It was a beautiful sunny day and I wanted to build on my great time driving Finn yesterday, so Phil and I took Finn, Sputnik, and the sled to a quiet sloped street with good snowpack. We would lead the goats up the hill pulling the empty sled and then have them pull us down the slope. They’re not big enough or old enough to pull a big load, but we want to get them used to pulling some weight and to the driving commands while they’re still young. The hill was not steep, but it was enough that Phil and I had to scrape our boots along the ground to prevent the sled from overtaking the goats, which is why you’ll see our feet dragging in most of the photos.

I started with Sputnik. He’s a flighty little goat and put up a lot more fuss today than Finn did yesterday. I spent quite a lot of time untwisting him since he would sometimes turn suddenly around to face me–a problem you have when your vehicle has no shafts. Even so, he did really well for the most part and exceeded my rather low expectations.

With Phil there to help when he got tangled and Finn to lend moral support he did alright.

Sputnik is extremely sensitive to being touched with the whip, so I had almost no trouble getting him to go. The problem is that he’s also extremely irritable about the reins and kept swinging his head down quite violently any time I tried to steer, stop, or even slow down a teensy bit. Then he would get upset by the action of the reins caused by his own dramatic movements and would swing even more. This is one goat who would probably do well in a check rein since it would prevent his being able to whip his head around to the point of upsetting himself.

Finn did amazingly well to the point you’d think he’d been driving his whole life. He already knows “Walk on” and “Whoa” after his one lesson yesterday!

We have a tandem hitch! Not really, but it sure looked like it a lot of the time. Phil likes to call the tandem a “hot dog hitch” for some reason and it makes me laugh.

Mario Andretti coming around the corner! I think Phil wants a steering wheel on this thing.

When the temperatures go down I like to haul hot water to all the critters since I don’t have electric tank heaters. It finally snowed yesterday, which makes hauling water sooooo much easier since I can load the buckets onto a sled. Well today Finn helped me! Before I had him haul water, though, I hitched him to the empty sled and took him up the road all by himself. I brought lots of cookies to make it worth his while to leave the other goats in the pen and come with me. We went up the road maybe 1/2 mile or so and when we turned around the road was downhill, so I was able to hop in the sled and drive him back to our driveway. He was a very good boy!

And since he was already hitched to the sled I decided to make him haul the water out to the troughs. He was steady and careful and didn’t spill the water even once. By the time we were done he was already beginning to know what I meant when I said “Walk On!” and “Whoa!” I hope the snow sticks around for a little while so we can keep practicing. He’s going to be a very quick learner I can tell.

I had to get a few more photos of my new toy. As you can see, Finn easily fits even with his large and ever-expanding horns.

Where’s the food!?!

Sputnik doesn’t like the stanchion. He has hated being restrained from the moment he was born and this hasn’t really changed, but he is learning that he must tolerate it sometimes. Being an intelligent lad, he has discovered that most of the time, the benefits of cooperation outweigh the costs. “Nom-nom-nom-nom!”

And the top opens up for the convenient release of horned beasties!

And because Sputnik is so cute…

I love that this stanchion is tall enough for my milking stool to slide underneath out of the way. The increased height is also making my back and neck really happy. I can actually sit up straight while milking! Yay for fun and practical Christmas presents!

This stanchion is big enough that even Cuzco fits on it. Naturally, the first thing Cuzco did when I locked his head in was to get mad, flip the stanchion over, and drag it across the basement. It’s buckled securely to the support post behind it so no goats can flip or drag it. Of course, I don’t expect any goat but Cuzco would even try to do such a thing–it’s a very heavy stanchion and everyone but Cuzco is accustomed to being confined in one.

Cuzco posed like a statue for a very long time, just waiting for me to bring the camera I’m sure.

And then the old goat did something very out of character–he pulled a silly face! I’m used to the other goats making goofy expressions and sticking their tongues out at the camera, but never Cuzco! I guess even the most dignified goat has to let his hair down once in a while.

Back to looking noble…

Until Phil breaks out the Christmas fruitcake, at which point all pretense of nobility flies straight out the window! Here he is climbing the gate with one foot in the mineral feeder just like a silly young scallawag who doesn’t care what anyone thinks. “Gimme fruitcake! Gimme NOW! Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!!!”

Have I ever mentioned that fruitcake very nearly killed this greedy goat two years ago? We bought a 3-lb. fruitcake that was supposed to be shared among five goats. Cuzco tore into it like a fiend, knocked it to the ground and devoured it before anyone had time to react. I got a picture of the aftermath.

And this was where Cuzco spent the next day.

We ran him into the vet that morning because he was so sick he would hardly move, but the vet didn’t seem to think there was much to be done for him. So we took him back home, made him a bed by the wood stove, and I sat with him until late that evening when he finally got up and wanted outside. It was a few days before he was totally “right”, but he pulled through and we’ve since modified our fruitcake distribution system. For one thing, you’ll notice there is a gate between Phil and Cuzco in this year’s picture. We also bought a smaller fruitcake which was then cut into even smaller portions to be fed one at a time. Cuzco still got the biggest portion because he by far enjoys it the most (only about half of the goats even like it at all), but we make sure he never gets to inhale an entire 3-lb. fruitcake in one sitting again!

Although we are not Beulah natives, because of our unusual companions we managed to get showcased in the Channel 13 news report on the Yule Log Festival. Way to go, goats!

http://www.krdo.com/news/yule-log-hunt-brings-hundreds-to-beulah/36947948

The snowstorm ended early on Saturday night and Sunday dawned clear and warm with a few inches of dazzling powder to make everything fresh–except the road. The dirt road we take to Beulah was pure mud. But at least it was no longer icy and the visibility was good. So we loaded up Finn and Sputnik and splashed our way back over for the highlight of our Christmas season–the annual Beulah Yule Log Festival.

As a safety precaution and as a fun way to celebrate the festive season, Phil and I wrapped our boys’ horns in candy-cane stripes. Now that they know what we’re up to, they’ve both gotten very patient and good about this procedure.

The event started off with readings, blessings, and Christmas carols. There was a special “Blessing for the Animals” which particularly warmed my heart. There was a perfect place for goats to hang out during this more solemn part of the festival. There is a substantial rock outcropping near the side entrance to the pavilion, and this year it was covered in evergreen boughs, so Finn and Sputnik were able to entertain themselves by climbing and nibbling until the Hunt began.

After the service, the hunt for the Yule Log began! With a bugle fanfare, the Huntsmen, all dressed in festive green shoulder capes, led us to the general vicinity of the Yule Log, told us the boundaries within which it was hidden, and let us go! Finn and Sputnik took off like hound dogs, plunging into the woods with Phil and I dragging at the end of their leads. But as usual, and despite their overwhelming confidence, goats seem to be no good at Yule Log hunting. They ended up leading us far out of bounds.

But we had a lot of fun playing with the boundary line. I tried to get them to jump it in unison, but that only happened once–naturally it was before Phil had the camera ready. It was a pretty high obstacle, so it was really fun to watch them sail gracefully over it.

It was about this time that we heard someone cry “Haleub!” This is “Beulah” spelled backwards, and it marks the discovery of the Yule Log. We hastened down the hill toward the excitement as a Huntsman sounded a bugle to gather the scattered crowd back together.

The lucky finder of the Yule Log gets to ride it back to camp while the not-so-lucky revelers get to drag it.

We tied the goats’ leashes to the rope so they could help us pull too.

It didn’t take long for the lucky winner to invite all of her friends to ride the log with her. This Yule Log got pretty heavy after a while!

Finn made good friends with this Huntsman by the time we were done dragging the log back.

After the log was dragged back, it was sawn in two and one half was put on the Yule fire and the other half will be saved to start next year’s fire. And then there was wassail and cookies! We had to tie the goats up while we got the cookies because I was afraid that if we took them with us down the line there might not be any left for the folks behind us. They were very unhappy with this arrangement and Finn kept trying to climb over the fence. But there were many cookies left over after everyone had been served, so I was able to snag a generous handful for them. Ginger cookies were a particular favorite. There were also folks in the crowd who shared cookies as well, so between all of us I think the goats got their fair share of Christmas cheer.

It was an exciting weekend at Goat-O-Rama! Saturday night Beulah had their annual Parade of Lights, and Old Man Winter was in full attendance this year. Some thought we might not make it because of the snowstorm, but we weren’t going to be daunted by a few snowflakes! We did, however, leave the cart at home. We figured the roads would be too icy to use it safely. We blanketed Cuzco and covered the door of our portable hutch so he would stay dry for the ride over. Once there, we loaded him down with packsaddle and festive red panniers filled with candy and then covered him from head to toe in colorful LED lights. He was a lovely sight to see! Of course, the first thing Cuzco did when I plopped a pannier full of chocolate onto his saddle was to turn himself inside-out trying to reach it. He went all the way down on one knee in his effort to get his teeth into those sweets, but I managed to get him back up and straighten him out before he grabbed anything. As a consolation, I did give him a few pieces of chocolate (properly unwrapped!) that were left over after the parade. Cuzco loves chocolate!

We forgot to bring the camera, so I have no pictures of Cuzco decked out for the parade. Phil dressed as Santa and handed candy out to the kids. Well… I say handed. It took a little while for Phil to get his technique down. He started off by tossing candy, but after beaning a few people in the head, and watching others scramble around in the fresh powder to look for their fallen prizes, he changed his approach and started giving people candy by hand. A particularly special moment was when Santa Claus and his special Yule Goat walked up to a little girl and gave her a handful of candy. We saw the girl’s grandmother next day at the Yule Log Festival and she said it made her granddaughter’s evening.

It turned out to be a very good thing we did not have the cart. The road was almost skating rink slick. Phil and Cuzco and I were the only ones walking in the parade–everyone else had a float. So the parade went rather fast for us and I had a hard time making Cuzco keep up on the slippery footing. He quite understandably wanted to take it slow, but we almost had to trot for much of the parade route. I was tired by the end. There was one tricky spot in the parade, however, which made us very grateful to be on foot! The route plunges down a steep hill with a sharp turn at the bottom, and several of the floats began to slide and got jackknifed at the turn. There was a bit of a pileup which we were happily able to avoid. All the trucks and trailers came away unscathed, but it was an exciting little stretch of roadway for a while. For such a small town, Beulah has a very respectable Parade of Lights with a large variety of very impressive floats. It think there are more people who ride in that parade than who watch it!

For those of you following this blog, Goat-O-Rama will be attending the Beulah Parade of Lights this evening in Beulah at 5:15. Santa will be making an appearance with his famous prancing Yule Goat, Cuzco.

And tomorrow we will be attending the Beulah Yule Log Festival at 1:00 in the Beulah Mountain Park with two of our younger goats. Last year we took Snickers and Sputnik. This year it will probably be Sputnik and Finn. We hope to see you there!