NAPgA Rendezvous 2016

[Nanno]

I forgot to post this to the forums last week, but all the information for the upcoming NAPgA Rendezvous near Ukiah, OR is here: 
http://www.napga.org/2016/06/07/napga-re...-ukiah-or/

[Nanno]

Come on guys, I need to hear all about the Rendezvous!!!!!

[nebs]

I know! I thought there would be pics and stories by now.

[Charlie Horse]

You didn't hear the news? Turns out goats don't actually have such great balance after all and everybody fell off a cliff. It doesn't bode well for pack goat publicity.

[Taffy]

Sorry for the delay in my report. I didn't take a single photo but folks have been posting photos and even a drone video on the NAPgA Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/groups/711939102246721/

The packgoat rendezvous was awesome! There were folks attending from Arizona, California, Idaho, Kansas, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming! (I think I got all of the states.) Curtis did an outstanding job arranging everything and lining up speakers! I can’t thank he and his fiancé, Lori, enough for all of the work they did before, during and after the Rendy to make it such a fabulous event. The Twin Ponds location was perfect. Tall pines, open meadows and two ponds.

I arrived Thursday afternoon. I brought Bourbon, my 2 year old LaMancha, and Morgan, my yearling seasoned traveler. Morgan went on the trip to the San Rafael Swell and Goblin Valley in Utah last fall. He was small enough to fit in a crate and a friend for Pac-Man who we were bringing back to Washington after the trip.

Once parked, with the help of Clay Zimmerman and Jon Clough directing me as I backed into my camping spot, the goats were unloaded and I set up camp. Jon and Nancy Clough were on one side of me and Eldon & Debbi Otta came in on Friday and camped on the other side of me. I sold my 4 year old Alpine, Dude, to Nancy & Jon a few weeks ago. It was great to see him. He’s already been to Montana on a pack trip and will be going to the Sawtooth Mtns in July. They’re very happy with him and it makes me feel good to know he has such a wonderful home. He’s been re-named Dodge because their goat, Cruiser, is nicknamed Cruiser-do or just Do. Poor Dodge was a little confused about being in with Cruiser and Blaze and not being with me. He’d head straight for my trailer each time Nancy let him out of the enclosure! It was especially hard on him when I’d yell, “Come goat!” to Bourbon and Morgan. He’d call to me saying, “I’m here but I can’t get out of the electric fence pen!” I made sure to treat him to peanuts a number of times.

Friday morning after breakfast everyone went in different directions to do service projects. The service projects were a hit with the Forest Service folks. I heard they asked a lot of questions about the goats and that they were impressed with what the goats could carry and how well trained they were. I also heard 2 miles of trail was cleared and one of the trails worked on is a wheelchair accessible trail. The area around the Twin Ponds was cleaned up by those who stayed in camp. It's always amazing to see how much trash is left behind by others.

Friday night we had a potluck dinner. Curtis announced a few times at each meal that if we left hungry it was our own fault. There was a plethora of delicious foods at every potluck meal!

After dinner on Friday two Forest Service men gave a brief talk then an area historian spoke about the area. It was interesting hearing the history of the area from how it was first settled to present day.

Saturday was filled with classes, goat weighing and measuring, bonded goat race, and more. Mark Warnke gave an excellent talk on hunting, gear and conditioning himself and the goats. Clay Zimmerman of High Unita Pack Goats was a walking encyclopedia! I learned a huge amount of information from his presentation! Irene Saphra gave a presentation on dehydrating food. Maggie was taking samples for the MOVI study. Curtis brought a grooming stand and a lot of goats had their feet trimmed while their owners and others learned how to trim hooves. So much was going on I hope I remembered everything!

I took the electronic bale scale we use to weigh bales as they come out of the baler so we could weigh everyone’s goats. I brought my measuring stick and Debbi Otta measured their heights after I weighed them. There was a “Guess the Goat’s Weight” contest. Everyone had to tell me what they thought their goat weighed before they got on the scale. Some folks were way off. Mark Warnke was within 2 pounds on all 13 of his goats! He won the contest and a bag of the goat treats Irene Saphra donated to the Country Store.

For the “Bonded Goat” contest handlers lined up holding the goats and owners lined up across the field from them. Curtis counted down from 5 to 1 and the goats were let loose. I thought for sure Nancy Clough’s yearling, Blaze, was going to win. When Jon released him he bolted toward Nancy. Boy, can he stretch out and run! Susan Conner’s huge goat, Dusty, came barreling up behind Blaze and Blaze veered off. It was Dusty by a nose! Well, maybe more than a nose! LOL. Bourbon came in 2nd. If he’d galloped instead of trotting fast he would have won!

Saturday evening Maggie Highland gave an update on the Movi. She hopes to publish her findings in November. This is such an important study!

The Rendy was a huge success! I met a lot of new folks and enjoyed seeing old friends. Leaving on Sunday was bittersweet. I’m already looking forward to next year’s Rendy.

I heard rumors they are considering holding the Rendy in Colorado next year…..

[Nanno]

Awesome update! I so, so wish we could have been there! I'd love it if the Rendy was close to us next year! I keep looking around for good places to have one.

[Taffy]

Awesome update! I so, so wish we could have been there! I'd love it if the Rendy was close to us next year! I keep looking around for good places to have one.

I'd love to have it in the area you guys hike every year.  The landscape is awesome and so different from what most of us ever see.  Might be too hit in June though.

[Taffy]

Here are the weight and height charts from the 2014 Rendy when I first recorded them and the 2016 Rendy.  I didn't attend the 2015 Rendy.  A few of the goats are listed on both.  There were a LOT more goats weighed and measured this year.  It will be interesting to track the progress of the goats as they age.

   

   

   

[Nanno]

The height/weight chart is really cool! I wish I'd taken down the numbers at the 2015 Rendy. We only measured weights last year.

I notice that Mark Warnke has some of the taller goats this year, but they are also much lighter weight than most of the others that are the same or shorter. I'm guessing that's the difference between a fit goat and a pasture potato. I also notice he has a full Nubian and two Alpine/Nubian crosses in his string.

Pac-Man appears to be in good shape. 202# is a good weight for him. I'm a little surprised he didn't grow taller this spring though. That's not much taller than he was when we sold him last fall. At that time he was looking like he was right on track to pass up Cuzco within a year. Of course, Cuzco is not as tall now as he used to be. Four years ago when I measured him for a small shed, he stood 38" high (he also was overweight and came in at 220# that summer!). Now I'm not sure he's much over 36" high now, and I'm guessing he weighs around 190# at the moment. He's feebler now than he's ever been in summertime, and this is the first summer we haven't taken him hiking or carting at all. He doesn't look like he much wants to. But he seems very content to putter around our pastures and lie snoozing in the sunshine, and he's in good flesh for his age.

[Dave-Trinity-Farms]

Thanks Taffy! Very interesting to see the growth. Hats off to Curtis. Putting 40 and 50 lbs on his boys in two years is impressive on nearly done growing boys.