Recently turned 2-month-old baby goats Lexi and Goldie were roaming around a field full of tall grass and wildflowers.
As the two “kids” — as goats under a year old are called — explored the large space, their caretaker Michelle Tritten began to feed them pellets, warming them up for their first solo goat yoga gig on April 21 at the Press Paws Ranch Retreat in Agua Dulce.
As attendees for the goat yoga fundraiser trickled in, the goofy, galloping personality of both kids brought out smiles and laughter from all the people.
Tritten, owner and founder of Los Angeles-based “Hello Critter Goat Yoga,” founded her company in 2017 after she stumbled across a viral video of goats standing on top of people performing yoga poses such as downward dogs, planks and lunges.
“It was originally started in Oregon … I’ve had goats since the ’80s and started practicing yoga in the ’90s, so they were two of my passions,” Tritten said. “I had been kind of asking the universe for a change in direction and I just followed the breadcrumbs.”
Her friend helped her plan her first goat yoga experience and the rest was history.
“There were 10 people at the first one, and two weeks later it went viral on Facebook and 1,500 people said they were interested in going and on a drizzly day in L.A., 70 people showed up,” she said.
At the Press Paws Ranch Retreat fundraiser, participants attended the goat yoga experience to help raise money and awareness of the newly founded organization.
Press Paws Ranch Retreat aims at giving cancer patients, caretakers and oncology nurses an immersive experience free of cost where they can connect with rescued farm animals, participate in mindfulness meditation, and find tranquility.
Elisabeth Hower, yoga instructor for the evening, welcomed the small group of attendees and led the warm-up as Lexi and Goldie slowly began to walk around the mats, and people were stretching.
On occasion, the baby goats would jump on top of the attendees as they performed different poses, causing them to lose their balance and bringing out giggles from the other participants while they filmed themselves to share their experience on social media.
Lexi and Goldie on occasion would wander off, paying more attention to the wildflowers they wanted to consume instead of entertaining the fundraiser attendees.
Despite their tiny mishaps, Tritten and the attendees were delighted to be in close proximity to the four-legged animals.
“They did amazing. It’s the biggest space they have ever been in so they just wandered a little bit, but they did their tunnels 100% all the way through,” she said.
Once the baby goats are fully grown, they retire and many of them continue to live their life under Tritten’s care.
“When we find homes that are acceptable, where I feel like they’re getting an upgrade in life, then we will rehome them … I’m a foster failure … I fall in love with these babies and it’s hard, very, very hard for me to let go but I do what’s best for them. The animals always come first.”
