I am asked all the time, "What makes a good working animal?".

The truth is any goat can work. But how much work it will do, how much it can carry for how many miles, how far can it pull a wagon, how much milk will it give? Many factors come in to play when looking for the right working goat for the job you would like it to do.

A working goat must have good conformation to be able to work well and for hours. To carry a pack on a day, week end or week long trip the goat must be built properly. A goat that will work in harness needs to have well developed muscles and good stamina.

What is good conformation? Many people think that conformation show animals are just out there looking pretty. The fact is that the animals in conformation are being judged to see how close to a Standard For The Breed they come to. For every breed a Standard was set up. The Standard is set for the perfect animal for that breed and the job it will be preforming.

To keep your goat in good working condition your goat need to have a lot of exercise. It is always good for the working goat to be taken on several walks a week with or by their owners. Goats love to climb on things, if you have some fun and safe items in their pens it will keep them not only in good muscle tone, but happy too.

much more to come

Many times the right animal with the right person with the right bond between them is what it takes to be a good working animal. Why? Because the two will work together well. The animal will understand, respect and love the owner and want to behave well and to it's best ability. The owner will love and respect their animal. The owner will make sure that the animal is well taken care of, understands what is asked of it, and will treat it fairly if the animal misbehaves.

A fair and just trainer can make all the difference in the world. I have seen people take good animals, some already trained, and ruin them. I have also seen people take animals in poor shape with not so great conformation and shape those animals into wonderful, respectful, hard working animals.

Above all, a working animal must have "heart". What is heart? It is when an animal, or in fact person, can do more then it should be capable of because it wants to do the task in front of it.