# A will to Pull!



## Devin (Feb 6, 2011)

Thinking about teaching my buckling (6 months) to pull or maybe drive. For the fist time I put an upside down horse halter on him today and he didn't care one little wit! So I walked around with him letting him go wherever he wanted to just putting a little bit of pressure on the halter. DID AWESOME! Had my 7 year lead him around and I put long lines on him and walked behind him putting about 5 pounds of pressure on the line. ZERO PROBLEMS, no fear! He has a natural will to pull! I think this is going to go great! Our "lesson" was only about 10-15 min all together, and then we let him go play. He did so awesome! I think he will be a natural at pulling! Plan to have him pull an empty foam sled this winter!!!


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## Paige (Oct 14, 2010)

:clap: Sounds like you are doing good! Get some pics of the little guy "working" for us!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

That is great...I like to see pics.... :thumb: :greengrin:


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## naturalgoats (Jan 3, 2011)

super cool!!!! photos please!!!


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## Devin (Feb 6, 2011)

I'll try to get photos next time! It was a ton of fun! He really needs the attention, he loves hanging out with us!

Naturalgoats . . . I just watched video of you with your saanans! SUPER KEWL! I use natural horsemanship training with my horses, never thought to really incorporate it with the goats, I will have to do that! PS: your saanans are GORGEOUS and look super sweet!


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## RMADairyGoats (Jun 20, 2011)

Pics please  I wish I could drive a goat. I don't think that would go over real well


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## DavyHollow (Jul 14, 2011)

I just had a funny image of like, 6 nigerian dwarfs pulling a cart twice their size. IT WAS HILARIOUS!! 

When I get a doeling out of Lissa, I'm going to train her to pull and maybe pack too. Maybe Lissa would be up to it too, but she's 3 years old. . . bit late to start.


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## Saanens N Alpines (Oct 20, 2010)

I have a sweet 5 month old wether that I want to teach to pull. I'd love some pointers. I do have a training halter and reigns or whatever you call them...lol! How old do that have to be to pull a cart and what is the best age to train them?


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## DavyHollow (Jul 14, 2011)

Early as possible, and they can pull whenever they are trained to, but in order to pull their full potential they should be full sized, which is usually reached at about 3 years old.


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## HRFOhio (Aug 27, 2011)

DavyHollow said:


> I just had a funny image of like, 6 nigerian dwarfs pulling a cart twice their size. IT WAS HILARIOUS!!
> 
> When I get a doeling out of Lissa, I'm going to train her to pull and maybe pack too. Maybe Lissa would be up to it too, but she's 3 years old. . . bit late to start.


Okay, what if you put a 12 hitch together as a Santa sleigh. That would be Sooooo cute for parades!

I'm thinking about Oberhaslis... wonder if I could get together a 12 hitch. I have old skis that I could use to put together a sleigh (actually, was going to put together a sleigh w/a 300 gal water tank to pull to do water over the winter...

(Santa did have 12 reindeer, didn't he?)


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## HRFOhio (Aug 27, 2011)

I was daydreaming about my "future farm" and when people might come to look at kids, etc. 

I want a pack goat to act as "waiter" and walk around with us with a cooler with drinks and snacks. I was thinking that I could make the harness black and a little bow-tie front to it. maybe even long black tails to go over his rump...


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## Devin (Feb 6, 2011)

Personally, for me, I won't have mine pull much of anything this year (he is 6 months) We've been teaching him to walk on leash and he is good at that so far (though he likes to pull my 7 year old around lol). I eventually want him to drive, so that is why I had my son lead him around while I put just a little pressure on him from behind. 

As long as he isn't being aweful because of rut and stuff I want to train him to pull a light foam sled on flat ground with just a horse halter as his harness. I don't plan to buy him a real harness until he is bigger and able to pull more. 

I plan to get serious with next fall/winter and maybe make a sled with a hitch to let the kids ride behind him. Then the next summer we can do something wheeled. he'll be 3 then. so, we are not in a hurry, we definately want him to be mature and not hurt him with too much too soon. 

Of course all of this will depend on his attitude as he grows up. His father and brother are pretty mild, so I hope he takes after them! I really want him to have something to do besides wait around for breeding season to have something to live for HA! :ROFL:

I might even teach or little ND wether to pull. We have some really small children that would get a kick out of it! LOL! He is TERRIBLE at leash walking though! Throws himself on the ground and squalls like we are killing him! :ROFL:


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

I shall see if I can refind the thread about this. If I forget, please do remind me!


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

Ah, there it is:

http://www.alternativ.nu/index.php?topic=14912.0

If you don't find the translation machine, at least have fun and joy from the pictures!

(I have the link somewhere, but someone is ba-ha-ha-ing at me, saying that I have forgotten something. Must go out and mend it.)


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## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

That is really neat! I would love to see something like that in person!


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## goatfarmergirl (Jul 3, 2011)

my 8 month old buck pulled me in a cart. but i didn't have a harness.


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## naturalgoats (Jan 3, 2011)

Devin: Thanks! and I knew we had some sort of connection in the way we thought... there you go! 
Silly little ND 
HRFOhio: I made a double sled out of skis. It work well... except I wish it was a bit higher off the ground.......
M.


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## Devin (Feb 6, 2011)

So, what next? We are taking him on walks and he does great! He will be a bit stubbourn when he wants to eat but really he is very well behaved on walks. We even trot and he does good at that as well. He just LOVES to go out on walks!!! 

He doesn't care at all about wearing a harness (horse halter)

So what should I do with him now to further his training? Should I hook something up to him that is light weight?


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## naturalgoats (Jan 3, 2011)

I would maybe try hitching him to something small... or you could test your communication by seeing if he will do things like go backwards... and stand on things... and go sideways.... and jump something, and go under something .... and lie down..... and walk happily with the cart being pull by a human behind him, and have a tarp put over him... and pull a tarp... and if those aren't enough/the sort of answers you were wanting I'm sure I can come up with something else! The way I think of training is that you want it to be more of a language than a series of commands. so you want to just get more fluent by speaking the language a lot... and not just the same sentence over and over challenge yourself to communicat more and more complicated things. That way when you need to do a 3-point turn under a bridge with dogs barking around you you'll be set....
Sorry... I think by the end of the above I was sort of just burbling on... I plead exhaustion.

M.


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## Devin (Feb 6, 2011)

That is a good idea, communication cues would be a great place to go with him!


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

I think naturalgoats has lots of points there. Only one thought: My goats have all, with the exception of one very special one, been afraid of big things coming downwards from back. I have a theory that it is an instinct to avoid being eaten by a big eagle.


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## naturalgoats (Jan 3, 2011)

I definitely know what you mean trollmor! I'm not sure if you are referring to pulling things in general of specifically having tarps on them. The idea of doing what I suggested with them is that you get them used to/at least tolerant of those scary situations in a controlled environment and then when a sheet blows off the line onto them etc. they wont panic as much.

I've definitely seen that goats are much more comfortable carrying a saddle than pulling something. I suppose it is because a cart seems like it is chasing them and gives them less maneuverability...

M.


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## Devin (Feb 6, 2011)

Well today we actually went to training our goats. I bought animal crackers in town and they were a HUGE HIT! All the critters liked them! These are the first things I have ever given the goats where they all like the same thing!

I was going to train Pepper, my buckling to "go forward" on command and we started but he seemed really distracted today, hungry for green stuff I guess lol! So I let him eat after just a couple minutes and went and got Toby the ND wether who likes to squeeze between our legs and get out of the fence when we get the gate open. I decided that he needs to learn "come" on command because he likes to play chase games and can be hard to catch. So we spent 10-15 min teaching him come. He would just happen to "come" when called and we would reward him with an animal cracker. OH YEAH! LOL! He was catching on pretty well! He is no where near learned behavior yet but he did stop runnning away, a good start! 

Pepper was totally happy with just hanging out today, so we kept it that way and played with the dog after we put Toby away (who incidently FOLLOWED me back into the pen, YES!) 

the dog loves the animal crackers too, and even the horses were going bonkers for them! Heck even the chickens were liking them! LOL! 

My next step with Pepper is to teach him some directional cues, starting with "go forward". Basically I will try to train him much like my horses in their ground work training.


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## Devin (Feb 6, 2011)

I think I am either going to make or buy him a halter though. I don't like trying to teach him directional cues when he can pull against the collar.


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

Yes, naturalgoats, that i my impression, too. I believe it is because of the goats' flock structure: They shift places within the walking group all the time. I THINK it is to bewilder carnovics, and in my experience it works: I had goats and sheep in a wolf area. ALL the wooly sheep died and ALL the goats still lived when I urgently moved them to another place.

It is easier to shift place when carrying than when pulling. But any load will get stuck in their natural environment: rocks and forrests ...


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## naturalgoats (Jan 3, 2011)

Yes that is certainly a point.. but you can climb stairs with a saddle... can't with a cart...... Interesting thought on the predators

Devin: one thought.. I would suggest trying to use more body language than voice cues... I think it will make you more aware of any messages you are sending with you body and as you may have noticed goats aren't very vocal in the majority of their communications....

I'm not sure if you've seen my site but it gives a much better idea of my thoughts on training (if you are interested) https://sites.google.com/site/2creeksgoats/

and I think you should definitely get a halter... or there are instructions on tying a rope one on my website...
M.


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## Devin (Feb 6, 2011)

Thanks, yes, I always use body language, it just comes naturally to me since I do a lot of training with my horses. (Clinton Anderson/John Lyons type natural horse training) I also train my dogs to do commands with both voice and body language sperately. I like voice, just for myself really, it helps me be specific about what I really want. 
I'll look into your instructions for tying a rope halter, thanks!


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

Clicker training?

http://www.alternativ.nu/index.php?topic=113286.0;all

And perhaps this one, too:

http://www.alternativ.nu/index.php?topic=14912.0

And here something to help you read the treads, too:

http://translate.google.com/translate_t#

I look forward to learning more from your experiences!


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