Chat
01-19-2017, 07:16 PM
By contrast, here's a funny story about Sputnik. This goat is such a goofball lately! He's been pushing his way up in the herd, butting heads with anyone and everyone, pounding the little bucklings, and starting to challenge Finn on a semi-regular basis. He gets extremely excited when I call him and will leave everyone behind and come racing all by himself across a whole pasture, but he also hovers around me too much on our walks and I have to wave him off a lot. He leaps onto rocks and stumps throughout our walks in hopes that he'll get rewarded for standing on a "stool" (one of his tricks). Yesterday he was way too full of himself and got in trouble for accidentally whacking me in the behind when he went to pummel Rocky (who was trying to steal cookies from my pouch at the time).
So I decided that Sputnik needed some work to settle him down. The goats' water tub was empty and the hose is buried under icy crust snow, so I got out the sled with the whiffletree and harnessed Sputnik to it. He was thrilled to have a job! I got the water loaded and as soon as I had those traces hooked in, Sputnik was off! The fact that he had to pull the heavy sled across sixty feet of gravel before we got to the snow did not slow him down one bit. What a memory this boy has! He hauled water for me a few times last year, and he knew exactly where we were going. He struck out straight for the goat pen while I walked behind the sled to steady it. I need a rope on the back though because once Sputnik got onto the snow he broke into a brisk trot and there are a couple of dips on the way to the goat pen. The sled got going too fast and hit him in the back of the legs a few times. Sputnik didn't seem to care though. He kept right on going to the goat pen gate where he slowed down so I could help navigate the sled through the narrow entrance. He pulled right up to the water tub and stopped on "whoa", then he waited there like a statue for five minutes while I cleaned and emptied the tub and poured in the fresh water. The reins were on the ground while I worked and I never once had to touch them nor verbally remind him to stay put. He knew his job.
The way back, on the other hand, was more of a fiasco. The sled, being empty, was ridiculously lightweight and the empty water jugs were sliding all over the place and bouncing out of the shallow sled. I decided it would be easier if I sat in the sled on the way back to the house and held the water jugs between my legs. Sputnik, however, did not want to wait while I went through the tricky business of getting settled. He would start to walk off or else turn around to see what I was doing, but every time he moved the lightweight sled went slithering this way and that all over the icy snow. Then I would have to straighten it out, get Sputnik's legs back inside the traces he'd stepped over, untangle the reins, and begin again. It was pretty hilarious and it took about three attempts before I finally had myself seated in the sled. As soon as I gave the word, Sputnik trotted eagerly toward the house. The water containers, the sled, and me all arrived at the house in good order despite the fact that my final "untanglement" had resulted in the reins being wrapped uselessly around the traces. But once I was seated in the sled with the water jugs in place I didn't feel like hopping out and rearranging yet again. Sputnik knew where to go and he's quite good with voice commands. He's smart too. Instead of making a beeline for the house, he skirted the edge of the driveway as far as he could so as to avoid pulling the sled across the gravel. He could have just stopped at the driveway and had me get out and lead him across, but I'm pretty sure he wanted to pull me as far as he could. Sputnik sure loves having an important job to do! His head was up and that chest was puffed out as far as it would go. Let's just hope his excessive energy and eagerness stay concentrated on the jobs we give him and don't get channeled into challenging people or hurting other goats. He's a live wire lately.
So I decided that Sputnik needed some work to settle him down. The goats' water tub was empty and the hose is buried under icy crust snow, so I got out the sled with the whiffletree and harnessed Sputnik to it. He was thrilled to have a job! I got the water loaded and as soon as I had those traces hooked in, Sputnik was off! The fact that he had to pull the heavy sled across sixty feet of gravel before we got to the snow did not slow him down one bit. What a memory this boy has! He hauled water for me a few times last year, and he knew exactly where we were going. He struck out straight for the goat pen while I walked behind the sled to steady it. I need a rope on the back though because once Sputnik got onto the snow he broke into a brisk trot and there are a couple of dips on the way to the goat pen. The sled got going too fast and hit him in the back of the legs a few times. Sputnik didn't seem to care though. He kept right on going to the goat pen gate where he slowed down so I could help navigate the sled through the narrow entrance. He pulled right up to the water tub and stopped on "whoa", then he waited there like a statue for five minutes while I cleaned and emptied the tub and poured in the fresh water. The reins were on the ground while I worked and I never once had to touch them nor verbally remind him to stay put. He knew his job.
The way back, on the other hand, was more of a fiasco. The sled, being empty, was ridiculously lightweight and the empty water jugs were sliding all over the place and bouncing out of the shallow sled. I decided it would be easier if I sat in the sled on the way back to the house and held the water jugs between my legs. Sputnik, however, did not want to wait while I went through the tricky business of getting settled. He would start to walk off or else turn around to see what I was doing, but every time he moved the lightweight sled went slithering this way and that all over the icy snow. Then I would have to straighten it out, get Sputnik's legs back inside the traces he'd stepped over, untangle the reins, and begin again. It was pretty hilarious and it took about three attempts before I finally had myself seated in the sled. As soon as I gave the word, Sputnik trotted eagerly toward the house. The water containers, the sled, and me all arrived at the house in good order despite the fact that my final "untanglement" had resulted in the reins being wrapped uselessly around the traces. But once I was seated in the sled with the water jugs in place I didn't feel like hopping out and rearranging yet again. Sputnik knew where to go and he's quite good with voice commands. He's smart too. Instead of making a beeline for the house, he skirted the edge of the driveway as far as he could so as to avoid pulling the sled across the gravel. He could have just stopped at the driveway and had me get out and lead him across, but I'm pretty sure he wanted to pull me as far as he could. Sputnik sure loves having an important job to do! His head was up and that chest was puffed out as far as it would go. Let's just hope his excessive energy and eagerness stay concentrated on the jobs we give him and don't get channeled into challenging people or hurting other goats. He's a live wire lately.