projects, travels, and things to do. I take pride in my drive to push, pursue, and continue to improve, but sometimes I question when enough is enough. Or when this drive puts the brakes on sustained periods of contentment and joy. When future gazing makes it hard to be in the moment.

This past summer presented a recent example. I decided to try out goat breeding. Goat milking had been a fail. (It’s harder than it looks and a daily morning commitment!) So, why not try out breeding? A steady stream of baby goats sounded like heaven. The opportunity to make a few bucks from a buck was equally tempting.       

So, that’s where Zeus comes in. Zeus is a polled (hornless), blue-eyed, Nigerian Dwarf buck which makes him kind of a catch. He has beautiful coloring – a smattering of black and white – and a sweet nature, at least as far as bucks go.

If you don’t know much about goat bucks, you should know that they smell. They have the unique ability to urinate all over themselves from their beards to the puff of hair on their top of their heads. This is their love language. An offensive odiferous offering to the ladies. They also sneeze and spit a lot to spread their scent. Lovely, I know, which is why all our current males have been fixed or banded in goat speak. While they still have sexual urges, wethers (fix boy goats) don’t exhibit buck behaviors or aggression.   

When we transported Zeus to our ranch, we made sure to have essential oils on hand to counteract his scent and had planned to ride with the windows wide open. Of course, there was rain for most of our ride that day which made for a less than ideal experience. It was a memorable 2-hour ride to say the least.

I had identified a small pasture where we could keep Zeus separated from the ladies to allow for a strategic approach to breeding. We certainly didn’t want our super young does getting pregnant and we also wanted to give newer moms Sable and Mint a season or two to recover.

The first couple of days went pretty well. I brought a couple of lady friends – candidates for breeding – over for visits with Zeus and even a male companion here and there so he wouldn’t be alone.  

Zeus, however, got comfortable in his new environment fast. It became clear quickly that he has a one-track mind which is all about the ladies. First, he expressed his frustration by rearing up and charging me. He sent me a clear message – a big bruise on my thigh. Lesson learned. Zeus is sweet, except when I stand between him and his ladies.

When he could no longer take out his frustrations on me, Zeus became an escape artist. He could easily clear the fence and started doing it every time he was alone. We added some higher fence pieces, but he would just get a running start and up and over he went, over, and over again.

Zeus was a handful. I ended up returning him to his previous owners, but not before he spent a few nights with the full herd due to his Houdini act. My great “breeding strategy” went totally out the window. So, now we just wait and see if Zeus was able to charm any of the ladies with his stink. Maybe we will have some unexpected kids running around the ranch five months from now.

In the meantime, I am reflecting on another lesson about the perils of my plans, appreciating what I can’t control, and staying in the moment.       

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