What did you do today?

[Nanno]

Yeah, sounds like they do need a trim if walking short distances is making them pant. In your climate you could probably use an even shorter clipper guard, like 3/8" - 1/2". You want enough hair that the bugs won't bother them and to pad them a bit when you start using saddles. You also don't want to trim them so short their coats feel bristly. In summer around here I usually use a 1/2" guard, but I use 5/8" in the fall or if I trim as early as April (which I will likely do this year in preparation for the Weld County Goat Extravaganza). It's amazing what 1/8" more or less can do.

I generally hate clipping too. It's a messy, tedious task and we're all tired of it before it's done, but the results are worth it. It helps that Cuzco absolutely LOVES getting clipped. He's at the age, though, where I have to give him breaks from time to time because he can no longer stand still that long without his arthritis bothering him. This makes the process take even longer. If it weren't for that super-thick undercoat he grows the job would be a lot quicker. But the stuff is like dryer lint and the clippers have a hard time wallowing through it when I have to clip as early as April. Thankfully once he's clipped, the undercoat brushes out easily. It's the long, stiff guard hairs that trap it down where I can't brush it out.