Goat Fund Us: Update #46

Hello everyone,

Our season has started and the farm has been open for more than a month – time simply flies. People often ask “how is it going?” and there is no easy answer to this. It is going “a lot” but the important thing is that we are always going forward. Each year getting this precious place ready for opening seems like a tremendously big undertaking, a tall mountain to climb with many steep steps just before the summit, but the team – strong with experienced staff and reinforced by new very motivated staff – stood together and we got there.
It felt great to open up, the first few days always feel like welcoming old familiar faces back and swapping stories about the past months. It was really awesome to see you all again.
There are several new things at the farm, but I’ll tell you about those next time.

I would like to use this update to tell you about Rosie’s adventures and accomplishments in 2024. This month Rosie is going to turn four and for me that is a great opportunity to look back at her eventful year.
Let me start by saying that I honestly can’t put into words how proud I am of this little girl. When I think of her I smile with joy, pride and love in my heart. It might sounds crazy to some people, but I look at Rosie’s life and the difficulties that are put in front of her and I’m simply “in awe” on how she overcomes them – just by being herself, by trusting in her own strength and in her human, by simply taking one step after the other, by sometimes letting go and accepting the situation, by not being scared or giving in to the fear of not being able to move after her shoulder surgery (which must be the worst experience for a prey animal) and by slowly but steadily coming back, getting stronger and finding her place again.

But let’s step back in time. Her last story ended with her being through surgery and one month into her recovery. That time was difficult for Rosie: her shoulder had been repaired surgically, she was still sore (like after any other major surgery but how to explain that to a goat), she was physically separated from the other goats (but could see and smell them) and her front legs were restraint to minimal movements by a hobble. I carried her out for break time with me and the team, to give her the chance to be social and feel physical contact with another being. In the evenings the two of us sat together and she snuggled up close to me and during that time she slept really deeply – as if she knew she could fully relax while I was watching over her. I won’t lie, that was a difficult and stressful time for me too. I still had to do all my normal work and help the team to care for all the animals but my thoughts were always with Rosie and only in our breaks and evenings I could reassure her that she was not alone in all this, that we were going through it together.
But this is Rosie we are talking about and of course she was great. I know it was hard for her to accept her limited movement, she was not allowed to walk much – no running and jumping, though we had a few scary situations when that still happened and I just worried myself sick that she could have re-injured her shoulder.

After eight weeks passed we were allowed to take the hobble off for some light exercise – just slow walking for which we had bought her a new harness and used a dog sling for support to help with her weight and her desire for speed. When she walked for the first time on that sling, I was blown away and I started to believe again that she would make a full recovery. We now practiced daily – and Rosie being Rosie refused to practice her walking with any of the other staff. She would only exercise with her human foster mum – and that’s what we did: Lots of slow walking, in small and big circles, up and especially downhill, on different surfaces, and doing balancing exercises on her bosu ball. Rosie showed so much trust in my decision for her path of recovery – as long as we did it all together she was in.
And she really got better. I didn’t see it so much from day to day, but from the videos I took and looked at later I can really see her progress.

Another big goal was reintegrating Rosie in the goat herd. Normally a goat getting into a herd will have to find her place in its hierarchy by fighting. For Rosie that wasn’t an option. Well, I guess in her mind it was: While she was keeping a safe distance when the bossiest goats came close, she was of the opinion that she was ready to take on some of the other bigger goats, but I did not share that sentiment. I wanted to start this all much slower and safer and we had to find a “goat” compromise. In the end we had a mix of her fighting some smaller goats and me putting some of the big bullies into timeout stalls while Rosie tried her confidence. Sometimes Rosie was hiding behind my legs and on other occasions I was standing by her side to let the bullies know that Rosie wasn’t standing here alone – that I would have her back. I guess we (or at least I) made a ridiculous sight of an overly worried human mum, but what matters is that it worked: Rosie found her place again in this herd – even though she will always be a little different.

One last big step was still in front of her and honestly both of us. Up until the fall Rosie was still sleeping alone in a stall as overnight I can not supervise them closely or protect her. The one goal still to reach was that Rosie could share a stall with her stepsisters Camie and Brie, that they could have the sense again of being a little family. (This was also the one important step for her to reach before I could make the decision to take some time off to visit my human family abroad.) We practiced for many evenings being together for hours but still sleeping separately when I went home. There always remained some fighting and I was just worried, I simply didn’t know when the time was right. I still remember how Rosie made that decision for us. She simply went to sleep in the stall where the other two lived and didn’t want to get back up again. In her own way she was just telling me “Mum, it’s ok now. Stop worrying. I’ll be fine.” And she was right. Since that night Rosie has been living in a stall together with Camie and Brie.

Do I still worry? Yes, of course, a little bit every day – but maybe that’s what mums do. And maybe that’s ok.
But I know that she is strong, resilient and resourceful, determined and very smart, her entire life story has taught me that.
She will always be different from the other goats, she will always have her privileges (and she earned those) and free time with me around the farm. For both of us that is real quality time – time together that we deeply value, that we both need – this time reassures our bond every day. It makes us feel whole, happy and safe to be together.

I could still tell you much more about Rosie, her adventures and accomplishments and the fun little things she does every day to make us smile.
I would also like to say thank you to everyone who helped Rosie (and me) to be where she is today. Thank you for all the support, treatment, advice, encouragement, all the interest in her condition and her progress and every kind word and smile on the way. This was a hard journey for her and we will continue to exercise. But I’m simply grateful that Rosie is back!

And I would like to wish her a happy fourth birthday and all the best for her next year!

Claudia & Rosie (who will tell you her own story in the video)