If you haven’t read the first part of this story about how four Prancing Pony Farm goats ended up at the Santa Barbara Zoo, you can read it here on our original website. But the zoo goat story doesn’t end there…
When “No Kidding Season” Turned Into More Zoo Goats
In 2023, I shared the exciting story of how the Santa Barbara Zoo chose four of our Mini Nubian kids for their petting zoo. It was such an honor to see our genetics represented at a place where thousands of people would meet and fall in love with goats.
But what I didn’t expect was a sequel to that story!
The Year I Tried to Skip Kidding Season
In 2024, I made what felt like an impossible decision: skip kidding season entirely. For the first time since starting Prancing Pony Farm, I chose not to breed my goats.
The reason? I was enrolled in Karen Pryor Academy’s intensive six-month Dog Trainer Professional program. This certification required enormous time and energy, and I knew that managing my usual 100+ baby goats during the 6-month program and the April workshop week would be impossible. I had to choose between succeeding in my dog training certification and managing kidding season.
I chose my education, even though it meant no baby goats for the first time in years.
When Goats Have Other Plans
But apparently, my goats didn’t get the memo about my “no kidding” that year!
Two of my does decided to take matters into their own hooves when a young buck managed to break out of his pen. I had no idea they were pregnant until I walked out one morning to discover surprise baby goats scattered around the barn!
Within a couple of days, both does had delivered – healthy triplets each. Six “oops babies” that I definitely wasn’t expecting.
I laughed at the irony. Here I was, trying to have a year without baby goats, and I ended up with six surprise kids anyway! But honestly, having just a few babies around was manageable and brought some joy to what I thought would be a goat-less spring.
The Phone Call That Made Everything Perfect
Then came the phone call that turned my surprise babies into something even more special.
Dr. Julie Barnes from the Santa Barbara Zoo contacted me with incredible news. The four goats they had purchased the year before (you can read about that adventure in part one of this story) had grown into absolutely gorgeous adults and were the absolute hit of the zoo. Both staff and visitors adored them.
The zoo wanted to purchase more Prancing Pony goats. Could I help them out?
I started laughing as I told her, “You’re not going to believe this, but even though I didn’t plan a kidding season this year, I happen to have six surprise babies available!”
I figured they’d want one or two of the kids. But Dr. Barnes surprised me again: “We’ll take all six!”
Bottle Training Challenge
The zoo had one special request: they preferred bottle babies since hand-raised kids tend to be more people-friendly for zoo interactions.
Even though these kids were nursing naturally from their mothers (which I always prefer when possible), I agreed to help make this work. I spent the next couple of weeks gradually transitioning the kids to bottles and weaning them from their moms.
It was extra work I hadn’t planned for, but knowing these kids were destined for the zoo made every bottle feeding session special.
The Zoo Truck Returns
When the kids were about a month old, I got to experience that thrill again – watching the zoo truck with its painted butterflies and zoo logos pull into my driveway!
Kristen and her team were just as excited as they’d been the year before, and the kids were absolutely adorable and ready for their big adventure.
As a bonus, I happened to have a litter of four-week-old Maremma puppies at the time, so I invited the zoo staff in to meet them. Puppy socialization is so important at that age, and zoo staff make excellent visitors for teaching puppies about new people!
Ten Prancing Pony Zoo Goats
And that’s how the Santa Barbara Zoo ended up with not just four, but ten Prancing Pony Farm Mini Nubian goats!
Four from my carefully planned 2023 breeding season, and six surprise additions from my attempted “no kidding” year of 2024.
Sometimes the best stories are the ones you never see coming. Those “oops babies” that interrupted my planned break from goats turned into another incredible opportunity to see our genetics shine at a wonderful institution.
A Special Legacy
Now that I’m stepping away from goat breeding (which you can read more about in our current herd dispersal sale ),these ten zoo goats represent something really special to me.
They’re a living legacy of Prancing Pony genetics that will continue bringing joy to countless zoo visitors for years to come. Every child who pets one of our goats, every family that takes a photo, every person who falls in love with goats because of meeting one of ours – that’s the kind of impact that makes all those years of breeding worthwhile.
So if you ever visit the Santa Barbara Zoo and stop by the petting zoo, you might just be meeting one of ten different Prancing Pony goats – each with their own story of how they ended up there, from carefully planned breeding to surprise “oops babies” that turned into stars.
Want to read how this zoo adventure started? Check out Part 1 of the Zoo Goats story on our original website.
Ready to own your own piece of Prancing Pony genetics? These zoo goats represent the quality you could have in your own backyard. Check out our final genetics sale – your last chance to own these bloodlines before I step away from goat breeding forever.
Looking for an amazing livestock guardian dog to protect your own herd or flock? Check out our sister site, Prancing Pony Maremmas.