I love horses. I enjoy riding and working with my horses. I have learned many things from the horses through the many years I have been around them. About ten years ago, I learned of a horseman, Chris Cox. I enjoy watching Chris work with the horse. Chris Cox states that being a horseman is a journey of the horse. The destination is to be a better horseman or horsewoman than you were yesterday. His words rang so true to my life and journey with the horse.
Recently, the words of journey with the horse has crossed over to the other things I do in my life. Daily working with the sheep, I am on a journey with my sheep. Learning each one and methods to working with them better, with less stress on the sheep. I also work with herding dogs. The dogs are used daily in gathering and moving the sheep. One reason, one of my rams (male sheep) is very aggressive to people. This ram likes to charge at you. A 400 pound animal hitting you with his head is dangerous. We take the precaution of always working him with a dog. The ram respects the dog, and does as the dog directs him. Working with the very intelligent Border Collies dogs has been a journey.
Today, I realized I am on another journey of writing. I am in the process of writing my first book. I have written term thesis for college, countless essays and letters. But never a book. To write a book takes time just like my 156 page college thesis took time. First the idea or subject, then some research, characters, place and time. Writing a book is a journey you determine where the story goes, who you interact with and location of the action. I am on a journey of creating a journey to share with others if they choose to read.
Our everyday existence is a journey. There are many turns and twists in our lives. Some created by our own decisions and some by situation or others choices. We can accept our journey where we are, or change our journey to a different path. Mostly we should be enjoying this journey we are on.
Daily I work to take joy in my journey of life. I look for the humor in a situation instead of succumbing to frustration. Today, I was deworming and trimming feet on a breeding group of ewes with a ram, the aggressive ram. I use a manufactured alley which is made of metal panels forming a pathway the sheep have to travel in single file to get into the chute I use to trim their feet. I had done three ewes and the ram was in the alley, only he stopped. I pushed, I hit him on the rump with my hand (honestly, ask the kids and my husband, I do not hit very hard, not heart in me to hit hard.), I could not get him to move. He was physically stuck in the alley way. I bent down and trimmed his feet while he was standing in the alley and he did not move. I touched him in various placed and he did not move. I tried to remove a side of the alley to let him free, only there was so much pressure on the sides, alone I could not remove the pins and open the side.
What to do now? Sit back and breathe, call the husband and laugh on the phone. Ask him when he is coming home to help me free the ram.
While I am on the phone with my husband, standing away from alley and chute. The ram does some major pushing accompanied with groans and moans to finally free himself from the alley and go through the chute to freedom and the girls.
Six months back when I purchased this ram, he could fit in the alley, but he was also very underweight. Now, he is in good condition for a ram, and he does not fit. My new, younger ram is bigger than this ram. We made the decision not to put the rams through the alley or the chute. I will have to put sheep panels together to trim his feet, deworm and vaccinate the rams.
On our journey of life and the journeys within our lives, we can get mad or frustrated when something does not go our way. Example of a job that should have taken me a couple of hours, took all day. Or we can laugh at the obstacle, not be afraid to ask for help from someone or God, and figure out a way to overcome the obstacle and get unstuck from the situation.
Our journey of life is short. Enjoy the journey. Find joy in your journey. Do not let obstacles steal your happiness, as obstacles are only temporary.
amtolle
P.S. I should have taken a picture of my ram stuck, before I called my husband.
Me, Myself and I 
Good luck with the book writing.
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Thank you.
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