# Goat Halters?



## DixyDoodle (Nov 15, 2005)

For leading goats, that is!

What would you suggest using for leading a Nubian goat around with? My son is begging me to let him "take her for walks" in the yard. LOL

I was thinking of maybe a little mini horse halter, but I've also seen people leading their goats with just a big dog collar on a rope. Since I've seen just how Houdini-ish goats can be (and very difficult to recatch), which would you say is better?

Oh, almost forgot to mention: this is a hornless goat, so maybe they are a little harder to fit things onto? 

Do goats tend to follow better with a halter or collar? And what works best when you want them to move and they refuse? Are they like donkeys, who tend to come to a standstill if you insist? Or do they bounce around like a kid on a sugar high? LOL

Thanks for any suggestions! 

DD


----------



## chris30523 (Jun 11, 2005)

I have several that lead fine with a collar and a leash.They were trained when they were babies. I have a few that think you are killing them. My best one is my huge buck he gets loose occassionally and will just let you put the lead on and lead him back to the pen. If he gets distracted a feed bucket works wonders.


----------



## SHELBY (Mar 9, 2003)

You might want to consider a harness. If they haven't been trained with a collar/lead, or halter.


----------



## bumpus (Jul 30, 2003)

DixyDoodle said:


> For leading goats, that is!
> 
> What would you suggest using for leading a Nubian goat around with? My son is begging me to let him "take her for walks" in the yard. LOL
> 
> ...


A collar around the neck works the best for control, and you will have to train the goat first which will take time.

A goat with a halter on can pull away two to three times harder than a goat with a collar around it's neck.

Do not turn the child loose with the goat until the goat is trained and doing what you want and you can control it.

If the goat gets loose how will you catch it ?

bumpus
.


----------



## KimM (Jun 17, 2005)

Miniature horse halters work very well but you'll have to find a very small one or one that is adjustable. I start most of my goats leading  on a halter before I lead them with a collar. The halters will fit hornless or horned goats. 
I have some extra mini halters - if you want one, PM me.


----------



## prairiedog (Jan 18, 2007)

We had a wild lady that would jerk us off our feet with the collar but with a halter she walked like a jewel


----------



## mousebandit (Feb 14, 2007)

Okay, silly question. What exactly is the difference between a harness and a halter? We have a few "head-gear" thingys with lots of straps and buckles that I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get on that goat's head, but I'm sure if I could, it would help me hang on to them and train them to go where I want them to! \

Tracey Mouse


----------



## Paula (Jun 3, 2002)

A harness goes around the body, a halter on the head.
You can order goat halters at jeffers.
We've always had better luck with a collar.


----------



## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

I dissagree with the halters working less well than collars. I have trained a couple goats to pull a cart and I wouldn't ever start actual training without a halter, lol. The collars just don't work as well. They WILL pull when they want to go somewhere, and they WILL drag you if they feel like it. Same with harnesses. With the halter, thier head gets pulled around when they try to walk away. Jeffers sells special goat halters for 5.00, and you can't beat that. Now, those halters would only work for leading. Training/driving halters can be found at www.llamaproducts.com, as can more affordable driving equip. 

I do have all my goats currently trained to the collar as well. But that doesn't mean they always listen. My MINIs have knocked me down more than once on the collar. Can't think of one time that they did that with the halter on.


----------



## DixyDoodle (Nov 15, 2005)

> You might want to consider a harness. If they haven't been trained with a collar/lead, or halter.


I'm just curious though, do goats tend to pull a lot? And do they pull walking backwards, or prefer to run on ahead? The only thing with harnesses is that I'm concerned that it would be a sledding event! LOL

With halters, I wondered if it might be like horses, where the head goes, the body follows....well, most of the time!  But the other problem is: do halters stay on goats' heads or do they slip off easily? She is hornless, also.

And what is the difference between a horse and goat halter? Is there a difference to the fit? I do have some mini horse halters around---KimM, thank you for the offer, though!


> If the goat gets loose how will you catch it ?


bumpus, well, judging by the way she bleats and carries on when she sees us, I expect she will be right by our sides if she were to get loose! But on the other hand, if not, I would do the same as I do with the horses: pull out the food! 

I will try the collar and/or halter on her in the pen first, though, to see how she reacts. When she was brought here, she had a collar on, but she needed some encouragement to walk with it. Whether that was due to a lack of experience with it or just plain fear of her new "home", who knows. I'll try her in the pen first, anyhow.

Thanks for all the great advice!


----------



## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

With the harness... They will pull. I've heard that with dogs harnesses are used to teach a dog to not pull. Hah. I've found that to be distinctly untrue, lol.

With the halter, they will stay on if fitted correctly. I'm not sure that a mini horse halter would work on your goat. It may, but if the fit is incorrect it can rub the goat or even fall off while walking.

I take my goats for walks every so often. I've taken a whole half of my herd (7 goats) for a walk when I had a bunch of people ask to go with me. They were all on collars and did well, but they were all trained. Several still persisted in pulling. I preffer using my halters any day especially with the herd queen, lol.


----------

