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+--- Thread: Goats Charging Ahead on the Trail (/showthread.php?tid=1137)
Goats Charging Ahead on the Trail - Nanno - 09-01-2015
Do you have problems with your goats (especially your youngsters) charging ahead of you on the trail? Phil and I were having this trouble when we took our three yearlings out last week. They would get behind when they stopped to browse, and then one of them would snort or bolt when he thought we were too far ahead, and all three would panic and stampede. Usually they stampeded right past me and sometimes past Phil as well. I wouldn't mind so much except that goats aren't content to walk nicely ahead of people on the trail. They constantly want to stop and browse, and then our pleasant hike feels more like the stop-and-go of rush hour traffic--a constant accordion motion of bunching up, then spreading out. Our goats got used to getting ahead of us as babies because there's not much anyone can do to stop them squirting through every little gap. Well now they're much too big to squeeze through gaps without shoving, and their horns have reached a span too wide to allow them to pass safely at speed on a narrow trail. It's high time we trained them to stay in back!
Most of the time it's easy--I only have to keep the lead goat from passing me, and he keeps the others from passing him. Finn is our lead goat and he likes to walk behind Phil, so it took some persistence to train him not to pass me. Usually if I feel a goat sneaking up too close, I'll take my hat off and drop it over his face as he goes by. He stops dead in his tracks when he discovers he can't see where he's going. After that, waving the hat in front of his face is usually enough to make him get back. Once Finn figured out he couldn't pass close to me, he tried being "clever" by going way around me in a wide spot. I picked up a tree branch and cured that problem within half a mile.
Keeping just one goat back is not too difficult. Our biggest problem was when all three would bolt past at once. They didn't do it often, but I wasn't sure what to do about it when it did. Three big, horned goats stampeding past on a narrow trail is dangerous, and it was dangerous even when they bunched up behind me instead of blowing past. I knew I had a problem when I realized I'd gotten into the habit of standing tip-toe to avoid getting my heels trod on whenever I heard hoofbeats. After about the third stampede, a small bell began to ring in the back of my mind. Didn't we have problems with Cuzco stampeding past us on the trail years ago? How did we deal with it? And then I remembered! Scare the pants off him!
I began to pay attention to when the hoofbeats faded behind me, and to the swell of noise as they rushed to catch up. When the frenzied pounding drew near I whirled around, threw my hands in the air and yelled "WOW!" at the goats. All three of them froze stiff, their eyes bugged out in terror, and pebbles flew as they skidded into each other. I did this only a few times more before we reached the trailhead, and each stampede was slower and more timid than the one before. By the end, the goats were cautiously trotting to catch up, then slowing down at a safe distance. I don't want my goats to fear me, but by golly they better fear running up on my tail and stepping on my feet!
RE: Goats Charging Ahead on the Trail - Charlie Horse - 09-01-2015
Mine run around like that too for the first 2 miles. After that, everyone is rather well behaved. As much as I try to keep them from passing, it keeps happening, and like you say, the worst part is the stopping to browse. I'm hoping that as they get older and I load them down more, they'll tend to have less spunk left over.
RE: Goats Charging Ahead on the Trail - IdahoNancy - 09-01-2015
Pack string them for the 1st mile. I find running behavior is less when they are packing weight. I love trekking poles. One in each hand for a double if needed. A flick of the wrist right under the chin and they seem reluctant to pass someone with a pole in their hand. If the goats are traveling in front. Use the tip of the pole to poke them in the rump. They get the idea and keep moving.
I love old goats they have all that stuff figured out. Hopefully they'll teach my new baby when he is a teenager.
RE: Goats Charging Ahead on the Trail - Sanhestar - 09-01-2015
yes, kow that, too. I carry a long walking/herding stick for that reason.
it makes a nice barrier in front of you, carried horizontal and waggled up and down in front of charging goats - the occassional whup on the nose brings the point across.
When the goats walk in front of me and think about blocking my way I tip them gently with the stick on their hindquarters to keep them moving or against their sides to tell them to move out of the way.
Basically the same that Nancy does :-)
RE: Goats Charging Ahead on the Trail - Nanno - 09-01-2015
I make training harder on myself because I absolutely hate carrying a walking stick or poles unless absolutely necessary.
Pretending I'm an angry grizzly bear seems to work just as well as a stick, and I don't have to worry about accidentally whacking Phil instead of the goat.
RE: Goats Charging Ahead on the Trail - Thirdacre - 10-17-2015
I have a doe and a wether Nigerian dwarf, we have been hiking since they were a couple of months old, they are seven months old now. We finally have a system, my husband leads, the goats walk in-between him and I. They stop to browse but don't let us out of their sight. They will run to catch up and get back in-between us. I'm here because when they are old enough we will do overnight hiking for several nights with them. They ride in the back of my Toyota matrix and have been camping with us in our motorhome. WE have an EZ up for them with fencing around. They have not slept in the open with us yet, and I'm not sure about highlining them. but if they might get lost, I guess we will.
RE: Goats Charging Ahead on the Trail - Taffy - 10-17-2015
Low-lining would work well for them.