Kinder goat harness

[ledel]

I wanted to get into goat carting my goats currently been bread with kinder goats what size of harness should I go with the Pygmy/Nigerian or regular and what age should I get them used to the harness also will they be to small for a regular sized cart

[Nanno]

If your goat is only just now bred, it's going to be some time (several years) before you can even begin harness training. I'm not sure what size harness you'd want. You may not be able to determine this until your goats are well grown to see if they take more after the mini size or the full size. You won't really need to do much to get them used to the harness. The hardest part will be waiting for them to mature enough to where they can start working.

As far as carts go, there isn't really a "regular size" since all goat carts are fairly irregularly sized. I saw a couple of people using a cart like this one at the Boulder County working goat cart class: http://www.activedogs.com/product/1687/k...AyfgWSwLfI

They were using the carts with sturdy little Kinder wethers. It was really cute, and the carts were just the right size for small to medium-sized goats. The third wheel kept the carts from putting weight on the goats' backs. They could only pull a single child in the cart, though, because these smaller goats are not strong enough to be pulling grown-ups around comfortably. If you have small goats you need to resign yourself to just having them pull a small cart or wagon without you in it. But it's still a lot of fun to lead a goat and wagon in a parade!

[deschutes dawn]

Nanno, do you have a preferred place to get your harness? I have a Nubian/boer cross doeling that I want to train for pulling. I won't be breeding her because of the type she is but she is such a sweetheart I need to find a job for her to justify keeping her! I have a cool book that has several different designs for building small carts for bikes, dogs, and ponies, all of which are adaptable for a goat. All I need is the harness.

[Nanno]

My current harness was purchased from Hoegger's about ten years ago. I'm looking into buying a new one sometime in beta-thane if I can find it. I'll post about it if I do.

Some folks make their own harnesses from nylon strapping. If you're handy with a sewing machine it shouldn't be too hard.

[deschutes dawn]

Thanks. I know a lady who will make custom biothane anything in whatever color you want. She goes to the endurance rides and takes orders for custom tack plus selling her own product. Just let me know if you are interested. I've thought about doing my own but I haven't seen one to design from. I'll keep checking sites to learn as much as possible.

[Nanno]

That does sound interesting! I could give your friend all the specs for a harness, but she would need to know enough about harnesses to understand all the parts and how they fit together. I was in contact with a lady who makes Miniature Horse harnesses and she was going to make one according to my specs for a goat. Her quote was very reasonable. But then she seemed to drop off the face of the earth two months ago and I got busy and forgot to follow up.

[deschutes dawn]

I'll try to contact a rider who might see her at the next ride. NW endurance season ends the first part of November so she would be available then for custom work.