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As some of you may have heard, Phil and I have our sights set on taking our goats to the International Goat Days Festival in Millington, TN in September for the annual goat chariot race! Last week a friend did some minor work on our goat carts so they can now be converted from sit-down carts to standing or kneeling chariots! Because of the way these carts are designed, the work to make them convertible was really quite simple. The axles were already removable, so all that had to be done was to remove the seats and add some metal brackets so the axles can be relocated to a more forward position. Of course, we have not yet added panels to make these look like bona fide chariots, but we took them out for our first test drive on Saturday.
Sputnik was the hero of the test driving event. This goat knows his job and he really puts his heart into it! Finn has been less cooperative about driving (or working much at all) recently, so we decided to harness him up but not drive him. Finn got to walk alongside and watch how Sputnik does things. I have to say, Sputnik was a perfect example of how a driving goat should go. He was eager but relaxed, wanted to trot but was obedient to the reins, and he didn't balk at barking dogs, geese, cars, golfers, or anything else we encountered on our drive. He was a good, good boy!
For the actual race, contestants always kneel. I need to add some padding to the front rail and the floor to make this position comfortable.
Although it was much less stable, I thought standing was a lot more fun! Finn would like you to think he is pulling the chariot in this photo.
Since I knew that my balance would be an issue, I drove Sputnik in a halter so as to avoid hurting his mouth in the event of any accidental rein-pulling. Sputnik was very excited and wanted to trot most of the way, so I did get "left behind" the motion a couple of times when he would go straight from a stop to an eager trot. At those moments I was glad for his sake that I opted to use the halter!
Phil generally preferred to kneel. I think he's ready to race!
Sputnik says, "What the heck are you doing back there? Can we go yet??"
Sputnik has gotten so big lately that the cart tips back noticeably even with the shafts adjusted to the taller height. I lowered the shaft loops a hole, but from looking at the photos I should probably lower them some more. When figuring out the forward placement for the axle, I was thinking so much about keeping weight off the goats' backs that we may have gotten them too far forward. We did our measurements with the shafts level, but with our goats as tall as they are, these carts will always tip back a bit, throwing our weight further back than we anticipated. Phil particularly had a tendency to tip backwards because he likes to sit on his haunches when he kneels. Sputnik thankfully didn't care whether the shafts pulled up or down on his harness. He was just happy to be the center of everyone's attention (and cookies)!
Sputnik was the hero of the test driving event. This goat knows his job and he really puts his heart into it! Finn has been less cooperative about driving (or working much at all) recently, so we decided to harness him up but not drive him. Finn got to walk alongside and watch how Sputnik does things. I have to say, Sputnik was a perfect example of how a driving goat should go. He was eager but relaxed, wanted to trot but was obedient to the reins, and he didn't balk at barking dogs, geese, cars, golfers, or anything else we encountered on our drive. He was a good, good boy!
For the actual race, contestants always kneel. I need to add some padding to the front rail and the floor to make this position comfortable.
Although it was much less stable, I thought standing was a lot more fun! Finn would like you to think he is pulling the chariot in this photo.
Since I knew that my balance would be an issue, I drove Sputnik in a halter so as to avoid hurting his mouth in the event of any accidental rein-pulling. Sputnik was very excited and wanted to trot most of the way, so I did get "left behind" the motion a couple of times when he would go straight from a stop to an eager trot. At those moments I was glad for his sake that I opted to use the halter!
Phil generally preferred to kneel. I think he's ready to race!
Sputnik says, "What the heck are you doing back there? Can we go yet??"
Sputnik has gotten so big lately that the cart tips back noticeably even with the shafts adjusted to the taller height. I lowered the shaft loops a hole, but from looking at the photos I should probably lower them some more. When figuring out the forward placement for the axle, I was thinking so much about keeping weight off the goats' backs that we may have gotten them too far forward. We did our measurements with the shafts level, but with our goats as tall as they are, these carts will always tip back a bit, throwing our weight further back than we anticipated. Phil particularly had a tendency to tip backwards because he likes to sit on his haunches when he kneels. Sputnik thankfully didn't care whether the shafts pulled up or down on his harness. He was just happy to be the center of everyone's attention (and cookies)!