Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1908-12-04
THE NAUGHTY GOAT.
Observation-Disclosures

Although our grandfathers n per-.
haps their grandfathers before them,
were amused by trained animals of n
kind or another, it is only recently that
goats have been educated" for exhibit
ton purposes. Horses, dogs, lions and
monkeys have been performing their
tricks III public for at least Il couple
Of centuries, but the trained goat, says
a successful modern trainer, is n pres
ent day product. He is not lard to
train, but is often difficult to manage
In front Of IN audience.
AS in the case Of all trained animals
the feats that look so remarkable on
the stage are really things that a goat
does naturally ina different environ
ment. The same balancing power that
enables a goat to stand on a sharp
pointed rock enables it to stand on
the top Of a bottle, and the same agility
that helps it to leap from one rocE
to another helps it to leap through Il
paper-covered hoop or over rows or
chairs. The trainer patiently teaches
a goat to balance, jump, stand on its
hind legs, and so forth, ut certain def
mite signals, rewards it with a lump OK
sugar when it Is obedient, and whips
1t when it is obstinate. The result
after a long period of patient labor, Is
a goat that can be expected to do tricks
in public provided the trainer can keep
control Of it.
But what makes the goat hard to
manage in public Is something that
seems like a sense of humOr combined
with remarkable intelligence.
The goat learns that its trainer does
not like to whip it at any time, because
a trained goat is too valuable to be
mistreated. But more than that, 1t
discovers that the trainer will not whip
a goat in public. The audience would
invariably side with the goat. SO the
moment the goat gets in front or the
audience it is likely to turn disobedient
Feats performed readily enough at re-
hearsal it will try to dodge during the
performance, and instead Of staying
quietly in it's place When not perform
ing, it will now M then plague the
trainer by trying to run away from
the stage and get back to the stable.
There are often minor changes In
the performance of a troupe OF trained
goats that are quite unsupported by
the audience.
Sometimes a goat gets SO unmanage-
able tina the trainer has to enlist the
sympathy Of the spectators by explain
ing matters. There was a trained goat
orce that became day by day more n
| mcre unreliable, until there came a per-
4 ..s -.t.o, tJ, ~J,no rod animal re-
| fused to do anything whatever. Inc
trainer was in despair, and the goaI
apparently laughing at lin. The goat
| had to be disciplined. The man knew
1t must be disciplined there and then,
or it would become utterly worthless
and the training would have to Desln
all over again. He turned to the au-
dience.
ladies and gentlemen" he said,
here I've got a very bad goat. don't
want to punish him. You don't
me to punish him, and he knows 1t.
| Goats are like children. If they're not
punished just when they misbehave It's
| no use Furnishing them
| With your permission, I'm going 10
| give this fellow one good touch CT the
whip and make Il well behaved goat
| Of him."
He held up a hoop for the goat to
lump through. The goat merely looked
at it and her at the audience. Inc
trainer swung his whip aud the lash
| curled sharply round the goats nina
! quarters. With an expression OF u r
prise and disgust the animal jumper
| through the hoop. 49,,
THANK you, ladies and gentlemen
| said the trainer. Now that goatll be-
| lieye that an audience is always on
nv side and I shall not have any more
trouble with him."-Youth's Com
panion.