Racehorces: goats as pets/friends

Painter Tatiana Berg in L Magazine

What’s the most insightful thing anyone’s ever said about what you do?When racehorses are trained some of them are given little goats as pets that live with them in the stables and keep them company, so they stay calm when they’re traveling or in a new place. Some of the paintings you’re going to make are horses, and some of them are going to be goats. The goats are really important, you just wouldn’t ever send them down the race track.

More on this happy phenomenon:

While most horses don't seem to mind the short separation for racing and exercising, if their goats aren't around the barn with them, it often means trouble. They will pace the stalls, and fail to get the rest they need.

"It really affects their performance. They just can't relax unless that goat is nearby," she said.

Goats also frequently ride in the trailer with the horses when they are moving from track to track.

Gabriel said that when a horse she was training was sold in a claiming race, she sent its goat along with it.

"It was the only humane thing to do," she said. "A horse that loses its goat is just bereft and actually mourns."