When we got to Nationals, we noticed a camera crew walking around taking video and doing interviews. They were wearing “Promote the Goat” t-shirts and passing out buttons. We found out they were doing a documentary on goats, so we cornered them and started talking about our dream: big, beautiful, colorful working goats. We told them about Cuzco: the $25 dairy herd cull that sparked a passion. They wanted to meet him. I told them that wethers are not allowed at Nationals but that maybe I could still bring him up when I came back later in the week if I kept him in the parking lot. So that’s what we did.

We had quite the set-up in our truck. I built a run-in shed that fit behind the cab for Cuzco to take shelter in. It actually worked really well! I also installed the igloo we’d gotten for Nibbles when we transported her up to the show because we would be coming home with both goats in the bed, and I wasn’t sure Cuzco would allow her to share his shelter. Then the cart was crammed in behind everything else.

We were quite the Beverly Hillbillies and got an awful lot of strange looks as we drove down the interstate. A few people even passed, slowed down, then passed again, some with cameras clicking on the second go-round.

Cuzco was surprisingly happy with the whole set-up. When we got to the show I put the igloo up top to give him more room. It was cooler out in the parking lot than it was in the show barns, and as this was the end of the week, the air was definitely fresher outdoors than in!

The camera crew came out later that day and did a lengthy interview with Cuzco. He strutted up and down the street with his cart, and each of them also took a ride. He also did his tricks (although not very well… he was pretty cranky about being hauled to a strange place on a hot day and forced to drag total strangers around a parking lot). But despite is lack of interest in doing tricks, Cuzco still posed for the camera with all his usual dignity. The documentary probably won’t be finished for another year, and who knows if Cuzco’s part will make the final cut, but if it does I’ll post a link. 

July was insane! It broke down into 1.) Getting ready for Nationals and cramming in Saddle Club and a horse show. 2.) Going to Nationals in Loveland and cramming in Saddle Club in Rye (these things are a good 3+ hours apart). 3.) Recovering from Nationals and catching up with more Saddle Club.

Because of the driving distance and the fact that I had to keep traveling back and forth, Nationals was an exhausting experience despite the fact that I only brought one goat. Actually, by the end we had two up there… more details on that later. It was a BLAST though! I think there were about 2,500 goats, which is more than I could possibly have imagined! This is a view of about half of one of the three big barns, plus they had three big tents set up outside for yet more goats. It was amazing!

The lighting wasn’t good, so I didn’t get very many photos. I didn’t even get a photo of my favorite goat at the whole show. She belonged to Olentangy Alpines from Tacoma, WA. I wanted her so badly I almost cried when we had to leave without her. But she was also the owner’s favorite and he wouldn’t part with her. She’s not in this photo, but this was her herd:

I probably made a nuisance of myself, hanging around their pen the way I did.

There were so many cute babies it was almost unbearable not to climb into their pens and cuddle with them. I especially loved this pile of Nubians:

I had a friend of mine show Nibbles since I’d never even watched a goat show and she knew what she was doing. Also, I didn’t have any white clothes and she did. I took a video but it didn’t come out very well, so not worth posting. Nibbles did not behave very well for my friend. She kept trying to turn and bash the goat behind her in line and then wouldn’t stand still. She didn’t place, but I had a lot of fun watching and I learned a lot. Nibbles also got a lot of compliments from people as we walked around the show grounds. She’s a very flashy little thing, even if she didn’t win any ribbons. My “favorite goat at the whole show” didn’t win any ribbons either, but her twin sister won 1st place. They were both in Nibbles’ class. Too bad the one that didn’t win is the one that both me and her owner are in love with. I hoped he would change his mind about selling after the results of the show, but there was no convincing him.

As Nibbles’ shaved show coat began to grow out she got this funny little whirligig on her head:

Nibbles is learning basic goat tricks!

She dances very well right now, walking forward, backward, and in circles on her hind legs. I wonder if I’m going to regret teaching her this next week when we go to Nationals. She’ll be the one goat who steals the show by strolling into the ring on her hind legs like a person.

And then she’ll probably offer to shake hands with the judge.

Also, it’s official: Cuzco actually likes Nibbles now and feels it’s his duty to protect her. When Phil and I took the goats for a walk the other day, Nibbles kept asserting herself by walking directly in front of Phil. So Phil would bump her with his foot every time she got in his way. After about three times, Cuzco noticed and got mad at Phil for pushing “his” kid around. As Phil’s foot bumped Nibbles’ side, Cuzco charged in, swinging his horn menacingly at Phil. Of course, we put a quick stop to that, but we were very happy to see that Cuzco is finally feeling a bit of paternal instinct toward Nibbles.

Phil and I were out last night and came home to this happy little scene:

I had put the goats in their pen before leaving, but forgot to lock the basement door, which they have access to. I know it was Cuzco who opened it but we saw no evidence that he came in. I think he knows his boundaries. The grain bin was knocked over but not much was taken. For Nibbles, exploring (and defiling) our house was a far more interesting prospect. There were goat pellets on every floor, basement to upstairs office. She also spent time dancing around on one of our end tables (all the remotes were on the floor) and left a present on the couch. For the record, it’s a lot more fun digging between the couch cushions for money than for goat pellets. Thankfully she did not figure out how to rifle the kitchen cabinets, and nothing in the office was destroyed (I’m sure the IRS would love to hear that “the goat ate our tax returns!”).

Not only do I need to be a lot more careful about that basement door (I’m lucky the goats did not gorge themselves on grain!), but I should probably change out the doorknobs. We have the handle kind and Cuzco knows how to open them with his head. A proper round knob would probably stump him even if I stupidly forgot to lock the deadbolt.

Cuzco has been missing his porch visits ever since we got Nibbles. She refuses to quit pooping when she’s up there, so we put a gate up; which isn’t quite fair to Cuzco who has very good potty manners. But sometimes we let Cuzco come up and we lock Nibbles out. It makes the old goat happy to have special privileges. 

Nibbles got shaved! We’re taking her to the Dairy Goat Nationals in a couple of weeks, and I guess this is how they’re supposed to look.

I told her that with the white stripe she looks like a pot-bellied pig to me!

Phil and I took the goats hiking yesterday and got some great photos!

Nibbles is still small enough to do fun things like this!

There’s something about a man and his goat…

This is not a very good photo, but for a couple of days I thought it was going to be the last one I ever got of Cuzco. This was Wednesday morning June 6, about 12 hours before Cuzco disappeared. I wanted to document the first time Cuzco shared the shed with Nibbles. Of course, the second they heard me tip-toeing up with a camera and saw me peek my head around the door, Nibbles jumped up and blocked the camera while Cuzco turned his head to the wall as if to say, “Ugh, you are NOT going to photograph this indignity.”

Normally I would discard such a photo, but it took on a special significance when I thought it would be our last of Cuzco. He and Nibbles are co-existing rather well these days. I think he might even be starting to like her a bit. For a while they seemed to share the shed mostly because Cuzco was too sore to push her out (and in fact, she was seen pushing him out on more than one occasion). But now Cuzco is feeling well enough to spar with her, and yesterday I saw Nibbles napping outside the shed door, which tells me the natural order has been reestablished. He let her in later, but I think he wants her to know that it’s only by his good graces that she can share his shed, not because she’s entitled or can boss him around. 

I’ve also noticed that Cuzco is seeking out the company of my horses less and less as he’s finally starting to bond with Nibbles. He’s no longer trying to get away from her, although when he’s with her he usually acts slightly annoyed  by her presence. I’m sure he feels he has an image to uphold, but it’s starting to crumble. Among other things, I’m sure he simply enjoys having someone smaller than himself to boss around.

I don’t think Cuzco could have survived without a bit of help from The Man Upstairs. The yard he ended up in was probably the only really safe one in the whole area. It was surrounded by a 6′ chain link fence with one gate (which happened to be open and he found it), and it was one of the only fenced houses where there was no dog. He could stay there safely, surrounded by a fence where no predators could get at him. There was a water barrel, a half acre or so of excellent browse, several lean-to’s and sheds to take shelter under or hide behind. I think he was ready to set up camp there for a long time if no one found him. And miraculously, the man who owned the place just “happened” to be going to a funeral where he met an old friend of his, my next-door neighbor, and told him the story of the goat on his porch at 4:00 in the morning. There are just too many “coincidences” in this story.

Anyway, Cuzco is eating now and feeling a bit better. His neck is still very stiff and sore. The swelling has gone down, but the muscles are hard as a rock. He can’t bend to the ground to eat and has to kneel or lay down. He also can’t swing at Nibbles, so she’s actually taken the upper hand in the pecking order for now. She chased him out of the shed last night, which looked ridiculous to say the least. But Cuzco eventually just went in there anyway and lay down with a “Yeah, what are you gonna do about it?” look on his face. He really hates her at the moment. But I tell him “what goes around comes around”. He gave my old horse, Easter, hell for years when he was a young goat. Now he gets to find out how it feels to be old and tired and pestered by a knee-high whippersnapper.

Since this is a “glamour shots” blog, I should probably post a photo in here somewhere. This is one of my favorites. It was taken a long time ago before Cuzco lost his horn. And no, I’m not making any sort of statement about where goats go after they die!

I got Cuzco cleaned up last night, and he clearly had a very narrow escape. It’s hard to tell from the photos because of all the hair, but he has bites on both sides of his neck, and the upper portion of it is swollen and obviously stiff and sore. He has a couple of shallow puncture wounds, but we’re on the third day out and there’s no pus or swelling or even oozing from them, so I don’t think he’ll need antibiotics. I’ll just keep them cleaned out with some iodine and I think he should be ok. I think his studded collar, of all things, helped protect his lower neck. There were no wounds down there, and some of the studs look a bit bashed up, so thank goodness for fancy collars with double rows of metal studs!

Cuzco is very lucky he didn’t lose his left eye. I saw first thing that he had a scrape under it along the lower eye socket. What I saw later when I was cleaning him up was that he had a corresponding wound on top of his head in the spot where the horn is missing. It looks to me like a coyote grabbed Cuzco’s head in his jaws, and the upper teeth took out a chunk of skin on top while the lower teeth put the gash just under the left eye. Both are quite shallow. The one on top took all the skin off so the bone is showing through right behind his scur, but it hardly bled and he can’t feel it at all. That was the spot where his horn was removed, so there were no muscles, nerves, or blood vessels under the skin… just bone.

He has numerous shallow bite marks along his back and sides but only one kind of nasty one. But it’s no worse than some of the ones I’ve seen my horse, Skokie, give him in the past. He also has some scrapes that I suspect are from running through a dozen or so barbed wire fences over three miles of countryside. But nothing serious. Mostly he just looks traumatized. He’s barely eating right now, but I suspect he’ll settle down over the next few days. Unfortunately, I have to chain him up because he already tried to run off to the neighbors’ this morning when I let him out of the pen. I suppose I could just keep him locked in the pen, but I’m hoping he’ll eat sooner if he has fresh browse instead of hay. So he’ll stay on the tether until he starts feeling at home here again. He’s so jumpy, I’m afraid anything could set him running for the woods if he’s not restrained.

I’m just so glad he’s ok. I was praying I’d find his body. I never expected we’d find him alive, especially so far from home after two days and two nights!