Charlie Horse's 2017 Picture Thread

[Nanno]

Love that picture of Bacchus!

[Taffy]

Wow! The one photo DOES look like one of your banners - The Face-off! I love the landscape where you are living.

[Charlie Horse]

Easter Hike 2017.  3:40 including a rest in the shade.  Mission:  Explore new areas that may or may not be off limits because its Easter and nobody is around.  Search for lost mini goat that had been seen on one of the plateaus.

   
A more obscure wash that seems rarely visited.

   
Oh.  This is why...  A dead end.  There's no way up this!

   
(In a GPS voice) Recalculating.  New path found.  Backtrack 50 yards and turn "up".

   
Looking down now that we're already on the plateau that the lost goat was supposedly seen on.

   
Shelby up on the plateau, looking S SW.

   
This is about as close to the edge as I want to go with the goats around.  I turned back and guess what... the goats didn't.  They hung out near the edge to get a better view and ignored me till I was 60 yards away.

   
Started down the wash on the other side of the plateau.  Its pure white with alkali.

   
Emerging from the narrows.

   
Victoria oblivious to the awesome rock formations in this place.  Actually you could drive here in a few minutes and its kinda hidden away from any sign of civilization.  Good camping spot because you're not far from town but it feels like its in the deepest desert.

Summary:  No sign of a mini goat, though I didn't go to the other spur on the plateau.  I saw a ton of deer over there and didnt' want to trap them or pressure them to leap to their deaths (Like the would).   I found some great paths and assuming the goats can cross a log over a canal, perhaps a short cut.

[Colorado Shawn]

Looks Cool!

[Charlie Horse]

   
Victoria's Portrait

   

   
Woodstock's Portrait

   

   
Zoooooom

[Charlie Horse]

   
What...

   
The usual route.

   
I found this new section of trail that will be useful in the future.

Not a lot of exploring today.  Just refining my route.

[Nanno]

Cool photos! I especially love the first one!

[DownUnder Gal]

Magnificent terrain. What brand are those green panniers Charlie Horse and are you happy with them?

[Saltlick]

What...


The usual route.


I found this new section of trail that will be useful in the future.

Not a lot of exploring today.  Just refining my route.

How do the ones without horns do in the heat? I just got two new ones without horns, only had them a few days, but they are from my area, and just hanging out in the goat pen they seem to get hotter than my other three who have horns. Just wondering. Seeing your photos makes me really want to get back out on the trails!

[Charlie Horse]

I don't know that horns are the most important issue in regards to overheating goats. Here's what I've observed:

Body thickness-- more is hotter. Vincent VanGoat is a llamancha with a bit of a beer belly and lots of bulk otherwise. He pants a lot. Shelby is also black but has the skinny bony body with a tight gut and overheats much later. Its true though that Bacchus is rather bulky but has huge horns and is white so he doesn't seem to overheat as fast as I'd expect. Also fat goats are hauling more weight around even unloaded.

Breed matters perhaps-- I did notice my half-saanan overheats quicker than the others. I know that saanan heat tolerance is probably a wive's tale but I'm starting to wonder if its true.

And for DownUnderGal's question on the green panniers, they're the Acid Rain ones from NorthWest. I like them plenty. Certainly they're tough. They hold a lot. They look great and make any goat feel stylish. My only complaint would probably be that the zippers go unnecessarily far down the sides. I'd prefer they stopped half way to avoid water getting in on a river crossing and to avoid the side from flopping open.. ever. Nobody needs to open a pannier up like a suitcase. Its a 2-puller zipper design so to avoid it accidentally dumping things on the trail I bought some lightweight plastic dog-leash style clips and clip both zipper pullers together.