Goat tying???? Have to vent!

Maybe the sport of girl tying should be explored? This is a prime example of why such 'sports' have no appeal to me.

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waygr00vy, good for you! I've refused to sell people animals when I'm not comfortable with the situation they'll be put into. More than one person's left here all PO'd and I feel good about my desicion, I could care less that they're mad. I believe it gives them something to think about.

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I think there should be people tying. I mean, if the goats are having so much 'fun' being chased down and thrown down and tied up, then the people who do it should have no objection to taking the goats place. Remember, the goats are having 'fun'.

I can see no practical need for this kind of 'sport'. Its a shame that people can find entertainment in this kind of thing.Its like finding entertainment in dog fighting. Some people are just mental I guess.

I was just thinking of getting my rodeo tickets - thanks everyone for awakening me to this horror. No money of mine will go to support a rodeo, or no money of some sketchy person will cross into my pocket. "I just better not know what happens to my animals" is not a very concious position, either - just self-preservation, i.e. if you don't know they are abused, you still can remain lily-white? NOOOOOOO.........

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Calf roping started because it is usefull on a ranch setting . Sometimes the only way to catch them for shots etc is to rope them. I have had horses cows and so on we have hade to rope. It is a very usefull tool. Roping an animal is kinder then running them til exhausted.

With that said if goats or calfs got injured on a large scale in this event you can bet your panties that the one of the animal groups would have stopped it by now. I have had several goats in the past that I would have gladly let someone have for this I would not sell most of my stock for this purpose.

Not sure how I feel about it being an event in the rodeo. If I am OK with calf roping then I should be OK with goat roping. I think it bugs me that they assume a girl cannot throw a calf If we ran a cow/calf operation I would want my children to learn on smaller animals before going onto larger calfs..

Whatever one may think they are your animals and you have the right to do with them as you wish. I probally would not have sold the little one either .

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I don't think you need to be ok with goat roping if you are ok with calf roping. The calves are bigger, stronger, and have a chance to dodge. Personally, I think those rodeo girlies should either rope calves with the boys or put on a dress and sit in the stands. They are not children learning the ropes anymore.

I've been to rodeos in our area and never seen or heard of this, thank goodness. I guess I can say with certainty that every goat I've ever had to take down was NOT happy about it. Latest was a buck who had knocked a large horn scur half off, and his head needed to be completely immobilized so I could take care of it. Even so, I did NOT pick him up and drop him onto his side. That seems like a really good way to cause internal injuries.

This "game" just seems entirely useless and cruel. I think it should be outlawed. And if these girls want to throw around baby animals, give them something that has a chance of hurting them in return. Or maybe pick them up and throw them a couple times, just so they can empathize.

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I don't think I put in the original post, her daughter is in 4-H and they do this in her 4-H group and shows. Seems completely counterproductive to what I thought 4-H was about...but I was never in it.

Goat tying is one of the most competitive events in youth rodeo. The object of this track event is ride to a tethered goat as quickly as possible, dismount, catch, throw, and tie any three of its legs together.

The goat must stay tied for six seconds after the flagger has signaled for time and the contestant has backed away from the animal.

Junior and Senior Girls may use a piggin’ string or a leather thong to tie, but Junior Boys may only use a piggin’ string, which is designed to prepare them for tie-down roping when they enter the senior ranks.

The goat is tied to a buried stake in the ground with a 10-foot rope. A person designated by the field judge holds the goat at its furthest point from the starting line until the contestant has crossed the line and time has started.

Disqualifying infractions include: undue roughness while handling the goat, touching the goat or the tie, or after signaling completion of the tie a contestant’s horse coming in contact with the goat or tether while the contestant still has control of the horse.

Little Wranglers compete in a significantly modified version called goat tail untying. Instead of tying three legs together, the competitor must remove a gauze strip from the goat’s tail. They then run back in the direction of the start line. Time stops when they cross the predetermined finish line with ribbon in hand.
It is not as rough on the goats as most of you are thinking.
Not even as close as rough as the Calf roping or steer wrestling events.
The goats are well taken care of and not used over and over again.

Well I watched that first youtube video and could not watch the others. That was one of the most pointless things I have ever seen!
First off where is the skill or "talent" of this? The goat is tied and stuck there. So the cruel girl jumps off her horse and slams a goat baby to the ground and ties it's legs... well if it does not get run over by the horse first.
This is a sport how? There is no skill involved, this serves no purpose on a farm. How many times do we have to chase a tied goat and tie 3 of it legs? I personally call them or have treats and they come on by.
My goats are dog-like in a lot of ways so maybe these wonderful girls can tie up dogs next. Oh wait if they did that then the Humane Society would be all over their butts! People would be screaming animal cruelty and such. But since it is a "sport" and held at a rodeo and these are goats after all... it is ok to treat baby animals this way?
I am so glad you did not sell your goat to that ignorant woman and her kid. I hope they did not find anyone to sell to them.

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I have to say, I've seen my goats be just that rough with eachother. They can really take slams. I've also been slammed about like that myself a few times in my life. It doesn't look painful to me. Obviously that first video (the only one I watched) was made by some biased people, and if that's the worst they can find, well...

Notice everytime the horse went over top of one, it avoided the goats. Not that it's a good idea, to let them point the horses into the area the goat is tied in, obviously. Of course, my horse stomped one of my goats on purpose, it limped a couple of strides as I yelled at the horse and then it was fine.

The only part that makes me anxious is the way some of them really come down on the goat with their knee. I would be afraid of internal injuries from that practice. I saw a rather fat boy doing the goat tying one time and I thought he was going to squish it to death. As he was tying it, he was putting all his weight on the goat with his knee. I think they need to be more careful than that.

I also wouldn't want to sell one of my goats to someone who was going to use it for this purpose. I understand in competitions, the goats aren't used over and over. But for an individual practicing on one goat??

You should have asked the lady if she had any other kids. If so, why don't they take the part of the goat for her daughter to practice? Obviously it's quite fun!

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I have to agree, I don't see where the skill is in this. Its like going hunting for a deer thats trapped in a dog pen. Even th ecalf roping to some extent is the same way. If you really want to show how well you can rope a calf, then ride your horse out into a huge pasture among the mommas and single out a calf a rope it.

But then I don't think any of the roping or wrestling should really be a sport. I can see doing it if you need to vet animals or something, but to just do it because you want to? It just seems kind of mean to chase the animals down in an arena just for the sake of entertainment.

I truly don't get the purpose of this "event." Goats are not cattle, certainly not a part of western/cowboy tradition and it seems to me the animal is simply being used for entertainment purposes. Whoever claimed goats "enjoy" the tying contest I'd like to know how he/she discerned that. It sounds somewhat barbaric and totally uneccessary - just so someone can claim they can tie a goat quicker than someone else? I'm not some PETA extremist, merely someone with some common sense wondering about the absurdity of this endeavor.

One of the goats I have came from a rodeo. I got her from the person who rescued her from the rodeo (I think?). Anyway, the reason I'm posting this is to say that she is a very skittish goat. She's beautiful, and is slowly starting to trust me slightly. She stays with the rest of the girls and sees them come up to me to get pets. In the beginning she would run when she seen me. Then she got to where she'd stand back and watch the others. With time she has gained a little trust, she will now come up with the others to eat a little grain, and sometimes she will let me get close enough to touch her. She usually bolts when she feels the touching. I'm thinking about having DS hold her while I pet her. I don't know if this would calm her by teaching her that I won't hurt her, or if it would do more damage than good. It might bring the old fears to the surface (not that they aren't already close). I really hope that she will learn to trust me and come up to get a pet like the others.

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Spinner, just give her time. When feeding her grain, stand by her, as near as she is just a little uncomfortable, but not so uncomfortable that she won't come over to eat. Come nearer as she gets more relaxed and eventually you might lightly pet her when she eats. The first few time you pet her, you might just lightly pet her and then smoothly back away - rewarding her for letting you pet her. I had a skittish one that is much better now. She really improved once I started milking her everyday as well.

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I agree with southerngurl, this stuff does take time. I would not catch the goat. Treats and time and gradually getting closer should do the trick. When I was taming my wild goats, and finally got close enough to touch, I didn't reach for the goat. I put the treat into a pan and held my hand near the pan, then over the pan in such a way that the goat had to contact my hand to get the treat. That was the first physical contact. Now both goats, which were completely wild and six months old when I got them, trust me just fine.

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The truly great thing about homesteading is the freedom and independence it offers. Freedom to tie goats, freedom not to tie goats, freedom to sell goats to goat tiers, freedom not to sell goats to goat tiers, freedom to buy goats and not tell the seller that they are for goat tieing................

Those saying it should be outlawed to me fall in the same group that says that you shouldn't use animals for any purpose. You are just a part of the Animal Rights movement.

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I am not saying they shouldn't be used for any purpose. I am saying they should be used for a purpose, not entertainment. Would it be okay if someone used a dog for this type of entertainment? If not, why?

Does that make me a tree hugging PETA sympathizer? Because I feel that the animals should have a little more peace in their lives, that they shouldn't be subjected to tying and such just because the human race has ran out of things to do with itself and has to resort to this kind of thing so that they can be entertained? I don't think so. In fact since I eat my bunnies and use their fur, most animal rights activists wouldn't like me very much. But at least I have more respect for their health and mental well being than to reduce myself to scaring them and tossing them about just so I can win something and others can be entertained.

Funny you feel the need. I was simply expressing my opinion on the subject. What you have to say on the subject matters not in the least to me and does not change my opinion a bit.

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