Better Basics, LLC

Box 272

Kinnear, WY 82516

(307)851-9933 cell

goattyer@wyoming.com

07/27/10

Previous Tips on Practice

Wild goats/fresh goats

Although I am an advocate for breaking goats in prior to competition for two reasons:

#1- its a better presentation of the sport/event in spectator's eyes (humane issues).

#2- better for competition (fairness).

But sometimes you may compete at rodeos where goats have not been handled/tied or have been every little. A few things to help make a good run on fresh goats-

1: Get a good flank; make sure you are position before flanking your goat, be close with right knee in the goat's belly.  Don't reach & throw the goat around to you.

2: Get a good flank; come down with your goat- no space between your left knee and the goat's shoulder and your right knee and the goat's thigh.

3: Get a good flank; Keep your weight in your hips/ heels; don't allow yourself to roll forward onto the goat, it'll only make him strain harder or suck legs under him.  If you're weight is back, you can push from your hips to your knees which will help keep the goat's legs out from underneath of his body.

4: Get a good gather: bend at your waist & get low with your upper body gathering, but don't allow too much weight/pressure to roll into your knees or he'll suck legs on you.

5: Get a good gather; keep his legs low when gathering and make sure you bring the back legs all the way into your left thumb. If you are squeezing with both knees that will help keep his legs in your left hand while you are tying.

6: Keep your head low while tying, it'll help your wraps be tighter.

7: Ty fast. Fresh goats don't particularly care for goat tyers to camp out on them, so hustle. The more you sit on him, the more the goats tend to strain.  I always try to be fast, but even more so on fresh goats so I can get off of them.

8: Do all your basics better on fresh goats.  No short cuts or cheats on fresh goats, because they WON'T allow it!

I'm always amazed that rodeo committees opt to have fresh goats at the rodeos when they won't do that in any other event. If rodeo stock has been conditioned, the chance for injury  to the animal lessens.  Tie down calves usually have all been roped and tied, doggin steers have been thrown, roping steers roped, horses & bulls usually have all been bucked, so why do committees insist on fresh goats?

Some times it important to take a break from practicing/ rodeo.  As a college rodeo coach, I let our girls take that break during their Christmas break in December and January, so we continue to practice after the fall rodeo season. Plus here there are jackpots throughout the "off season" months so it's easier to stay motivated TO practice.  

In our practices right after the fall rodeo season, we break things down a lot and work on them individually.  We spend a lot of time flanking, gathering & tying.  We work on running into position on the ground, but don't actually flank or ty the goats.  When working on running into position, we are concentrating on being low, (keeping our butts down & shoulders back), getting our right knee into position  (into the belly of the goat), and setting our feet when we get into position to flank (so the goat doesn't move you off balance while you are flanking).

By taking this time to break things down and get them correct after the rodeo season, when it's time to get ready for the next season you'll already have any problems corrected that you may of had during the previous rodeo season.  If you are not working on correcting problems, then you should be working on getting faster.  So by the spring time, you'll be head of your competition!

When working on putting all of it together, from the horse to the goat, I do a lot of slow loping & trotting on my horse to keep him working & relaxed.  But when I hit the ground, I run as hard as I can, making my ground work fast like in a rodeo run.  I focus on making my ground work count in every practice run, even if I'm going slow on my horse.  By keeping a slower pace with my horse, I will be able to ty more goats from him in that practice session.  Just because my horse is going slow, doesn't mean that I go slow when I hit the ground.  I strive to maintain a high intensity in practicing & work on being perfect on the ground & in my dismount with these practice runs.  If you have difficulty putting it all together, practice with your horse twice a week, but keep it slow for him, so he doesn't get silly or create bad habits.

Practice Goats

I get asked a lot at clinics what type of goats I prefer to ty. I have tied about every type of goat & have come to the following conclusion: 

Usually we make do with what we can get for tying goats.  Depending on what part of the country you are in, depends on the accessibility of certain types of goats. 

But to pick a breed or type of goat that works perfect for tying, it would be the Nubians or a cross of them.  Nubians are known for their long floppy ears.  I like this breed or cross of this breed to ty since they are hardy, have long legs, and are fairly fleshy, which gives them their thick skin so their legs & flanks don't get raw. A Nubian crossed with Alpines, Toggenburgs or Boer/Spanish goats also make good practice goats. Spanish goats are fairly good practice goats too.  They are a version on the meat goat, but don't gain as rapidly in weight, have longer legs with thick bones.  These goats usually prove to be quiet hardy and come in a wide variety of colors! Horns on the Spanish goats grow fairly quick, so these type of tying size goats can have some large horns.

The ones that I don't particularly care for as practice goats would be the:

1. Saanans- (white dairy goat with erect ears) Flanks & legs get raw quickly. Fairly weak hearted, not a lot of spunk.

2. Boers (white with brown, black or red heads)- gain weight quickly with little size, so their short & fat.

3.  Purebred Toggenburgs (usually chocolate-brown colored with erect ears & two lines down their face) & Alpines (usually have lighter color on shoulders & darker color from mid-section of their body back)-  the trouble that I run across with these are that they bloat or get bellies really easily.  I feed free choice & if my practice goats have big bellies the possibility of injuring them increases & it's hard to sit on a fat goat correctly. 

Notice I didn't say Pygmys.  I do like the Nubian/Pygmy cross as these are REALLY tough goats & you can ty them a long time. If you are raising them, you'll have to wait longer until they get big enough to ty, but once they are big enough- they'll last! They also make you ty fundamentally correct.

Age: Depending on the feeding program that the kid goats were raised on will depend on how soon you can ty them.  USUALLY around 4 - 6 months is when you can start tying them.  Some as early as three months old, but they have been fed really good if they are 40 lbs by then.  I have had them last as long as a year, but they are usually getting fairly heavy.

Size: I don't like to ty anything under 40 lbs.  That's getting awful light & to help promote the sport of rodeo & the event of goat tying, I think the goats need to at least be 40 lbs before they are used.  For little goat tyers, I think it's ok to match the size of goat to the size of kid (I try to at the clinics). But for high school - college aged goat tyers, the goats should be 40 - 65 lbs. 

I like to have a variety of practice goats- weight ranging from 40 - 65 lbs. I like to have some that are really wild, some that run just nice to either side, and one that just stands there. I like to have one or two shorter ones, a couple that are just 'perfect' size & a few bigger ones. For just myself, I would like to have about 6 practice goats. (I usually have between 25 - 70, so it would be nice to get down to 6!!)