# Does stringing your goats together actually work?



## Rex (Nov 30, 2008)

This forum is a great place to start sorting out fact from fiction. Some things that have been told and heard passed on for years don't seem to hold water in the real world. There are many but I thought I'd start with Stringing goats together on extended trips.

I'm curious how many real world goat packers have actually tied four or more goats together in a string and *successfully* covered any distance. I'm talking several miles, not a trip through the parking lot at the trail head. I've packed for a lot of years and have yet to completely master the art of stringing all the goats together for extended trips. I know all the theories, tricks and tips, many of which I learned the hard way. I learned early on that its all about getting them tied in the right order or you won't go 10 ft without a tangled knot of goats and lead ropes. Even then, it only seems best suited for short periods of time to get them safely through an area. Trying to go long distance has proven problematic because there is too much jockeying around, even among experienced goats. Add in trees and brush and you soon have a big tangled mess. If not caught in time, it quickly becomes a serious wreck.

I'd like to hear if anyone has done this successfully for an extended trip with four or more goats. Two wouldn't be much of an issue. Three would be a little tougher but four is where the rubber meets the road in the sense of stringing them together as a useful method of control for one person.

My best success has been with solid experienced goats in manageable numbers. (Four or less) Add in some young goats and you may as well stay home as try to string them together and think you are going to get anywhere.


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## sweetgoatmama (Dec 10, 2008)

My older goats can do it but I find it's way more trouble than it's worth and there's just no reason for it.

I teach them the skill but then never use it any more. I have done it for a day at a time just as an exercise mostly in aggravation and to see if it would work.

It's all about the pecking order.


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## Sbell (Dec 13, 2008)

The only time I have ever strung goats together is when I have one who is constantly lagging behind, then he gets tied to Zeke, my over zealous Ober.


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## sanhestar (Dec 10, 2008)

I only string them together when we have to walk along a street. And it's a mess every time.


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## Rex (Nov 30, 2008)

I suspect the problem comes from the way they travel naturally. As a comparison, when the neighborhood horses get loose they usually come trotting up the road in a line, one behind the other. My observation of goats is that they travel naturally in a bunch unless terrain dictates differently such as on a narrow trail. Which I might add is the best case scenario for stringing goats together. The worst case is a wide trail through flat brushy country. Or a wide flat road as Sabine mentioned.


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## Herb (Dec 12, 2008)

Sbell is spot on, line one up when there's a lesson to learn, and tie them to one big enough to teach to lesson.

Other than that, please document, for all our entertainment.


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## tiger408 (Jan 13, 2009)

Would be nice if you can string them together. I want to use mine as grocery getters when the weather is nice out. But we have to walk alongside the road to get to the store... so not sure how well that would work. I won't be trying it out until spring though.... way too cold for me out right now. If nothing else may just have to hitch em to a small cart. lol


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## sanhestar (Dec 10, 2008)

Hi,

two or three you can always walk on single lines (one per goat). The will line up next to you and next to each other rather than behind each other but with such a small group it's easier to sort the lines if needed.

If you have one that is inclined to stay behind the other goats most of the time you can string this one to one of the leading goats.


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## Hasligrove (Dec 10, 2008)

I used to string my boys together all the time...granted it was only two goats...we would walk along the road to get to the trail. They finally figured it out and it worked well but it was much easier when we got to the trail and let them free. 

If I were to attempt to tie more together....I would do it in pairs first until they got the hang of that and then add them together...and walk VERY fast on a skinny trail so they can't pass. It would be alot of time and effort for not much. Just let them be free! It works much better.


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## steve morgan (Dec 13, 2008)

I have tied 4 together without to much trouble. It was because of 2 that liked to lag behind and another time because they wanted to cut the switch backs on the trail. What I had to do was get them lined out and get going fast. I could'nt let then feed just move. Once we got going everything went pretty well. The leads weren't very long, maybe 4 to 5 feet. The goats had halters on and the leads were hooked to the packsaddle ahead of each goat. I had a lead hooked to the lead goat so that I could set the pace. If you stopped for a rest, things got messed up because they all wanted to eat something the other guy was having. The pecking order was a big deal so you have to that figured out first. Steve


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## Bob Jones (Aug 21, 2009)

OK. My attempt.

I used a drag line. Mikey had a saddle, Followed by Diego with a harness to pull the sled. The sled has knots on the runners so it always has drag. And Diego on a short lead to Mikey's saddle. Just collars.

The line to the sled is about fifteen feet.

I tie the leads for the smaller two to the drag line so they can slip up and down on the line.

It all works for a six mile hike on a wide trail. We bunch up when we stop for dogs, and accordion out when we start again.

This is only four goats though. 


To extrapolate. (If you dare) :lol: The dragline could be longer and it would be akin to low-lining the goats between the lead goat and the drag load.

It had the added advantage that the dogs which came up from behind would be bumped from behind by the sled, distracting them from the goats.


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