[AG-EQ] Work for a goat

[Tracy Carcione]

This is a little article about a stable goat at one of New York's racing
stables.  

He sure is a big goat.

Tracy

 

Gilbert the Goat: Atras Racing Stable's Multitasking Mascot

THE LIFE

August 17th, 2020 BY 

Annise Montplaisir

Gilbert the Goat performs many tasks for Rob Atras' barn at Saratoga and is
a cherished member of the backstretch community. (Brittney Atras photo)

 

Gilbert walks purposely down the shedrow, surveying a stranger approaching
the barn where he resides in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The brown and white
goat's

leather collar has a name plate reading "Gilbert Atras," indicating his
association with trainer 

Rob Atras

and his wife and assistant Brittney.

 

"Gilbert is just.. Gilbert," said Brittney Atras, wracking her brain for an
appropriate comparison between their goat - who is the height of a Great
Dane

and width of a large wheelbarrow - and a human character.

 

'Gilbert Atras' (Annise Montplaisir ) 

 

"He's such a strange combination of things," she mused. "He goes from a
grumpy uncle, where you can see he's huffing around the barn because
something

has peeved him off, to absolutely wanting to play and being like a pet dog.
But he's definitely not a goat."

 

Most goats found in racing stables are companion animals, providing a
calming effect on anxious horses. Gilbert was purchased by Rob as a
3-month-old kid

to be raised as a baby-sitter. But Gilbert - now 5 - had different ideas,
preferring the barn's ponies to excitable Thoroughbreds.

 

His titles include stable mascot, morale booster, and head of security -
chasing people away who he feels do not belong in his barn. He is also
self-appointed

entertainer for owners, showing off, rubbing up against legs, and mooching
for food.

 

The Atras' train out of a private barn near the Saratoga harness track,
overseeing a string of nearly 30 horses. A spacious grassy area and dirt
walking

oval line the barn, with the entire area contained by a tall fence. Brittney
said Gilbert views Saratoga as his playground, wandering and eating as he

pleases.

 

But Gilbert's preferred kingdom is the couple's barn at 

Belmont Park.

 

"He spends his entire days there in the office," Atras said. "He stands in
the doorway and monitors everything going on. He also likes climbing the
trees

there."

 

Gilbert walks up to a stack of hay bales and slides back and forth against
them, scratching his sides without taking his eyes off the chatting humans
nearby.

 

"He's showing off," Atras said.

 

Gilbert ambles over reaches out a hoof, like a dog being asked to shake.

 

Head of security. (Annise Montplaisir ) 

 

"Oh yeah, he does goat yoga. I mean, not real goat yoga, but we stretch him
so he loves stretching," Atras added.

 

"Real" goat yoga generally involves baby goats who bounce over the ground
and climb on top of class participants. As a nearly 200-pound boer goat, you

would not want Gilbert walking on top of you.

 

"He never eats healthy snacks, he doesn't like carrots," Atras said. "He
doesn't like goat feed, he only eats high performance horse feed. I think
that's

why he's so big. We don't give him his own, he just bullies horses into
giving him their feed."

 

Not even the horses mess with Gilbert, simply walking around when he refuses
to move from the barn aisle.

 

"He also eats donuts, and things he thinks he's not supposed to have. If
there's something healthy on the desk like a carrot or apples, he will eat
them

because he thinks he's being bad."

 

Gilbert pricks his floppy ear and stares momentarily at people riding bikes
down the street. Promptly losing interest, he ambles down the shedrow to
Rob,

pressing his head into the trainer's arm to request attention.