There’s a farm in Bristol that lets you take goats for a walk

My flatmate Rachel loves goats, and to be honest who doesn’t? She was turning nineteen and so obviously I decided to look into whether there were any city farms in Bristol which would let us chill with some of her favourite animal.

A quick Google search later and I found Windmill Hill City Farm in Bedminster accommodated the request. “Goat in there” I thought.

It only goat 18 likes on Instagram

The experience was surreal to say the least. We found ourselves questioning how exactly two hungover first years had ended up walking pygmy goats around a farm.

‘I am so done with this kid’

Interesting things we learned about Pip and Bella (the goats):

1) They are literally pear shaped (unlike the day itself, which went really well).

2) They have a tendency to refuse to move and then randomly run really fast (David Attenborough eat your heart out). It became a skill to predict their behaviour. We were living on the edge.

Am I walking the goat or is the goat walking me?

When asked what she thought of her present, Rachel simply said: “Some people go on a gap-yah to find themselves but we just went goat-walking instead”.

How many life-changing birthday presents have you ever got? Exactly. I think it’s fair to say this was an amazing gift and has changed Rachel’s life forever in a highly profound way. Good job Pip and Bella. It truly is the year of the goat.

Feeling goat and grounded

Who knows, maybe Pip and Bella found the experience rewarding too. We can only hope.

There were pigs as well. Just saying.

The only regret was not getting to know the piglets better but all the more reason to return.

Indie kids

On a more serious level (but how serious can you get when talking about goat walking really) and putting aside baaaaaad puns, cheers to the farm because they’re a cool charity and were great about catering to the strange wish. It got to the point where I almost enjoyed being referred to as “Pygmy-Goat-Girl” when I called to check on arrangements.

Whatever floats your goat