Cart Goats!

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I've been interested in training cart goats since I Joe took me to my first goat show. Putzed all over the internet and the cart goat sites for cart plans, how to train 'em etc. A little cart with a wether? A coach and four, six, eight! A big wheeled Budwiser wagon with sixteen?

Would love to hear from people who have cart goats and how you train them!

Dennis & Joe (more Dennis actually;-)

-- Dennis Enyart (westwoodcaprine@yahoo.com), April 21, 2002

Answers

well, gee, i really do need to say howdy to you guys more often , i too wanted a cart goat, so far we are still in "training" mode, i havent gotten any kind of professional type set up yet, just a harness i sewed up out of nylon webbing strapping (60 cents a yard) its just big enough to fit the one wethr, and right now he tromps around pulling one of those bike carts, you know the ones designed to go behind a bycycle , and hole 1-2 children..... hes still pretty preliminary, as soon as i walk away from his head he stops... but since hes only a year old, i expect it will be easier as time comes... i am planning, on (eventually), getting a goat or mini pony harness, and cart, most lilely at auction , since the net prices i have seen are a little too dear for me ....... :)

my girlfriend who was big into goats as a kid , said they had a four goat hitch , and all they had to do was train 2 goats, the front ones, the back ones just followed... :) makes sense the whole herd animal thing :)

-- Beth Van Stiphout , in ND (famvan@drtel.net), April 21, 2002.


We just wethered our lone buck kid because our boy child really wants to train a cart goat. That means that next year, husband ( who is already plenty busy doing MY bidding) will be helping son build a cart. But, like Beth, I'm not up for a few hundred bucks for harness and cart and and and. It'll be good for the guys to do it, something like the soapbox derby. Anyway, I have researched it, too, and just found many cut things that were too durn much money. Maybe next year we'll have another wether and can do a team in a couple more years...they can haul firewood! have a great day. Cara

-- Cara Dailey (daileyd@agalis.net), April 21, 2002.

I have a wether that I coaxed my husband into keeping by saying that I wanted to train him to pull a cart . Actually he was a bonus given to me so his twin sister would have a pal. He's the wether I've written about who is the ...ahem...herd "Queen"...

I really am more interested in making him a pack type goat as I love to go for walks (and he does too, mud-water and all!) up in the wooded hills all around my house ('sides,I look too big to be pulled by a goat anyway- I guess :o) Here is a website that I bookmarked on working wethers that you may enjoy...who knows maybe this family reads this forum! Go to: http://www.kickadeehill.com/wether.htm

RATS, I wish links were clickable here!!!

I was told just to work on a leash with the words "Stop" and "Go". I sometimes just walk next to him and say stop -just before I stop- and go- just before I resume moving. Sometimes I think he is working with me- sometimes not. Anyway, I'll keep reading this thread on cart and hpoefully pack goats too. I'd love to hear more/see photo's from y'all!

Wendy Hannum SE OHIO

-- Wendy Hannum (wubba@skywardinternet.com), April 21, 2002.


I see we have lots of interest! I like the idea of goats hauling firewood. Did anyone know the French built coaches out of paper mache? Actually paper and lacquor (sp)? Why not paper strips over a form using polyurethane? Hmmm? Light, strong, use a wood frame to attach axles. But have you looked at the price of coach wheels???? Anyone have Amish next door that could get 'em cheaper?

-- Dennis Enyart (westwoodcaprine@yahoo.com), April 21, 2002.

Just buy bicycle wheels for a mountain bike. I'm a bit sketchy on the paper and laquer idea....how's it take water? I like the bike trolley idea, too. Those can be had used....I have two monster sized wethers, but they are mismatched in heighth, and I presume to team them they would need to be similar like horses. I'll be watching your progress with interest! To be honest with myself I don't have the time to train my boys, so they just get to be sassy and happy.

-- Doreen (animalwaitress@yahoo.com), April 21, 2002.


Goat-Karting is great fun, but plan to spend a lot of time at it to get good results. My son was nine when he started to train his wether, took a year of training before he had a goat he could drive around the neighborhood selling goat milk soap and entering parades. Great promotion for 4H and goats.

Start when the kid is 2 or 3 months old and get it used to walking on a leash. Make sure he walks ahead of you and not behind or he'll always be a follower. Next get him used to a halter and leash. Add another leash so you have two reins and teach him left and right, pulling on the rein to turn his head. Slowly add the other parts of the harness as you practice with him. When all that is going well have someone pull the cart around behind him as you drive him in the harness. This gets him used to the sound which seems to bother them more than the weight of the kart. Proceed to the next step only when he is comfortable with the last. Just let him stand with the cart hooked up to the harness at first. Next let him pull it as you walk beside the cart. Finally, you can get in and go for a ride. If the goat panics and starts to run, NEVER jump out or stick your foot out to try to stop. Just gently pull the goat's head around to the side, being careful that you don't flip the cart.

Go slow in your training. A young goat will be stubborn but as they get older they are much more willing.

-- Kristine Taylor (kristylr@pacbell.net), April 22, 2002.


I live in the city so i cannot have goats, however i do have a dog. I want to start carting with him, but am having trouble finding good plans for a two wheeled sulky. i attempted to weld one, but after fashioning the traces out of poplar wood , i wasnt sure where they needed to be attached, or how the whole configuration should be balanced. i am assuming that there is some small goat cart that would be appropriate for my dog. please email me if you might have any suggestions for resources. i prefer to build my own. so plans would be fantastic! if you also know of any groups around richmond va who i might talk to , let me know!

best regards kate horne

-- kate horne (vorevox@hotmail.com), November 12, 2002.


The latest issue of the Dairy Goat Journal had plans and directions for making a goat cart. It looked pretty straightforward.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), November 16, 2002.

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