Chat
07-02-2016, 07:58 AM
The music is a slow marching tune called "Miss Wedderburn" played by the Melbourne Scottish Fiddle Club. Phil can play it, but it's not him in the video. 
We took the boys for a short drive last night after the other goats were put to bed. We drove them from home, so it was significantly more difficult than previous drives. As I told Phil, leaving home and coming back to it calmly are the most difficult things to train a working animal to do. The boys were quite good, considering. Sputnik cried a lot at first but he settled down once we got on the road.
The boys were well-behaved about leaving home, but as soon as we turned to go back they put their heads down and took off like racehorses. I was at the reins and I had to have Phil snap the leash on Finn's halter to help me keep him in check at first. Phil was able to let us loose after a bit, and then I let the boys trot. They thought they were trotting home. Instead I made them trot right on past the driveway. It caught them by surprise when I pulled the right rein and made them keep trotting and they were a bit dismayed to see the driveway flashing by on our left, but it was their idea to go fast so I kept them going. They started slowing down a couple hundred feet past the driveway and seemed confused about what had just happened. I made them walk on until I was satisfied and then we turned back. That time they were not so keen to race home and kept things at a brisk walk and didn't try to yank my arms out. I made them pass the driveway once more on the way back and then I got out.
At the driveway's entrance they got quite keen to run again, so I handed the reins over to Phil who got in the wagon and drove them home. It's a long, somewhat steep (for pulling) driveway, and we have really big, bumpy gravel on it right now to combat our clay problem. So the drive home was rather more strenuous than the boys expected and their grand ideas of disobeying the reins and hightailing it home were quickly put to rest. They ended up being very obedient all the way up the drive. Finn stopped trying to bolt ahead, Sputnik quit plowing his head down to avoid the reins, and everyone got cookies for good behavior (and Sputnik did not sulkily refuse them, so he couldn't have been too unhappy).
We took the boys for a short drive last night after the other goats were put to bed. We drove them from home, so it was significantly more difficult than previous drives. As I told Phil, leaving home and coming back to it calmly are the most difficult things to train a working animal to do. The boys were quite good, considering. Sputnik cried a lot at first but he settled down once we got on the road.
The boys were well-behaved about leaving home, but as soon as we turned to go back they put their heads down and took off like racehorses. I was at the reins and I had to have Phil snap the leash on Finn's halter to help me keep him in check at first. Phil was able to let us loose after a bit, and then I let the boys trot. They thought they were trotting home. Instead I made them trot right on past the driveway. It caught them by surprise when I pulled the right rein and made them keep trotting and they were a bit dismayed to see the driveway flashing by on our left, but it was their idea to go fast so I kept them going. They started slowing down a couple hundred feet past the driveway and seemed confused about what had just happened. I made them walk on until I was satisfied and then we turned back. That time they were not so keen to race home and kept things at a brisk walk and didn't try to yank my arms out. I made them pass the driveway once more on the way back and then I got out.
At the driveway's entrance they got quite keen to run again, so I handed the reins over to Phil who got in the wagon and drove them home. It's a long, somewhat steep (for pulling) driveway, and we have really big, bumpy gravel on it right now to combat our clay problem. So the drive home was rather more strenuous than the boys expected and their grand ideas of disobeying the reins and hightailing it home were quickly put to rest. They ended up being very obedient all the way up the drive. Finn stopped trying to bolt ahead, Sputnik quit plowing his head down to avoid the reins, and everyone got cookies for good behavior (and Sputnik did not sulkily refuse them, so he couldn't have been too unhappy).