# How to get your goat to brace/push??



## jcarr492

My girls are in to their 3rd year of raising boers for 4H and the county fair. One thing they haven't gotten the hang of is training their goats to brace or push for show. They get them to half way look decent standing...but since we have new kids...they would really like to know how to just START with them to teach them to do this. We've had them a week and the girls are just getting out there to be with them. They have collars on them and when they leash them up, of course, they dont want to walk, yet. What are the steps to working with them and how long should they work with them each day? What are good things to do with them to help build up muscle? I wish they knew more about them, but they've just gotten lucky in the ring at fair time. They placed 5th and 7th last year..but would really like to strive for grand or reserve!


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## RPC

I have been wondering the same thing. Bracing is new to our county fair and so I don't know how to teach the kids to do it. We have not started working with ours yet so I know it will be a chore.


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## Dani-1995

I start by pushing them backwards using my knee. Sometimes i push them into our chain link fence, or into a puddle of water. I know some people push them to the end of the fitting stand but just far enough to step off and then pull them forward before they're feet hit the ground. So far with 3 wethers that hasn't worked for me. I have more luck backing them into to things and bulling them around then anything. I'd try a couple different methods with them and see what works best. Just remember to reward them when they do a good job


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## RPC

So when you puck them into the wall you are hoping they will push back against your leg? What if they don't and just let you keep pushing? Dani I am not going to lie I was hoping you would comment.


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## jcarr492

how often should we be working with them? everyday I'm sure...but how many times a day? the kids have school during the week, but have evenings and weekends free till schools out. Also, how long should they work with them? 1/2 hour? hour? longer? they have two progress shows this summer...would be nice to not have to fight the goats in the ring. LOL getting a free treadmill tomorrow that we'll rig up to use to walk the goats on an incline later. Just want to get this training started early instead of half way to fair time.


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## Dani-1995

Well Roger, I'm not going to lie, I know people who have way more expirience in this than I do but I'll tell you what I do and maybe it'll help you. I've been showing goats for three years and the last two bracing has become really popular in our area.

If they keep letting me push them I will pull them into my knee really hard and quick, then push them back again until they catch on. Mine will evetually get mad at me and start pushing, once they push for about 20 seconds I stop bracing and pet them, then brace again. It takes a few days of work to get them to brace good. I normally work mine for 10 mins at a time. It also helps if you can get them tired before hand so they won't try you as much. 

Be ready for them to jump up and throw a fit because they will more than likely get mad. Just keep pushing them down and try again. Its all in practicing with them. Another thing I've done this year is not use a collar to brace until they're doing good. I have a goat that likes to jump and act a fool, so I just grabbed him like a lamb one day and it worked. I introduced the collar to him during bracing after he finally caught on. Preassure behind the ears and on the poll works too. 

Hopefully that helped you all a little bit. Everytime I work with my goats I find something new that works... they can be tricky creatures for sure.


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## goatgirlzCA

We have found that some wethers will put their legs back and brace, and others squat and practically sit down! 

Like Dani said, get their front end up and put your knee in their chest. If they don't "set" their legs, start slowly pushing/walking them backward. If they don't stop and put their legs back and push back, we back them into a fence, wall, etc. With the "squatters" we had, which were very hard to train - we would push them backwards off the hill on our driveway. When they felt the drop off, they would push back. Somebody told he too to dig a rectangle hole and fill it with water and back them into that. I never tried that though.


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## firelight27

I used to put my show lambs in the bed of my truck and push until they got to the edge. I would let one leg step right off the bed. I never had to pull them back up as they would never come close to falling. They just stuck one leg out there, felt air and scrambled for the truck bed again. Instant brace. Pretty soon they learned to brace against my knee every time I pushed back.


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## Dani-1995

Oops forgot about the squatters. I use my non bracing leg and tap there stomachs to get them to stand straight. Sometimes it helps to pull the heads up really high to straighten them out too. None of my personal wethers have ever been squatters but I have worked with a couple that were.


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## jcarr492

Okay, thanks for the tips! you said you work them about 10min a day starting. How many times a day though? Or do you do a morning, afternoon, evening schedule? And should we start them on this now or do you wait till their a certain age? These were born in January.


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## RPC

Wow awesome thread thanks everyone.


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## Dani-1995

Start them bracing as soon as you can. That way they learn that you or the kids are definatley stronger and won't put as much of a fight. It was very difficult to get my wether last year bracing at 6months old.... its soo much easier when they're young. I have a 2 and a half month old that already braces good.


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## Zarafia

What, exactly, is meant by the term "bracing"?


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## Dani-1995

Bracing is when the goat pushes on the exhibitors knee to make the top handle firmer as well as the muscles in the back leg pop out. It is done to make the animals muscle show more expression.


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## Zarafia

So does the handler drop to one knee? I'd love to teach Pan to do this.


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## Dani-1995

No, we stay standing, just use one knee to push the goat. I got pictures of mine bracing today for project books so I will post a few later as examples.


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## Dani-1995

Here are some pictures of two of my wether this year braced. The first one is Chip, a 4 1/2 month old, he's only been excersing for about a week. The second is a wether I just bought this past weekend at a jackpot show.... his name is Ryker, he's two 1/2 months old so verrryyyy green.


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## Zarafia

Ah, I see! THank you! (Your goats look great!)


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## HamiltonAcresBoers

We don't brace in JoCo Kansas, but i was trying to teach a young girl how to brace her sheep, and my three month old Boer wether, Prince, was a doll about it, and braced like an old pro!


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## Jessica84

I clicked on this to see what brace was as well. I was thinking as I was reading, and just an idea, what if you had a little treat in your left hand right out of reach, that might make him do the bracing. Idk, was just thinking.


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## HamiltonAcresBoers

Dani-1995 said:


> Here are some pictures of two of my wether this year braced. The first one is Chip, a 4 1/2 month old, he's only been excersing for about a week. The second is a wether I just bought this past weekend at a jackpot show.... his name is Ryker, he's two 1/2 months old so verrryyyy green.


I *Adore* that second wether!!!! Look at that muscle! hlala:


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## Dani-1995

I've tried using treats for bracing but they always try to just walk around me but it might work for someone else. 

HamiltonAcresBoers, thank you! Were pretty happy with him


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## Jessica84

Lol well i was thinking


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## chloes

I don't know if any one else has these problems with their wethers, but my wether I can get to brace but after about five seconds, he relaxes. The other problem is he is still very small so when I push against him, I am not pushing in the right place. Your supposed to put your nee into his brisket or chest, right? Well he is so small that I find myself pushing against his neck. This makes it so he can't really breath which makes him not want to brace or push very well. Is there any way to fix that?


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## HoosierShadow

UGH. Bracing. My kids don't like to brace, but here in our state 'if you don't brace, you don't place.'

My oldest daughter's biggest problem last year was 1. When bracing she'd let the goats back raise up, and he'd put his back feet out far behind him.
2. She'd either brace okay, or she'd just not seem to put a lot of effort into making sure he stayed braced, especially when the judge is looking.



























Despite those issues, out of a dozen shows he never finished worse than 4th, and was Grand Champion 2x  But I'd love her to improve this year in her showmanship skills.

My son doesn't like to brace at all, IMO he could have done better with the wether last year, but I think he'll do better with his wether this year.
My youngest daughter just goes out there and does her thing lol
End of last summer she was really getting into learning how to brace. 


















This picture makes me laugh soooo much, she was so determined!! This was our state fair last year, she got picked as top two in a big novice showmanship class









I don't have any good pics of my son bracing, but I know he can definitely do better this year. He does very well in showmanship, just needs to be firmer in bracing wethers.

I think the biggest thing I am against on bracing is lifting the front legs of the animal off the ground, but in such a manner it looks like the animal is being hung by it's head which is in a firm hold. Sometimes it doesn't look to bad, but other times it just looks...bad. Some judges don't care for it and will call out on it before the show even starts, but many don't.

Maybe look up some videos on youtube, market wether shows and see if you can get some ideas on how to brace. That's what we'll be doing to refresh our memories. I also want to try recording my kids once they start bracing their goats, so I can show them how they look. I know my daughters biggest struggle is, what looks okay from where she is standing, doesn't look good from side or back view. So if the kids can see how their animals are setting up, they can compare to other videos from shows, and then try to find ways to improve


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## WalnutRidge

All shows around here are four on floor and no knee in the chest bracing took place for about three years before these rules, and they decided judges weren't getting what they thought at the butcher shop. We also have went to woolite or dawn dishsoap only for washing no spray or adhesives either, but if you have a hot strand of electric you can get a hard bracing goat in few tries, this is not for everyone I understand but it is used a lot we still teach bracing but we work them to learn that when you push back on the head it's go time, just slowly work at getting the knee out of the chest and 4 on the floor!


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