Chat
07-18-2018, 06:14 PM
Sputnik wasn't convinced that this jump was worth the effort.
I had to do a bit of encouragement from behind to get Sputnik to trot the cones for his enthusiastic young handler.
I love how the boy holding Sputnik's lead is almost through third pole and has no idea that his goat is still standing at the second one saying, "Do I really have to do this again?"
"Steer him straight!"
The little girl in pink "led" Finn around the course. He did a lovely, enthusiastic jump for her.
This was a funny obstacle--the kid had to straddle the barrel and wave the orange noise-maker with one hand while holding the goat's leash in the other. It makes a loud whistle when you spin it, so the idea was that the goat has to trust you and stand there while you wildly wave a loud, whistling object nearby. The goats were a bit befuddled, but not frightened.
Finn did great with the water crossing, the bridge, and the log. I love how his very young handler is so attentive. She was totally convinced that she had full control over Finn all by herself.
One of the funniest episodes during this event was when the little boy in the green shirt got to the end of the course. The final "obstacle" was they had to run up to a barrel and "ding" the service bell on top. He was so eager to ring the bell that he dropped the leash and left Sputnik standing by the final obstacle while he took off at top speed for that finish bell. I was standing right there and almost grabbed the leash but instead I decided to see what would happen if I didn't. (I was pretty sure I already knew, but I wanted the kids to see.)
I hollered, "Hey, who's holding the goat?"
The kids turned around and realized that Sputnik was loose and was already sauntering off to join the goats at the other end of the arena. All three kids turned and chased after Sputnik at top speed and top volume. Naturally Sputnik took off in a panicked run, kicking dirt up behind and gracefully clearing the jump which he had refused to leap over before. He stopped near Tigerlily, but when the kids kept coming he nearly took off again. I hollered at them to hold up and we had a little discussion about not dropping the leash when you need to hold onto your goat, not running after loose animals, and not screaming. I felt it was a pretty good object lesson, and hopefully it sticks because not all environments are safe like this one.
I had to do a bit of encouragement from behind to get Sputnik to trot the cones for his enthusiastic young handler.
I love how the boy holding Sputnik's lead is almost through third pole and has no idea that his goat is still standing at the second one saying, "Do I really have to do this again?"
"Steer him straight!"
The little girl in pink "led" Finn around the course. He did a lovely, enthusiastic jump for her.
This was a funny obstacle--the kid had to straddle the barrel and wave the orange noise-maker with one hand while holding the goat's leash in the other. It makes a loud whistle when you spin it, so the idea was that the goat has to trust you and stand there while you wildly wave a loud, whistling object nearby. The goats were a bit befuddled, but not frightened.
Finn did great with the water crossing, the bridge, and the log. I love how his very young handler is so attentive. She was totally convinced that she had full control over Finn all by herself.
One of the funniest episodes during this event was when the little boy in the green shirt got to the end of the course. The final "obstacle" was they had to run up to a barrel and "ding" the service bell on top. He was so eager to ring the bell that he dropped the leash and left Sputnik standing by the final obstacle while he took off at top speed for that finish bell. I was standing right there and almost grabbed the leash but instead I decided to see what would happen if I didn't. (I was pretty sure I already knew, but I wanted the kids to see.)
I hollered, "Hey, who's holding the goat?"
The kids turned around and realized that Sputnik was loose and was already sauntering off to join the goats at the other end of the arena. All three kids turned and chased after Sputnik at top speed and top volume. Naturally Sputnik took off in a panicked run, kicking dirt up behind and gracefully clearing the jump which he had refused to leap over before. He stopped near Tigerlily, but when the kids kept coming he nearly took off again. I hollered at them to hold up and we had a little discussion about not dropping the leash when you need to hold onto your goat, not running after loose animals, and not screaming. I felt it was a pretty good object lesson, and hopefully it sticks because not all environments are safe like this one.