Chat
01-18-2018, 09:59 PM
I took Sputnik for a drive around the golf course today. He was very excited to get going and wanted to trot the whole way, but I had our young friend Geronimo with us, so I had to keep Sputnik mostly at a walk. Sputnik's bridle was in the bag with his other harness (which is currently set up for teams), so I drove him in a halter. I also forgot my whip. But Sputnik is so good with voice commands that I really didn't need it. Geronimo had a lesson in leading. I tied him to the back of the cart and he came along very nicely. He hit his pack on the wheel of the cart a few times at the beginning and spooked himself (and the noise spooked Sputnik too), but he soon learned to avoid the wheel. He learned about traffic a little today too. It was a good training session for Geronimo.
Canon National Bank sits at the edge of the golf course and I had to deposit a check today, so what better way to get to the bank than by goat cart? Unfortunately, they don't have a hitching post or a parking spot for goats. Shame on them! So I tied Sputnik to a lamp post out front. He was very patient while I went in. Someone in a pickup truck pulled into the bank parking lot and sat there for a while just to stare at the goats tied out front.
We were almost back to the truck when we encountered some potholes in the road. I attempted to steer Sputnik around them, but he had his eye on his ride home and unexpectedly threw a fit about turning off of the direct route. He'd been so good for the whole drive that I was caught completely off guard by this sudden rebellion. I decided he needed a lesson in obedience and spent some time doing figure-eights in the road. I had to get out of the cart and lead him a few times when he adamantly refused to turn back the way we'd come, but eventually he saw things my way and complied (grudgingly). My way involved cookies, so it wasn't TOO bad. He thought that since I had no whip and he was only wearing a halter that he could maybe get away with disobedience this one time. Hopefully he learned his lesson. Aside from the one hiccup at the end, his behavior was stellar and he seemed to enjoy himself for most of the drive.
Canon National Bank sits at the edge of the golf course and I had to deposit a check today, so what better way to get to the bank than by goat cart? Unfortunately, they don't have a hitching post or a parking spot for goats. Shame on them! So I tied Sputnik to a lamp post out front. He was very patient while I went in. Someone in a pickup truck pulled into the bank parking lot and sat there for a while just to stare at the goats tied out front.
We were almost back to the truck when we encountered some potholes in the road. I attempted to steer Sputnik around them, but he had his eye on his ride home and unexpectedly threw a fit about turning off of the direct route. He'd been so good for the whole drive that I was caught completely off guard by this sudden rebellion. I decided he needed a lesson in obedience and spent some time doing figure-eights in the road. I had to get out of the cart and lead him a few times when he adamantly refused to turn back the way we'd come, but eventually he saw things my way and complied (grudgingly). My way involved cookies, so it wasn't TOO bad. He thought that since I had no whip and he was only wearing a halter that he could maybe get away with disobedience this one time. Hopefully he learned his lesson. Aside from the one hiccup at the end, his behavior was stellar and he seemed to enjoy himself for most of the drive.