Yielding to Steady Pressure

There are two (main) ways to indicate to a goat that you would like it to move. Steady pressure and rhythmic pressure. An example of rhythmic pressure is when one wiggles a rope to get a goat to back or twirls the end of the lead to encourage forward motion. Steady pressure is using one's fingers to move a goat backwards or putting pressure on a halter to get them to come towards you. As a rule I would use steady pressure when the goat is within two feet of you (except in the leadrope case) and rhythmic pressure when you are further away.

When teaching a goat to yield to steady pressure start by "focusing your energy" on the part of the goat you want to move, then, using just the tips of your fingers, put pressure on/touch the tips of the hair... then the skin, then the muscle, then the bone. Give about 3 seconds between each phase, more or less depending on your goat. The instant the goat moves, no matter what phase you are at release all pressure to make absolutely clear to the goat that they have done the right thing.

Some things to can try to teach your goat to yield to steady pressure:

1. Put your fingers on either side of the goats nose and, using phases ask it to back. Remember to release the pressure the instant the goat yields at all (even so much as shifting weight in the desired direction).
2. Back with fingers on the chest.
3. Yield hindquarters 360
4. Yield forequarters 360
5. Lower head (put fingers behind ears)
6. Pick up all four feet
7. Lead by front leg?

There are some ideas to get started with. The first six are very important. I will add more interesting ones (for those of you whose goats get bored easily) at a later date.

M.