Driving show goats is the push or brace we are looking for. The drive transforms the topline and show goat look for the judge. You must have a good strong drive to make your goat stand right. Here are three tips to driving your show goats.
#1 Lift up and back on the head simultaneously. This is easy to say and so much harder to do. Almost every showman starts out pulling up and forward. They imagine that if they pull the goat toward them the goat will push. It is in fact the opposite. You need to lift the head upward and at the same moment push the head back towards the goat’s tail. When you do this, the goat will push against you and flex its muscles the right way.
#2 Give the goat your entire leg to push against. Not doing this is another major mistake with showmen driving their goats. They lift upward on the neck, the goat pushes forward and it has no leg to push against. This infuriates the goats. They often go straight into a spin or jump to let you know they are not happy. When you go to drive your goat, you better be directly in front of the goat with your full leg and body. As soon as you lift their neck up and back, your body goes with them so the goat has your support. They can give you a good strong drive immediately and drive better for you the next time you need them to.
#4 Keep the collar pressure steady to hold a strong drive. Once your goat is set and driving well, you must maintain it. What we see plenty of the time, is showmen that lift and set their goat down in a beatiful drive only to lose that look moments later. Maintaining what you have is half the game. Keep that goat stuck with a perfect profile at all times. Practice in front of a mirror and learn to feel when your goat lets off the drive. When you feel a let off, lift steadily, but gently upward and back, to signal the goat back into the drive. Hone in and master how much pressure your goat needs on that show collar or halter to keep a perfect profile.
Another bonus tip is to practice driving on all kinds of goats. The best thing you could do is to go directly to a ranch or sale and drive every goat you can. Get a feel for them and how each responds to your stance and movements. Practicing on multiple animals is the fastest way to adjust your technique and to perfect it. The more animals you handle, the better you will become.
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One Response
Young lady, these are excellent tips!! They make so much sense and I have seen very few showman actually do these moves. They will truly make a huge difference! Thanks so much for the great advice!!