TRAINING FOR GOAT SHOWMANSHIP
Part 2 – Tips & Techniques for Setting up Goats & Comparing Body Positions
STEP ONE:
Comparisons of Body Positions
It’s important to develop you eye for seeing what an ideal body position is. Your goat should be square and even like Goat A. But, a class can prove to be very distracting to you and your goat. Time and experience will help you overcome your training deficiencies, your nervousness of the show, moving your goat in the class, watching for the judge’s directions and your fellow showmen in front and back of you and a host of other things. But time spent at home working on showmanship will pay off in the arena.
Goat A is Ideal. He is,
- Setup square in the legs.
- Long, flat backed.
- Up in the chest & neck with the front legs are under the shoulder naturally.
- The hind legs are stretched out but not so much to create a dip in the back.
- Braced (driving forward into the handler’s leg).
Goat B is fussing and not cooperating,
- The hind legs are too far under the goat and uneven.
- The back is hunched up and the shoulders are dipped
- The chest is pulling down because of the hind end position.
- The goat is pulling back out of the showman’s hand.
- The showman can either push back on the goat to get the back legs to square up and then lift the front end and reset the front. This helps to stretch the back.
Goat C is behaving, but the showman needs to make leg adjustments,
- The hind legs are positions back to show off the leg and butt muscling.
- The front legs are too far forward and are causing the shoulders to push up. See the bump in the neck top? A quick fix would be to quickly lift up the front end and set down. The goats’ legs will be lined up with the shoulders.
Goat D is also behaving but,
- The hind legs are positions back to show off the leg and butt muscling.
- The front legs are too close together. The need to be set square under the shoulders. A quick fix would be to quickly lift up the front end and set down. The goats’ legs will be lined up with the shoulders.
STEP TWO:
Adjusting Legs
A. Front Arm Elbow Position: This showman demonstrates the front arm position while reaching to correct a hind leg. The front elbow needs to be up and level to maintain the stop for your goat. If your elbow drops, the head drops and the goat moves forward.
B. Front End Pickup Adjustment: To quickly set the hind legs lift the front end and gently drive the goat backwards. Once the back legs are square, set the front down. When the goat is lifted, the front legs hang in their natural position directly under the shoulders.
C. Leg Pickup Adjustment: This showman is setting one back leg by firmly grabbing the hock part of the leg, quietly pick up and set in the desired position. Note: Grabbing in this area prevents the goat from kicking. The best place to practice this is on the grooming stand because it holds the goat in place and lets you focus on picking up and resetting the foot position over and over again. After a while, your goat will let you place their feet anywhere you want.
D. Leg Pickup Adjustment: This showman is grabbing the leg in a way that may cause the goat to kick. Grab higher up on the leg like example C.
Adjusting Legs for Young or Little Showmen can be a trick with large goats! This showman has spent many hours working with his breeding doe and she is happy to stay in place while he stretches to adjust her hind leg! What an effort! Parents and leaders: you may need to work with your little showmen to make sure they master control over their goat. This is also where I call on my seasoned showmen to work with the novice and intermediate kids. The kids love working with the big kids and it helps to create teamwork and friendships that lasts beyond the show ring.
SUMMARY
All of these training suggestions are to help you develop the skill and ability to have a goat that will:
- Walk into the ring at a natural pace
- Setup easily and stay in that position as long as the showman wishes. A judge wants to see a show pair (showman & goat) who can easily move and setup their goat for their evaluation. If your goat is bouncing around and won’t stand still, how can the judge effectively evaluate your goat?
- Good Eye Contact – Between moving and setting up your goat, you need to watch the judge. If you are so busy looking down trying to setup your goat, you may miss the judges signal to move into class placings.
- Refer to Training Goats – Part 1 to refresh the early tips.
- Read Training Goats – Part 3 -To learn more tips
Thank you Hummel Livestock for the use of your beautiful goat pictures!
