07-09-2016, 02:40 PM
Dave, I finally caught up with this thread. How cool that your goats will be a part of the foundation herd for this big dairy! I hope they are successful.
Hihobaron, Cuzco used to come with me when I rode horseback all the time. No matter how far or how fast we went, he kept up with us. Trailing horses kept him in excellent shape in his younger years and I think that fitness prepared him for better-than-average soundness through his twilight years. However, I never put a pack on him when he came with horses. He rarely had trouble keeping up the pace, but I think with a pack it would have been too much for him and he would have become quite discouraged and the horse would have been frustrated to have to keep waiting for him to catch up. He would have needed a lot of breaks. I say let the horse carry your gear and just bring the goats along so they can get a good workout. It will put them in excellent shape to carry a good big load as fast and as far as you like when you're on foot.
Hihobaron, Cuzco used to come with me when I rode horseback all the time. No matter how far or how fast we went, he kept up with us. Trailing horses kept him in excellent shape in his younger years and I think that fitness prepared him for better-than-average soundness through his twilight years. However, I never put a pack on him when he came with horses. He rarely had trouble keeping up the pace, but I think with a pack it would have been too much for him and he would have become quite discouraged and the horse would have been frustrated to have to keep waiting for him to catch up. He would have needed a lot of breaks. I say let the horse carry your gear and just bring the goats along so they can get a good workout. It will put them in excellent shape to carry a good big load as fast and as far as you like when you're on foot.