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!

Next we played on the water trailer…

…And the bridge. Finn uses it as a stage to practice the fine art of looking noble. He watches Cuzco carefully for tips and tricks.

Oh no!! We had a tragedy on the bridge! Sputnik appears to have conked out mid-crossing!

Oh wait, he’s just acting like an idiot. Pac-Man says, “This is NOT my son!”

Our first “goat activity” of the day: We played on spools.

Movie magic: With a spool and the right camera angle, we can make everyone think Snickers is standing on Pac-Man and Sputnik!

Synchronized spool-top dancing.

Valentine’s Day was perfect this year. It was a warm, sunny, 65 degrees and Phil and I spent almost the whole day doing “goat” things. Cuzco looked very lordly in the late afternoon light.

Cuzco, king of the Goat-O-Rama herd, surveys his domain from the hilltop.