What did you do today?

[Dave-Trinity-Farms]

LOL, well to be honest, I dont do the milking. Tracy milks by hand. My mitts are to big. When I try to milk most of it ends up on me, the goat or the milk stand. Its not a pleasant experience for anyone involved.

[Saph]

Poor Finn! Sending him major healing vibes. Hopefully Daisy won't be quite so "attentive" in the future…the instinct to protect her "herd" must be extremely strong, for her to defy your orders like that!

[michael]

Hope Finn's foot heals well! Poor little guy! Good thing he is young I think the healing process goes so much better at the young ages.

[Taffy]

So sorry to hear Finn's hoof is being a pain. I hope it heals quickly.

[Nanno]

I shoveled a lot of snow today and it looks like I'll be doing the same tomorrow. We've got at least 15 inches and it's supposed to keep coming down until noon tomorrow. YAY!

I took Finn's bandage off this morning. He's still not walking on that foot at all, but it doesn't feel hot. I didn't want the cotton bandage to get wet and freeze around his foot, and he's not going to get the wound dirty in all this snow. The little guy is pretty tough. He never hollered when he got stepped on and today he was running around like a racehorse despite a foot of snow and only running on three legs.

[Charlie Horse]

Honestly, thats why I don't ride horses with goats along. They don't seem to be as wily as dogs. I also don't like to feed goats and horses in the same place. Its just too easy to have accidents like that. I was starting to get concerned about the yak poking goats in the sides with the forward-pointing horns, too. The goats would come up with some raised bumps on their sides now and then. And then there's the fact that goats eat horse tails. Cant we all just get along? No.

[Nanno]

I'm lucky--none of my goats eat horse tails. I'm not sure about goats not being as wily as dogs. I've had my horses step on dogs before too (sometimes on purpose!). I've found that my horses are a lot less careful of dogs than of the goats when we're on a ride--probably because the dogs are a lot more annoying and are more underfoot. Cuzco got stepped on sometimes when he was a baby, but that's because he was glued to horses and would stand right underneath them. It didn't take him long to start following behind the horses on trail rides. Finn prefers to walk beside my foot, which is probably not as smart as staying behind... perhaps after this incident he'll learn. I personally dislike riding with dogs because of stuff like what happened with Daisy. Dogs like to run off into the brush and then bolt back out, often right under the horse. Or they sneak around where the horses can't quite see them, or appear suddenly out of nowhere. My horses are generally used to dogs, but they never really relax around them as much as they do when the dogs stay home.

In particular, I HATE having Daisy along on a ride. She loves to come, but she's not obedient. She walks in the middle of the road, wanders onto other people's property, disappears for ages and then comes bursting out when you least expect it. She doesn't come when she's called, she doesn't go when she's told, and she won't heel or stay. She's pretty good when we're at home, but not when we're out, and especially not when I'm on a horse. It's like I'm suddenly not her person any more when I'm on horseback. She's a terrible trail riding companion, and intentionally sneaking up on a horse is about the worst sin a dog can commit on a ride.

By contrast, my goats are obedient and unobtrusive and don't bother the horses or wander off. Finn's mashed foot is the worst horse/goat accident we've ever had, and I rode with Cuzco along for nine years. I'm just glad Daisy didn't cause a nasty horse/rider accident, because with the way she acted we could have had much worse than a bruised goat toe.

[Dave-Trinity-Farms]

So much easier to get rid of everything else and just have goats

[Nanno]

If I got rid of the dog and the horses I wouldn't have any goats left--too many coyotes and bears around here!

Well, I'm off to shovel what looks to be about two feet of snow!

[Dave-Trinity-Farms]

Ill be thinking about you while Im out not shoveling and enjoying the sun shine