And one thing I can't figure out is how the tongue should attach to a two wheeled cart.
I'm assuming it should be solid without hinges for up/down movement but should there be a swivel to allow for legt/right bend where the tongue attaches to the cart?
Two wheeled carts are not usually pulled by a team with the exception of chariots. If you look at a chariot harness you'll notice it has a very thick, padded collar so the weight of the tongue can rest on the horses' necks. With a single hitch, the weight of the shafts rests on the saddle. I have never driven a team of goats with a two-wheeled cart. I think it might be a bit unwieldy.
You're much better off learning to drive just one and then branching out to two once you're familiar with the harness, handling your reins and whip, timing your rein/whip/voice commands, etc. It's a lot of fun and I do recommend getting a helper for the early training stages. Take your goat a quiet place somewhere besides home so he can concentrate only on you and not on trying to get back to his buddies. Bring plenty of cookies, and have your helper walk behind you and the cart. If your goat gets nervous and stops, tap him with the whip and tell him to "Walk on!" but if he won't do it after a 2-3 tries, have your helper go in front. They shouldn't touch the reins or try to lead your goat in any way, but sometimes having that familiar person go ahead will give your goat the courage to move on. Once the spook is past, have your helper drop back again. Goats love to follow, so teaching them to walk in front is the trickiest part of teaching them to drive. That's one area (the only area actually) where driving two goats is easier than one. They tend to give each other a bit of courage. However, since everything else is a lot harder with team driving, I really don't recommend starting out that way until you are an experienced driver and trainer.
The length of the whip depends on how far you are behind your goat when sitting up properly in your cart. We have different whips for driving our sit-down carts vs. our chariots, vs. our wagons. Use a willow stick to get the right length. The tip of the whip should reach right about to the hip strap on your goat's harness when you're holding it normally with your reins. You shouldn't have to lean forward to tap him, but it also shouldn't reach up to his back since most of the time you want to tap him on the hip strap (he can feel and hear it strike the strap but it won't sting), or on his rump behind the hip strap for those times he needs a stronger signal. Make sure to check out the driving articles on my website! The first two articles and the first diagram are for hitching and training a goat to drive single. https://www.goatorama.com/articles/
(08-05-2021, 03:33 PM)Nanno Wrote: Oh, after mentioning the willow switch I should have said find an equestrian dressage whip to match the length.
I just got my harness and it's a little overwhelming how many straps I'm dealing with!
I know I didn't do it perfectly but below is a picture of my first run. Included below a list of things that I need to improve on.
What else am I missing?
1) Chest strap is too high
2) I still haven't attached a footman loop to the shafts
3) The traces don't have a clip on them to attach to the shuffle tree so I just tied them
4) Shafts stick out too far in front
5) whiffletree too close to goats legs
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