Chat
02-10-2018, 12:50 PM
Just had a chance to watch. Very cool! Looks like a great place to hike with goats. We'll have to come visit you sometime. 
As for Bacchus, does he throw a fit any other time you handle him or is it just the saddle? If it's just when you saddle then I suspect the saddle is not comfortable. It's worth looking into the fit. If you're not sure how to fit a saddle, try using a different saddle for several weeks and see if his behavior improves. Make sure it's not too far forward on his shoulders.
I tend to think you're going to have more-than-average problems with those aluminum saddles because the panels are not contoured or beveled and the front edges are square instead of rounded. Not many goats are shaped to be comfortable with that design. I believe Clay Zimmerman said he had a lot of saddle sores, achy backs, and sour attitudes in his string when he used that style of saddle. No amount of padding can make up for poor saddle design. If your goat already has a bad attitude about saddles to begin with, an uncomfortable one is only going to reinforce his avoidance issues and make him fight harder every time you saddle him.
As for Bacchus, does he throw a fit any other time you handle him or is it just the saddle? If it's just when you saddle then I suspect the saddle is not comfortable. It's worth looking into the fit. If you're not sure how to fit a saddle, try using a different saddle for several weeks and see if his behavior improves. Make sure it's not too far forward on his shoulders.
I tend to think you're going to have more-than-average problems with those aluminum saddles because the panels are not contoured or beveled and the front edges are square instead of rounded. Not many goats are shaped to be comfortable with that design. I believe Clay Zimmerman said he had a lot of saddle sores, achy backs, and sour attitudes in his string when he used that style of saddle. No amount of padding can make up for poor saddle design. If your goat already has a bad attitude about saddles to begin with, an uncomfortable one is only going to reinforce his avoidance issues and make him fight harder every time you saddle him.