Chat
07-03-2016, 02:13 PM
The parade is tomorrow morning. I'm about to go clip and bathe the goats and polish up the harnesses! We went out for one last practice today. The bits I ordered (3 1/2" mullen mouths) finally came in yesterday afternoon, and even though we're at the "11th hour" here, I decided we would give them a try this morning. I brought the halters with us in case the bits made the goats upset, but they went amazingly well! This was easily our best drive yet. Gone was the problem of halters sliding up, down, back, and forth on the noses. Since the halters can slide as much as two inches to one side or the other, they mess up the length of the stub lines and hurt communication. Finn discovered he couldn't lean on the bit when he felt fractious like he was accustomed to leaning on the halter, and that made a huge difference in his behavior. He quit putting his head over Sputnik and kept his eyes in front of him nearly the whole time. He acted like the bit was no bit deal and never once shook his head or tried to spit it out.
Sputnik was not so keen on the bit. He was pretty violent about having it put on (that was the worse part), and he spent a little time shaking his head at first, but once we got on the road he settled down. He shirked a little today and I think it was because he doesn't like coming up into the bit, but with gentle training he'll soon learn not to fear it. He also sulked the entire drive and wouldn't take a single cookie from me. He took one from Phil. (Yes, I was the one who put that horrid, nasty bit in his mouth!) He behaved very well, but he refused to be happy about it.
I love the difference these bits make to our driving. The mullen mouths, being a solid bar, provide quite a lot of stability and help keep the goats' heads facing in the exact position as the bit is being pulled. It's a very clear signal to them about what we want them to do, and this cuts down tremendously on both confusion and fractious behavior. We were able to keep a feather weight on the reins almost the whole drive. One problem we were having with the halters is that sometimes one of the goats would try to go sideways against the pressure, and since it took such a strong pull to align them again, the reins running through the terrets would often pull one or both saddles to the side. Phil and I were constantly having to straighten them. We didn't not have to straighten saddles even once today, and we didn't have one problem with the boys pulling against the pressure or going the wrong way. The halters, being able to slide around on their faces, too often made our signals inconsistent, and there's nothing like inconsistent signals to confuse an animal.
I also noticed that the goats pulled much straighter today. Until today they've had a tendency to lean toward each other and and walk too close to the pole. I think this goes back to the play in the halter messing up the adjustment of my stub lines. Also, it is difficult for them to "find the center" on a halter since once it slides to the side it won't slide back until it's pulled a different direction. With the bits it was easy for them to find the center, and thus they were able to pull better than ever before. So even though these bits are brand new, we're using them tomorrow!
Sputnik was not so keen on the bit. He was pretty violent about having it put on (that was the worse part), and he spent a little time shaking his head at first, but once we got on the road he settled down. He shirked a little today and I think it was because he doesn't like coming up into the bit, but with gentle training he'll soon learn not to fear it. He also sulked the entire drive and wouldn't take a single cookie from me. He took one from Phil. (Yes, I was the one who put that horrid, nasty bit in his mouth!) He behaved very well, but he refused to be happy about it.
I love the difference these bits make to our driving. The mullen mouths, being a solid bar, provide quite a lot of stability and help keep the goats' heads facing in the exact position as the bit is being pulled. It's a very clear signal to them about what we want them to do, and this cuts down tremendously on both confusion and fractious behavior. We were able to keep a feather weight on the reins almost the whole drive. One problem we were having with the halters is that sometimes one of the goats would try to go sideways against the pressure, and since it took such a strong pull to align them again, the reins running through the terrets would often pull one or both saddles to the side. Phil and I were constantly having to straighten them. We didn't not have to straighten saddles even once today, and we didn't have one problem with the boys pulling against the pressure or going the wrong way. The halters, being able to slide around on their faces, too often made our signals inconsistent, and there's nothing like inconsistent signals to confuse an animal.
I also noticed that the goats pulled much straighter today. Until today they've had a tendency to lean toward each other and and walk too close to the pole. I think this goes back to the play in the halter messing up the adjustment of my stub lines. Also, it is difficult for them to "find the center" on a halter since once it slides to the side it won't slide back until it's pulled a different direction. With the bits it was easy for them to find the center, and thus they were able to pull better than ever before. So even though these bits are brand new, we're using them tomorrow!