# Halters for minis and baby goats



## Zarafia (Mar 25, 2012)

Back when I first got little five day old Pan I went right out to TSC and bought a medium sized goat halter. They didn't have any smalls in stock, so I ordered one and figured that surely Pan would grow to be a medium sized goat someday. At five days old the medium sized halter was almost as big as he was LOL.
A couple weeks later I got a call that my small goat halter had come in and I rushed right over and got it.
Long story short, Pan, now six months old is still too little for the small halter. I don't see him growing into it anytime soon.
Today I took that small halter in to Petco and compared it to some of the new "dog halters". I found one that was a little smaller than the goat halter, but had a similar design. So I bought it.
When I got home I tried it on Pan. It fits him WAY better than any goat halter I've seen and it's lighter weight too. It's called a "Halti" and it's a size 1. 
It's adjustable and I think it's going to make a nice halter for training Pan. He didn't like it at first, but I think that's because he isn't used to wearing something on his face and the few times I've put the old goat halter on him it was heavy and uncomfortable.
Tomorrow I'm going to spend some time making Pan wear the new halter and letting him get used to it.
Has anybody else ever tried this kind of halter on a small goat?


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

I haven't tried that one. I mainly use the dog collars. I do have small halters from my alpacas that fit the goats perfectly. You can find them here: http://www.camelidynamics.com/home/cam/smartlist_35/halters.html


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## Zarafia (Mar 25, 2012)

ksalvagno said:


> I haven't tried that one. I mainly use the dog collars. I do have small halters from my alpacas that fit the goats perfectly. You can find them here: http://www.camelidynamics.com/home/cam/smartlist_35/halters.html


Cool. I'd like to see a small one of those and see if it would fit Pan.
Tomorrow I'll get a pic of Pan wearing this new halter I got for him. I really like how lightweight it is.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

I used a halter once. Never again. She hated it with a burning and furious passion. :laugh:

I use dog collars.


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## Zarafia (Mar 25, 2012)

A girl who used to post here a lot (shame on me for not remembering her name!) got me interested in using halters. She had two saaen (sp) pack wethers who pulled carts for her and were very well trained. I admired her dedication to her goats and their training. Bless her heart, she was a teenage highschool girl and instead of hanging out at the mall with other teenagers she spent her time training and driving her goats.
I could kick myself for not remembering her name right now!


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## Zarafia (Mar 25, 2012)

Miranda! That's her name!
I can't remember her screenname here cause we lost our "friends" list with the changeover. But I'll message her on facebook and ask her how she's doing .


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

Yes, us farm girls are not the typical teenager, methinks.


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## Zarafia (Mar 25, 2012)

I messaged Miranda and asked her to stop by here. I explained the upgrade and told her that I, for one, missed her .


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

I've found collars work really well. But if you ever want to try...llama/alpaca halters do work well for many goats. :thumb: Just make sure not to leave them on...they'll rub and can restrict jaw movement.


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## Zarafia (Mar 25, 2012)

Yeah, the halter I got isn't meant to be left on. It's meant to be used for leading and training.
Pan (and my other two goats) live with "break away (plastic attachments)" dog collars. Pan and Sprite both got new ones today because they've outgrown their old ones.


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## Zarafia (Mar 25, 2012)

Miranda messaged me back on fb. She's been busy with college applications and such, but she thinks it's really sweet that we were talking about her and miss her. She'll poke her head in here soon .


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## naturalgoats (Jan 3, 2011)

So she will 
Looking at halti's I'd certainly think one would work. The only thing is that it looks like when you pull on the lead the nose band constricts... If that is the case... I dunno... I just wouldn't be as keen on it... I'm not sure it would make sense for the goat, if you are trying to get him to come towards you, if the nose band is tightening... Seems like it might be similar to asking him to come through a closing door...the more he won't the more closed the door is... if you see what I mean... If that isn't the case (like if you can make the nose band be a fixed size) then I think a halti is a great idea. Also if you are game I can hook you up with instructions on how to tie and adjust your own rope halter (my personal favorite) that will be the perfect size for Pan and (in my opinion) work really well.

Anyways thanks so much for getting me to come back! :hug:
Miranda


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## Zarafia (Mar 25, 2012)

naturalgoats said:


> So she will
> Looking at halti's I'd certainly think one would work. The only thing is that it looks like when you pull on the lead the nose band constricts... If that is the case... I dunno... I just wouldn't be as keen on it... I'm not sure it would make sense for the goat, if you are trying to get him to come towards you, if the nose band is tightening... Seems like it might be similar to asking him to come through a closing door...the more he won't the more closed the door is... if you see what I mean... If that isn't the case (like if you can make the nose band be a fixed size) then I think a halti is a great idea. Also if you are game I can hook you up with instructions on how to tie and adjust your own rope halter (my personal favorite) that will be the perfect size for Pan and (in my opinion) work really well.
> 
> Anyways thanks so much for getting me to come back! :hug:
> Miranda


Yeah, I thought about the constricting thing and I think I can make it so it doesn't constrict (like you said).
The Halti comes with a detatchable length of nylon with a clip on it. I'll be taking that off.
Miranda, I'd LOVE to see the instructions for the rope halter!
So glad you're back!


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## naturalgoats (Jan 3, 2011)

There is a document in here.
https://sites.google.com/site/2creeksgoats/testing 
and there is also this:
http://2creeksgoats.blogspot.com/2011/10/making-and-adjusting-halters.html
and this:
http://2creeksgoats.blogspot.com/2011/10/halters-and-fitting-them.html
have fun 
M.


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## Zarafia (Mar 25, 2012)

Thank you!


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

> Anyways thanks so much for getting me to come back! :hug:
> Miranda


So happy to see you here!!


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## Zarafia (Mar 25, 2012)

Here are a couple crappy cell pics of Pan wearing his Halti . I think I should adjust it to be a little smaller.
Plus, I noticed that there is a ring (the one that the bottom ring can pull through in order to tighten the halter) that can be used to clip a leash to and by using that ring there would be no constriction whatsoever.


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## Zarafia (Mar 25, 2012)

By adjusting the "headstall" shorter it will pull the halter up further on his face ( still without getting near his eyes) and it will make the noseband wide enough that the "pull ring" will be flush with the other ring I talked about. Then I could technically clip both rings to a leash and not have ant constriction at all.
I reallt love how lightweight this halter is. I'm definitely getting one for Summer and Sprite too .


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

The nose band needs to be higher on their nose. You need to make sure that it rests on the bone. otherwise it can cut off their air supply. If you go to the link that I supplied above, it shows correct halter fit on an alpaca/llama but the same would go for a goat.


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## Zarafia (Mar 25, 2012)

ksalvagno said:


> The nose band needs to be higher on their nose. You need to make sure that it rests on the bone. otherwise it can cut off their air supply. If you go to the link that I supplied above, it shows correct halter fit on an alpaca/llama but the same would go for a goat.


Yes, Karen, I know. The adjustments I talked about in my last post ought to bring the boseband up higher on the face.
I just put the halter on Pan for a minute to get the pics, to give you guys an idea of what it was. It's still raining outside so pan was in no mood to sit still so I could adjust the fit LOL.
I'll get better pics later.


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

I get mine at caprine spuuly.

They have the Extra small halters, they work on my Cashmere that are only about 6 months old, so they have them that small to Large.

They are GREAT.

http://www.caprinesupply.com/nylon-halter.html

Also, no i never ever leave them on the goats, they are only for walking and showing.

No they HATE them at first but they get use to them pretty fast.


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## Zarafia (Mar 25, 2012)

Heres a couple pics od the halter adjusted to fit better.


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

It should he at the top of his head behind his ears, he will like it a lot better there


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## Zarafia (Mar 25, 2012)

sweetgoats said:


> It should he at the top of his head behind his ears, he will like it a lot better there


Thanks! Will do .


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## craftEcowgirl (Oct 4, 2013)

So, I should be able to use halter on young goats? What about ages 2-3 months old?


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

I put my babies in halters. I shoe when at two months in a halter but that is Cashmere. Not all breeds show in halters.


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