First you have to ask yourself - how much gear do I need or want to bring on the trip.
Then you have to find the total weight of all the gear you’re bringing and divide that by the amount of weight your goats can each safely handle. Don’t know the answer to that yet either do you. Well if you rent your goats from us we will figure that out for you and take measures so you don’t even have to remember anything except having a great time on the trail. But for the sake of filling this page I will elaborate briefly.

The amount of weight a goat can carry varies and is based on his size, conditioning level and the terrain you will be hiking in to a lesser degree the ambient temperature. Let’s take them one at a time.

Goats come in all sizes. Generally speaking the older the goat the larger the goat the more weight he can safely handle. For this reason most pack goats do not carry full load until they reach the age of two. At this age they are about as big as they will ever get and should be trained for trail use and savvy to our fickle concerns while on the trail.

We speak of condition levels remember that goats kept in pens eating stock feed do not have opportunity to exercise. Like me lying on the couch watching national geographic eating chips. So getting out hiking is essential to the physical and mental well being of everyone involved but lets keep this focused on the goats for now shall we. Hiking and going through the drills of being saddled and packed is all training for the real thing.

Hiking uphill is more difficult than walking on flat ground. Terrain so steep you need your hands to help pull yourself up is not the ideal terrain for a fully loaded pack on you or the goat. Easier terrain equal less energy required to cover the ground and more energy available to carry your gear.

Extreme cold weather requires mammals to burn excessive energy just to maintain body temperatures in the normal range. So less energy is available so we walk slower take more rests and rightfully we carry less load.

A lot to consider isn’t it? Well unless you are going to raise and care for your own goats you will not need to know any of this at this time. We are going to give you all the information you need in an easy to understand format in such a manner that you won’t have to remember any of it.

Contact Pack Goats & Rental Equipment - Hoof & Horn Livestock Enterprises