What did you do today?

[Dave-Trinity-Farms]

Ah yes showing dairy goats Sounds like you did great! I havent shown in about 5 years. Just got to tired of all the work to do so.

[DownUnder Gal]

Do you have any pics Nanno?

[Nanno]

No, no photos from the show except the ones I posted of the "chariot" race in my driving thread.

[Nanno]

Got back from another goat show last night. Had a good time. Nubbin won Grand Champion Recorded Grade both days, but unfortunately there weren't enough goats in the show to sanction. Pepi beat five goats in her age group but didn't take any championship ribbons. Pepi was as much a delight at this show as she was at the last one. This is going to be one fun goat for somebody! I taught her to shake hands and walk on her hind legs in ten minutes while we waited to enter the ring.

A fellow walking by (who had also seen me putting Petunia through her routine of tricks) said, "Boy, you must sure spend a lot of time working with them!" (And by his tone of voice he was also saying, "SOME people have waaaayyy too much time on their hands!")

He looked shocked and even a little skeptical when I answered, "Yeah, I've spent ten minutes! This is the first time I've ever worked with this goat."

I really don't think people appreciate how quickly goats learn, nor how teachable they are. Tigerlily made a lot of progress this weekend. She still won't stretch and level out her back no matter how I stroke, poke, tickle, or touch, but she no longer tries to run away or goes straight up in the air and leaps around on her hind legs. She sometimes roaches her back (the complete opposite of what I want!), and she might take a couple of steps out of place, but mostly she just stands there and looks at me like "What the heck are you doing??" She briefly stretched a couple of times in practice and got lots of rewards, but she didn't get good enough for me to try it in the ring. On the plus side, she also didn't kick or sit on any judges at this show so I can live with her not posing perfectly. She also stood still while being set up, which is more than can be said for Nubbin!

Nubbin was a hoot at this show. It's a good thing she wasn't being judged on decorum because she spent the whole time trying to attack one of the other goats in the lineup. On the first day she wanted to attack the goat behind her, so every time Phil went to set her up she would try to whirl around. Even when Phil got her to stand still she kept looking over her shoulder with her hackles all raised. So the next day I told Phil to try bringing Nubbin in last and see if that helped. It did not. She spent that class trying to reach ahead and bite the tail of the goat ahead of her. Once again, all the hackles were up and she simply refused to square up and stand still. Her eyes were wild and her neck was in that arched-up position more commonly seen on strutting, aggressive bucks. But it didn't stop her from winning, so I guess I can't complain too much.

Nubbin and Petunia are complete opposites at shows. Going to and from the show ring, Petunia acts like she has rocket boosters on her hooves and I have to keep her in an iron grip to avoid getting the collar yanked out of my hand. She will literally drag me down the barn aisle if I can't keep my feet, and she got away from me more than once at this show. Meanwhile, Nubbin almost makes you drag her from point A to point B. A person who has Petunia in one hand and Nubbin in the other feels like they're being drawn and quartered. In the ring, Petunia is a perfect lady. She struts and poses like a queen on parade. Nubbin, on the other hand, argues with her handler, refuses to stand square or stay still, and looks at the other goats with blood in her eyes. I'm pretty sure she thinks she's there for a cage fight. They're funny girls.

[Nanno]

And this morning we had our last MOVI test! And since we had a nasty wind storm last night, all the goats had ample amounts of crusty nose drippings for the vet to sample.

Cuzco's nose is still sore and is peeling pretty badly from his fire incident last week. But he cleaned up his breakfast this morning so there's clearly no permanent damage done.

[hihobaron]

Nanno and All
Glad you had a good Show.
I am sitting here with enough pain killer in me as well as Lidocain Patches on my right shoulder(Horse Meds)
I have a high pain threshold sort of like a goat that way.
The bad part is I don't know what I did to get into this kind of pain.
Goats are not to blame, horses did nothing. Not even barn cleaning.
When I am sore I know why (It was something I did) fine.
---------------------------------
Glad Cuzco's  nose is healing well, I have had a few burns as a welder in my life, so I can understand the pain
I have Flash burned my eyes a couple times welding, it is not fun recovering from that.
Happy Trails
hihobaron and the Troops in SC

[Nanno]

I'm sorry you're having a hard time. I hope you're feeling better by now!

[Nanno]

I took Napoleon in to get banded today. I tried banding him myself on Tuesday, but the little guy is so well-endowed that I couldn't come close to getting my elastrator to fit. So I had to take him to the vet so they could use one of those ratchet banders. It wasn't easy and the poor little guy screamed a lot during the procedure, but I'd brought his mama with us and she was able to comfort him once we put him back in the truck. He got some banamine tonight and hopefully he won't feel too bad tomorrow. I really and truly HATE the barbaric parts of goat-rearing like disbudding, tattooing, and castrating. But they are a necessary evil, and at least they are usually over pretty quickly.

We also took Finn and Sputnik for a little hike today. They're such good boys. Finn is funny because he doesn't always want to load in the truck and will stand there looking into the bed with a sulky expression on his face. When he finally decides to jump, it's more of a slow-motion heave. He doesn't back up at all but slowly rocks back on his hind legs and sort of steps into the truck with almost no visible effort at all--just a look of annoyance on his face at the inconvenient nuisance of it all. Meanwhile, Sputnik seems very enthusiastic about jumping in the truck but has no self-confidence whatsoever. So he backs up, crouches down, bobs his head as he sizes up the height, then makes a running leap. Sometimes he makes a couple of false starts before he finally commits, but he always seems very eager. Once we get going down the trail, Finn really perks up, but even for the ride home he's not sure he wants to bother leaping into the truck. (However, I seriously doubt he would like the alternative of running behind it!) What Finn loves most is loafing around people and getting his face and ears scratched. He's a huge love-sponge!

I think Finn's sulkiness is largely due to the fact that he's recently gotten quite overweight. He got a decent amount of exercise this summer hiking and pulling the wagon, but it's obviously not enough to keep obesity at bay. His attitude and condition were better a couple of months ago when we were taking the boys out to pull the wagon almost every day. We've been busy doing other things lately and it shows in Finn's waistline! Sputnik is overweight too, but he has a naturally leaner build than Finn, and perhaps a higher metabolism. I haven't been trail riding much this summer, but hopefully this fall and winter I can get out there on my horses and bring the boys along so they can get in better shape.

[Taffy]

Poor Napoleon. I hope he's feeling better today. I hate the barbaric parts, too. Thankfully there's no long-lasting pain.

I think some goats are just naturally more agile than others. Although - I've seen Finn in some precarious locations!

It's hard to keep weight off goats when they have a home like yours with so much natural forage!

[Nanno]

It's hard to keep weight off goats when they have a home like yours with so much natural forage!

Tell me about it! Although, my in-milk girls have no problem staying trim despite the all-you-can-eat buffet!