Finn's First!

[Nanno]

Alas, I forgot the camera, but we had a lovely hike with Pac-Man and Finn today. This was Finn's first day out on the trail and he had the time of his life! I've never seen such a happy goat. He cried during the ride in the truck (Pac-Man didn't help--he cried just as much, the big sissy), but once we got on the trail, Finn turned into a bouncing ball of glee. He's got every bit of his mother's spunk and athleticism (we call Lilly our ninja goat). There are loads of cliffs, boulders, and giant logs on this trail, so Finn spent the entire time bouncing circles around us as he leaped from one launching pad to another, sometimes far above our heads. I worried that he'd pull a Nibbles and get stuck, but he's quite the brave little leaper and he never let the heights get to him.

Pac-Man is learning to be somewhat more athletic. He had to cross logs, he had to climb over boulders, and he even had to jump a few ledges. He would have gone around if he could, but sometimes there was water to avoid, and leaping is almost always superior to getting one's toes wet. There were a few places where the creek overflowed the trail and only the nimblest climber could scale the cliffs to get around, and for the first few of those I had to physically drag Pac-Man into the water (with much crying and protesting). But by about the third or fourth one, he came with only a small tug on the rope, and on the way home I was able to unleash him. He waited until we were out of sight before he could work up the courage, but he still did it by himself. I was very proud of him.

Finn usually found some daredevil way around the water, which is good because most of it was too deep and too swift for him to wade safely. There was only one place where we actually had to cross the water, and it was shallow there. Finn does not seem to have Pac-Man's extreme hydrophobia and waded right in when he saw we weren't going to wait for him. It's early days yet, but I think our little adventurer may shape up to be a fine packgoat someday. Looking at him now, he's certainly got the build for it!

[Charlie Horse]

I'm theoretically glad to hear about this supposed goat-hike of which we have no photographic proof. What is possibly impressive is the (unproven) fact that Finn supposedly had fun even without his mom around for moral support. If this hearsay hiking story were to be proven true, it sounds like Finn may become a real pack goat someday! Despite the long floppy ears.

[Nanno]

Photographic proof will be offered before long, I'm sure! From those photos you'll see that Finn does not, in fact, have long floppy ears. His are more Cuzcovian in nature. Pac-Man, on the other hand, does indeed have long floppy ears (and a pathetic Nubian baa-aa).

[Nanno]

Well, Phil took Finn out for a hike today, just the two of them, and Finn was a real trooper. Phil reports that he only baa-aa-ed on the truck ride out and again when they turned up the driveway toward home. On the trail he was quiet and bounced happily along without a leash, crossed all the water without hesitation, and only tried to turn back once when he started following some other hikers. Phil is completely impressed with our young packgoat-in-training! Finn even fell in the creek without much fuss. He slipped off the log and went in at the deep end and got soaked. But he came out, shook off, and kept right on going without mentioning it. Despite his ducking, he had no fear of crossing back over later on. It's early days, but this one looks like turning into a real hiking champ!

[Nanno]

Here ya go, Charlie Horse--photographic proof that Finn goes hiking! He loves it too. There was no crying when we left home this time.
   

We're still working on water crossings.
   

It's hard to tell from just two photos, but this was a complicated and rather risky maneuver...
   
   

...performed at a great height.
   

Pac-Man came with us too.
   

It's cookie time!
   

Pac-Man is resigning himself to the fact that he must get wet sometimes--the protests are becoming shorter and less vigorous.
   

Finn got his toes wet today too, but he didn't like it. I think he's a little bit traumatized from falling in the creek earlier this week when he was out with Phil. Just after this picture he took off and started bouncing back and forth from boulder to boulder to avoid the creek. He was like a ping-pong ball on a leash!
   

[Dave-Trinity-Farms]

Those are some amazing pictures Nanno!

[Charlie Horse]

Now thats one rock climbing goat! Especially for his age... Although that rock is so rough even I could probably walk sideways on it. And he's so good with water already.

I think he's going to get his certification early.

[Nanno]

I'm loving this little goat! Not only is he a great trail companion (no baa-aa-ing, no hesitating, no disappearing), but he's friendly with everyone and so bold! He's curious but not stupid, and he explores but doesn't wander off. Right now we definitely have to keep him close if other people pass by or he tends to follow them in a quest for new friends, but I think this is going to be a short phase for him. He's already starting to learn his name and come when I call him if he's not too distracted. He goes well on a leash and wasn't all that nervous about the cars that sped past us during our short walk along the highway.

So far I'm also loving his conformation. Look at his shoulders in the photo where I'm feeding cookies. This little guy is built like a football player! But he's not chunky--he's just "built". He's got all his mother's boldness and athleticism with his father's beautiful, muscular conformation and nice feet. He's very people-oriented like Lilly too. I think Finn may turn out to be the first official "Cuzcovian" goat bred by Goat-O-Rama. If he goes on as well as he shaping up then I have hope that we will in fact achieve our dream of eventually being able to produce "Cuzco-type" goats here on a consistent basis. After all, this is just our first attempt! I'm very excited about this boy right now.

[sydneyjd]

Neato!!

[Taffy]

Finn sounds like a keeper! If you can create a "Cuzcovian" goat breed you are going to have people sneaking into your pasture to grab them!

I'm loving this little goat! Not only is he a great trail companion (no baa-aa-ing, no hesitating, no disappearing), but he's friendly with everyone and so bold! He's curious but not stupid, and he explores but doesn't wander off. Right now we definitely have to keep him close if other people pass by or he tends to follow them in a quest for new friends, but I think this is going to be a short phase for him. He's already starting to learn his name and come when I call him if he's not too distracted. He goes well on a leash and wasn't all that nervous about the cars that sped past us during our short walk along the highway.

So far I'm also loving his conformation. Look at his shoulders in the photo where I'm feeding cookies. This little guy is built like a football player! But he's not chunky--he's just "built". He's got all his mother's boldness and athleticism with his father's beautiful, muscular conformation and nice feet. He's very people-oriented like Lilly too. I think Finn may turn out to be the first official "Cuzcovian" goat bred by Goat-O-Rama. If he goes on as well as he shaping up then I have hope that we will in fact achieve our dream of eventually being able to produce "Cuzco-type" goats here on a consistent basis. After all, this is just our first attempt! I'm very excited about this boy right now.