We took Pac-Man and Finn to the community Easter egg hunt this morning! This was Pac-Man’s first time pulling kids around in the cart. I drove him with the empty cart once in a while over the winter, and yesterday I hitched him up and practiced leading him with the empty cart, but today was the first time he really pulled a proper load for any length of time. I even drove him for a few minutes before the event started just to warm him up and to take a little edge off him.

I’ve gotten spoiled from years of working with Cuzco’s professional, all-business attitude and I’d forgotten how a young goat likes to squirm and walk off half-loaded. Pac-Man and I need to practice “Woah!” a little more so I don’t have to spend so much effort holding him in place. There were a few times when he wanted to walk off before we were ready, so I had to clamp down on the halter and force him to stand anyway, and that made him upset because he didn’t like his head to be held so tight, so then he fought back, forcing me to grip him even tighter. Still, he’s got the makings of a fine harness goat.

After an hour or so of hauling kids around he got tired enough to appreciate standing still while they got in and out. There’s nothing like a bit of exhaustion to teach patience! He never balked even once, and all things considered I’d much rather have a goat that likes to drag me around than one I have to drag around. We were a huge hit with kids and parents alike.

Phil also brought Finn down to the park so he could meet kids and get used to the crowd. This was Finn’s first event, and he lapped up the attention. We put mini tennis balls on his horns as a precaution. He hammed it up for the audience and enjoyed showing off his repertoire of tricks. Phil had the camera, and since he had his hands full with Finn he unfortunately wasn’t able to get any photos other than this one at the truck.

When we got home, we were greeted by a couple of the welfare class who are living the life o’ riley while everyone else works for their bread. They were luxuriating so hard they couldn’t even be bothered to get up and greet us when we pulled in.

Dug these out of the vault today. He looks so proud here!

What a handsome young fellow he was! Cuzco was about six months old in these photos and no matter how many we breed or acquire in the coming years, he will probably always be the most beautiful of all.

I don’t usually post horse pictures, but these were too pretty to pass up!

I thought I would ride my bay horse, Skokie, around the property to break some paths out to my goat pens. We started out good, but then my gray horse, Jet, bolted out the gate and started going berserk. Skokie behaved himself for a while, but I could tell he was bursting to go play with Jet, so I got down and let them run together outside the pasture. I didn’t manage to snap any jumping photos, but Jet was sailing over the four-foot banks that Phil pushed up along the edge of the driveway. They were both so beautiful!

We had a foot of snow last night on top of the foot we already had, and we plowed and shoveled it away just in time for it to start snowing again. I think we’re supposed to get another foot tonight. Whew!

Pac-Man helped me haul water out to the boys’ pen tonight. I loaded two buckets of hot water onto the sled and hitched Pac-Man to it. I steadied the buckets while Phil led the goat.

But before that, Pac-Man had a great time eating a pine tree…

… Until the pine tree dumped a load on his face!

Dang it!

Sputnik decided to get in on a little tree action too.

Finn tried to climb up and play “King of the Bank”, but ended up just breaking a path through instead. I guess it wasn’t all that packed.

Snickers likes snow days!

My horse trough is buried to the top…

…and our goat castle looks more like a Super Mario Bros. world with the way the snow has made mushrooms out of our spools.

I tried to get the boys to follow me out to the goat castle so we could knock the snow off. They got to the deep powder and this is as far as they ventured.

Jezebel and Delilah made it no further than the snowbank.

Pac-Man towers over Nubbin now. She was bigger than him this time last year, and they were such lovers back then. Pac-Man still likes Nubbin, but she got over him a long time ago.

“Gimme a kiss, baby!”

These two are buds.

I was going through some old photos and found this little gem…

“You did NOT push that shed over, did you Cuzco?”

“Who, me??”

Today is Phil’s birthday, and I got him a goat circus!

There are two jumps, a set of weave poles, hoops in two sizes, a metal washtub to be used as a pedestal, and a teeter-totter (not pictured). We cannot wait to set up the teeter-totter in the yard!

We’re dying to go out there and start playing, but because there’s a snowstorm outside today, we stayed in the living room and made do with training a couple of our stuffed goats. They’re very cooperative even if they’re not particularly talented.

I also bought a couple packages of brightly colored tennis balls to protect against accidental horn stabs while we’re training our little guys. Sometimes their enthusiasm outpaces their caution, and sometimes me and Phil’s does too. Best to play on the safe side with this rambunctious crowd!

And let’s not forget dear, sweet Nubbin. I dried her off a few weeks ago, and she should be about half-way through her pregnancy now. She’s due May 2nd.
Someone asked me last week how her tail got broken. Well, it never did (or else it came broken) because it’s had that kink in it ever since she was born. Her mother, Nibbles, had a kinked tail too, except that Nibbles’ tail was also crooked to the side. At least Nubbin’s tail is on straight!

Pac-Man sure turned into a handsome young man! I can’t wait to start putting him to the cart this spring once our driveway dries up!

There was a fight over a mostly empty bucket the other day…

Pac-Man won the battle, but I’m not sure he won the war. He became quite distressed when he could not get the bucket off his face, not to mention it embarrassed him in front of the other goats.

And we finish off with a nice photo of Lilly from earlier this month (since I didn’t get any of her yesterday).

Finn is trying to catch up to Pac-Man in size. He just had a major growth spurt, but I’m pretty sure Pac-Man is going to grow a lot this spring too. In fact, I would not be surprised if Pac-Man ended up being substantially bigger than Cuzco. But big as he is, he’s the gentlest, sweetest goat you could ever meet.

Petunia patiently chews her cud while she waits for just the right gust of wind to catch those ears and sail her off on an adventure.
I’ve been very happy with this little gal. She bounced back from the mastitis last summer and has stayed in milk ever since. She dipped down to only one quart/day during December and January, but since the weather has warmed up she’s started producing over 1 1/2 quarts and looks like she may go up to two. I feel like if I started milking twice/day she would rise to the occasion. The milk has stayed consistently sweet and creamy all this time, but it’s gotten better this last week as our grass has started coming in. Amazing what fresh greens will do!

“Smile, Delilah!”

These two are attached at the hip.

Phil and I went for a walk thinking that all the goats would come with us, but Cuzco ruined the plan when he growled at Phil and started body checking him. So I dusted off the old shock collar, which made Cuzco throw a giant pity party for himself. He went into a sulk and refused to come walking. The rest of the herd decided to stay with their pouting leader–all except Snickers and Sputnik. These two bravely struck out for adventure with Phil and I, but it was not without a great deal of weeping and gnashing of teeth. We never forced them to come, and I even told them to go back if they were going to complain the whole time, but they wouldn’t give up. I’m not sure if they were trying to get Phil and I to turn around and go back home, or if they were calling to the other goats in an attempt to get them to follow. Either way, the first half of that walk was extremely noisy. Thankfully they settled down after a while and it turned out quite pleasant (especially once we headed back toward home). Still, it was really good to get some one-on-one time with these two. They could use the practice.

“What up, dude?”
 He might look like a stoned beach bum in this picture, but Sputnik continues to amaze me with his intelligence. He’s learning to “heel” on our walks now. Most of my goats don’t have the attention span to heel for more than a few seconds without constant treat reinforcement. Sputnik will go for a minute or two between cookies and I’ve barely started working with him on this command!