Dairy Goat Guide, Vol. 4, No. 6, June 1981.
The materials list and enlarged drawings are available
from the Harness/halter page.
With the proper training, your wether can be the star at the next local parade - you only need to provide him witha harness, halter and cart. And, when the parade is over, he will be a handy addition to the farmstead, able to haul wood, hay and other items.
Wethers make the best cart-pulling goats, as does lack the size and bucks often lack the temperament. But a wether from a large gentle family has neither of these drawbacks. Ideally, he should be about 37 inches high at the withers and weigh 250 pounds when full grown, according to Beverly Myers and her daughter Mickylouise, who wrote a pamplet on driving goats for Michigan State University.
The wether should be handled frequently and gently as a kid, so he will be a well behaved adult. Choose your cart-pulling wether by eight weeks of age, so you can give him the attetion he'll need.
Training the wether
The Myers, who have driven goats for more than 10 years, follow a timetable for developing a kid into a harness goat:"At wo months, they should be collar-broken and taught to lead with a leadline. By six months, the goat should be halter-broken, lead strap wise and obeying voice signal of 'whoa,' 'get up' and 'back up.' At eight months, the breaking harness should be gently placed upon the goats for very short times while the animals are in their stalls...If these simple steps are carefuly followed, young goats can easily be trained to harness at 10 to 11 months of age," they wrote.
You can, of course, train an adult wether to pull a cart. Pick out a friendly, easily managed wehter and give him some time to become acquainted with you and your farm. Again, the Myers have sound advice for training the wether:
First, they put the bridle on the wether for an hour while he is in his stall. After a few days, they bring the harness to the animal and let him smell of it before putting it on him. They recommended only putting the back pad and the belly band on the wether the first day, then walking him around for 15 minutes. The second day they put the entire harness with the reins on the goat.
After several days of harnessing, take the wether out with a lead rope connected to the bridle and have a friend handle the reins at the rear, the Myers said. They work their wethers for about 15 minutes at a time, two or three times a day.
Wayne Troutman, Wayne County, Ohio, extension agent, recommended training the animal just before training time. "After you are done, feed the animal as a treat," Wayne wrote in his booklet "4-H Harness Wether Goat Project."
Once the wether has become comfortable with the harness and walks normally with it on, he can be trained to accept the cart. Don't start training the animal to the cart until he is 100 percent confident with the harness though.
Tfhe Myers' eight-point plan for training a goat to the cart was published in "Driving Goats," the Michigan State pamphlet:
1. Let the goat smell the cart. Something new is scary until your goat knows that he won't get hurt.
2. Hold your goat carefully. Have someone bring the cart up and move the fils to the goat's sides.
3. Carefully rub the goat's sides with the fils. Gently move him from side to side. Let him feel the
fils next to him.
4. Do not hook your goat up to the cart the first time. As long as the fils are loose, you can control
your goat and drop the fils if he gets scared.
5. Be patient.
6. After the goat is very comfortable in the fils, you can start to walk the goat with the cart.
7. The first time with the cart, don't add any extra weight. Let the goat get used to the feel of
something behind him.
8. Gradually begin to add weight to the cart, perhaps by leaning on it.
Once the goat comfortably moves forward with the cart, the Myers train the goat to back up. it takes two people, one standing behind the goat with the reins and another at the goat's head. The latter holds the reins below the goat's chin, then uses the other hand to push on the goats shoulder while saying "back," the Myers wrote. The person behind the goat pulls gently on the reins.
When the goat "does what you ask him to do," Troutman again recommended treating him with his favorite snack. "Remember," he wrote, "you must have patience and work with your wether every day until he learns what you want him to do. If you do this, in a few short weekds he will be pulling you around like he has been doing it all his life..."
All the training in the world, of course, is useless if you don't have a harness, halter and cart.
Harness and halter
According to Georgia Wilkerson, Bushnell, Florida, "Anyone who can nail a board and sew can make a goat cart and harness." She used lawn chair webbing to make the harness and halter for her large Nubian buck, which "goes in all the parades in this area."
She used the following material for her buck's halter and harness: (located on the previous page )
Georgia cautioned to measure the goat before constructing the halter and harness. The harness must fit the goat snugly, she said, but not tightly. If it is too big, overlap the material and sew a big X on the overlap. "But, if it's too small, you'll have to start over again."
She starts by making the strap that fits over the withers and around the heart girth (A), as all straps are sewn to it. She cuts a strap 86 inches long out of the two-inch webbing for her Nubian. Fold this strap in half; it is now 43 inches long.
Then she cut a piece of fabric 43 inches long and two inches wide. Sew the fabric and webbing together along the edges. The fabric padding will be next to the goat. Attach the buckle to one end of the strap by overlapping the material and sewing. At the other end of the strap, put four eyelets. Put the strap on the goat with the buckle under the front legs, georgia said. Pin it at the point of the shoulders (B) and the top of the withers (C).
Next, the breast strap (D) must be made. Cut 60 inches of two-inch webbing and fold in half so it is 30 inches long. Cut a piece of fabric 30 inches long and two inches wide, and sew it to the webbing. Sew this strap to the heart girth strap at the point of the shoulders.
To make the strap that holds the cart (E), Georgia cuts a 36-inch strap from the half-inch flat nylon rope. Fold the strap in half, then attach this piece to the heart girth strap at the top of the withers. Sew the two straps together for 10 inches in the center of the cart strap. Put the flat side rings (F) close to theends of the sewn material. Sew the snaps at the end of the cart strap.
Georgia cuts eight inches of the half-inch nylon rope and sews it to the heart girth strap in front of the center of the breast strap. This piece (G) hold the reins that go through the loops to the halter.
Cut one 16-inch strap and another 26-inch strap from the half-inch nylon rope. Sew three-inch loops at the ends of the 26-inch strap (H). In the middle of the piece, sew one end of the 16-inch strap to the point of the withers on the heart girth strap. (Be sure it is not on the same side as the breast strap).
Cut 72-inches of the half-inch nylon rope (J). Georgia sews one end on the heart girth strap across from one edge of the breast strap. Loop this piece through the openings of the 26-inch strap, and sew the other end across from the other edge of the breast strap.
While Georgia successfully uses a harness made of webbing, the Myers and Troutman believe that a leather harness is best. Troutman does say that rope or string may be used to construct a harness, while the Myers second choice is a leather and webbing harness. They also said a standard Shetland pony harness will fit a goat, needing only minor alterations.
Troutman and the Myers do not agree on the use of a bit in the halter. The Myers said, a goat "must be trained and driven with a bit in his mouth for safe and efficient driving." Troutman, on the hand, said "a bit in the mouth is not needed to train a goat to pull."
Georgia does no uses a bit. She makes a halter by cutting two 12-inch pieces of half-inch nylon rope (A). then she sews one end of the strap to one ring and the other end of the strap to a second ring. she loops the third ring through the second strap so it is free. Sew the ends of the second strap to the first two rings.
Cut 11 inches of the half-inch nylon rope (B), Georgia said. Sew one end of it to one of the end rings with a three-inch overlap. At the other end, sew the half-inch buckle. Cut a 22-inch piece (C) from the half-inch nylon rope. Sew it to the other end ring. At the other end of this strap, put foru eyelets. This strap goes up and over the head to fasten the buckle.
All that is needed to completer Georgia's harness and halter are two long straps for reins.
The cart
The type of cart you build depends on its purpose and the materials on hand. If you're going to use the cart for hauling, it needn't be as attractive as the one used for parades, but it will need to be soundly constructed.
All carts are composed of three parts, Troutman explained - the seat, shafts and wheels. The box that makes up the seat can be built from plywood or pine boards with the wheels or axles fastened to it, he said. He recommended making it 36 inches wide to prevnet it from tipping.
Used bicycle tires make good wheels, and shafts can be made from broom handles, he added. The shafts can be directly connected to the side of the seat, and the shafts and wheels should be positioned to give the cart a good center of balance.
Jerry belanger, Dairy Goat Guide publisher, made a cart for his son a number of years ago. (Honestly, he admitted, his father built it.) "The result," he said, "is a beautiful little cart which is easily pulled by a goat, making heads turn and traffic stop."
Old 30-inch bicycle tires were used for wheels, and "elegantly curved pieces of oak" (braces from an old piano) were used as fils (shafts). Jerry said, "There are many ways such a cart could be build. When you design your own, you're limited only by nyour imagination. "His father used these materials for the cart (located on the previous page).
After removing the brake from the rear bicycle wheel, the wheels were fastened to the angle iron. The plywood underframe was bolted to the iron, with a notch cut out to accomodate the wheel axles. The two pieces of 3/4 x 3 x 24-inch boards were then bolted near the ends of the iron frames, raising the actual floor of the box above the axles.
This cart had fenders, which were made by soaking strips of 1/4-ich plywood, then bending them to the desired shape to fit the curve of the wheel. They were fastened to pieces of half-inch board cut slightly larger than the diameter of the wheel, then the whole assembly was bolted to the box.
Counryside Publications' staff also designed a goat cart to be used for hauling (See Figure III). It can be changed to suit your needs and built from scrap material. Made as drawn, 3/4-inch plywood is used. The bottom is a solid piece of plywood with notches cut out for the wheels and fenders. The two pieces of one-inch angle iron for each wheel are mounted to the bottom sheet of plywood.
The fenders are sheet metal that is fastened to a piece of plywood which has been cut four inches larger than the wheels. The fender is then fastened to the side of the cart. Turn under the outside edge of the sheet metal for safety.
The positioning of the fils and braces and the length of the fils depend on the size of your wether. These measurements can be determined during costruction.
The body of the cart is braced by 2 x 4s at the corners and by 2 x 2s on the inside at the floor. The tail gate is hinged at the bottom and latched on the inside of both sides. Sideboards covered with chicken wire may be added to the cart when hauling light, bulky items such as loose hay or leaves.
Your cart-trained whther can be a real helper around the farm. And this summer, when the parade's in town, your helper can be a star.