Winter Conditioning?

[Lindy]

So I live in a snowy region, and I am wondering how folks living in snowy and icy regions keep their goats in shape over the winter months?  The nearest relatively snow free trail area to me is full of dogs all winter, so taking the goats their to jog/fast walk is likely more trouble than it is worth.   

The road near my place is typically icy, and busy enough with traffic to be a poor option.   

I have acreage that I could potentially maintain a relatively clear trail on if I had to.  But being on the north side of the mountain, snow comes and it stays.    I would love to hear how other people deal with snow and ice, and keep their goats active during the winter months.

Thanks for any feedback or ideas.

[Nanno]

If you snowshoe or ski, your goats can walk along behind you unloaded. Their hooves tend to posthole down so they get a very heavy workout if the snow is deep. As for the less snowy trail, yes it can be a pain to deal with dogs when you have young goats, but once your boys are big you shouldn't have a problem. My goats are not scared of dogs and usually if a dog comes too close my boys will stare it down. If a dog continues to advance, my boys will smack it or hook it. If you see someone approaching with a loose dog, ask them to leash it. Also get a leash on your goats. Even though my boys are big and not scared of dogs, I still always leash them when I see a dog because it's better safe than sorry. Encountering dogs is a necessary hiking skill so use that dog-popular trail to your advantage!

One final thought is to teach your goats to pull sleds. Mine haul firewood, hay, and water around the property. Sometimes it seems like more bother than it's worth to hitch a goat up to a sled, but once they're good at it, it really comes in handy for those times when the hose and the buckets all freeze and you need to get warm water out to your pens!