BOYLE – Boyle-area goat farmer Terryl Turner teamed up with Courtney Lantz, a yoga instructor from Community Yoga with Courtney in Amber Valley, to host a session of goat yoga March 6 in the basement at the Boyle and District Community Centre.
Goat yoga is when a yoga teacher leads a class of yogis while live goats interact with them by either climbing on them, bumping into them or in some cases, eating food off the yogis. As Lantz led the session, Turner and her two children went around cleaning up urine and droppings from the goats.
Turner said her goat farm is located about five miles west of Boyle.
“I figured that goat yoga was big in the city and I had some goats on my property. I thought it would be interesting if I was able to bring the program to Boyle,” Turner explained. “It’s something to do for the people who are living out here.”
She added it was really funny to see the goats interacting with the yogis in attendance.
“They will do anything for their grain, even eat it off the backs and stomachs of the yogis,” Turner said. “Most of the goats we used are about a year old or older, and hopefully next spring we could add some more kids to the mix as well.”
Turner said it’s not just the first time for the yogis, but for the goats as well.
“We started planning for this over a year ago, but we had to wait for approval from the Village to hold it at their facility,” she explained. “But I also had to wait for a health inspector to approve it as well. Once that happened, we were able to hold the event.”
Village of Boyle Coun. Shelby Kiteley brought her two daughters to the event. She said it was a really good time.
“I was here more for the goats than I was for the yoga, but both are good,” Kiteley said. “I don’t often do yoga but I’ve done it in the past. After trying this method out, I like it much better now with goats.”
She added her daughters were really hesitant at first when she told them they would be in with the goats.
“But once they got here, they were really enjoying it,” Kiteley continued. “One thing I wasn’t expecting was the one goat getting on my back and jumping off or even eating off my back later on too.”
Eighteen-year-old Katelyn Young came up with her stepmother from Spruce Grove. She said she has done yoga before as an exercise before playing soccer.
“I’ve never done it with goats,” Young said. “Now that I've tried it, I would never do it any other way. I really love goats.”
Lantz said she’s been doing regular yoga for about seven years, but this was the first time she’s ever led a class of goat yoga.
“I was originally trained as a regular yoga instructor in Arizona,” she added. “Goat yoga is more about the light-hearted and letting go of all expectations and cares. You never really know what you are going to get.”
She said this type of yoga brings things to a whole different level of fun and entertainment.
“I would definitely say that the Turners had the more important job cleaning up after the goats,” Lantz continued. “But it was a great night and I would definitely do it again. We were just so glad we had the 15 people turnout for the event. We were going to cap it off at 10, but it’s always good to have extra people.”
Bryan Taylor, TownandCountryToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @BryanTaylorNews
