Transcripts
Today we're joined by Cora Moore of Fairylands Farms, a sanctuary
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dedicated to rescue, healing, and the
unique bond between people and goats.
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Cora combines her passion for animal
welfare with goat-assisted wellness
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experiences that help people slow
down, reconnect with nature, and
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discover the therapeutic power of
compassionate animal interactions.
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Hi, Cora.
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How are you?
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Cora: I'm good, Dixie.
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How are you doing?
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Dixie: I'm good.
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I hear a lot of critters
in the background.
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Cora: Yes.
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We have 50 animals, and of course,
as soon as I picked up the phone,
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everybody's gotta go crazy.
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That's how it always goes.
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Dixie: I am excited to learn
all about Fairyland Farms.
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Give me a brief summary about
Fairyland Farms and what you do.
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Cora: So we're just a small
nonprofit animal sanctuary, National
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Wildlife certified wildlife habitat.
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And so we rescue animals,
and then we do goat-assisted
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wellness and education with them.
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And we have 50 animals on the
farm, and 20 of those are goats.
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So we mostly focus on rescuing goats.
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And then, like I said, we do
the wellness work with them.
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And we've just rebranded ourselves
because the therapy work we do
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with the goats, It's non-clinical.
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I am an educational psychologist.
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We don't diagnose, treat mental disorders.
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It's all about just learning how these
animals are co-regulators and co-creators,
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and goats are just really good at
teaching us how to heal and how to ground.
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And we take them, y- you
name it, we take them.
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Assisted living homes.
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We go to schools, universities,
libraries, museums.
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We work with veterans.
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We work with a lot of
special needs populations.
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We like to say that any way
these animals can spread love and
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happiness, 'cause they're just
really good at doing stuff like that.
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And and rebranding because of
my experience in psychology
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and education, we're really
focusing on academia right now.
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I teach online college classes mostly,
and I've taught in-person classes too.
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And so I was lucky enough in the
past couple of years to do a kind
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of program evaluation study with
some of my live classes, and I would
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bring the goats into the classroom.
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Students would interact with them.
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Even the big burly, like cop security,
campus security, they would melt
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to hold one of the little baby
goats, and it was really awesome.
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And so we've got some good data
from that, and we're just looking
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to kinda move forward from there.
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And then Dixie, if you want me to
tell you about some of our other
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animals, we can talk about those too.
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Like we have Stevie, he's our
Australian long-billed corella.
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He is supposedly only one of
two here in the United States.
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The only information we can find on
him, though, is over in Australia.
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So he's a fun guy, and he's
a rare guy in these parts.
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Dixie: And what is he exactly?
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I'm not familiar with those.
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Cora: It's a type of cockatoo, but once
again, they're native to Australia.
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So you could say like an
Australian cockatoo, would maybe
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be another way to describe him.
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Dixie: Sure.
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And what about the other animals you have?
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Cora: Oh, we have dogs and cats and
right now we've rescued donkeys.
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We've had rabbits on the farm.
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We've had turtles on the farm.
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But right now we have dogs, we have
cats, we have some guinea pigs, and
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then we have the yard birds, so it's
like guinea fowl, chickens, ducks, and
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then our turkey, Bob, who is actually
a pretty funny and fun guy, too.
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I never realized how much personality
turkeys had until we got him.
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So he's funny, and he loves the goats.
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He's always right wherever
the goats are, watching them.
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Dixie: Cool.
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I definitely wanna dive more
into the goats and learn a lot
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more about the goat- goats.
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I've never- … had anybody on talking
about goats before, so that's awesome.
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But before we get into that, tell me
how you got started in all of this.
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Cora: You know what?
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I guess it was a little bit of
luck and a little bit of craziness.
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I started my education in archeology.
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That was, like, from seven years old.
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I'm 47.
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So it was like, wanna be an archeologist,
'cause I love culture, love learning about
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the diversity of the human experience.
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And just by being out in the woods
a lot on my own, and I've camped and
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hiked all over the United States.
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And then my dad was a chaplain's assistant
in the Army, so we traveled around a lot.
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Traveling around was in my blood.
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And and working in archeology, I
was always like, "Oh, one day I'm
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gonna have me a little goat farm
and be able to, have a little farm
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out in the middle of the woods."
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And it took me let's see,
I've been here 13 years now.
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So in my travels going all over
the country I got my first goat
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out in the Mojave Deve- Desert in
California, and then that led me
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here to Tennessee, and took me a
couple years to figure out exactly
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what I wanted to do with these goats.
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Then I started working on my
PhD in psychology, and it was
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like, duh, animal therapy.
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It's like work with what you know.
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Don't burn the candles at
both ends, as they say.
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You know what I mean?
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Dixie: Definitely.
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How long have you had
Fairyland Farms or how long
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Cora: has it been operational?
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I've been here for 13 years, and we
have been a non-profit since 2021.
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It was funny because when I finally got
the idea to do this with the goats, it
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was I swear it was like the next day
COVID hit, and everything was shut down.
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And I'm like now what are we gonna do?"
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So we spent those first two years
during COVID doing a lot of virtual
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therapy visits with the goats.
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And then, so it's funny, Dixie.
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I would do a tarot readings with the
goats, and I have my one goat baby,
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who is still on the farm, and I would
have her with me in the session, and
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I would shuffle the cards and hold
them out to her, and the card that she
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decided to nibble on would be the one
I would pull and read for the person.
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We had people all over the
world doing those with us.
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So that was really fun and really cool.
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And then I found this group, it's
called Pets On Call, and we do
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virtual therapy visits to assisted
living homes all over the country.
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And we still do those.
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We just had one of those
yesterday that we went to.
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And so those are a lot of fun, and then
we do things like virtual animal crashing.
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And so it would be like maybe
corporation or like a university
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that they do meetings online.
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And so we come in, and like five,
10 minutes just show the animals,
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talk about what we do on the farm.
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And it's just a way to help, those people
feel connected, valued, and just have a
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little giggle and de-stress themselves.
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Because if anything, goats are
really good at helping us ground,
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and they're very healing creatures.
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They're heathens.
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I tell everybody, I'm like, "They're
the sweetest heathens you ever met."
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But at the same time, they have so many
physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual
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benefits that they provide in our life.
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And so that's why we have rebranded this
year to call it Wellness, Goat Assistant
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Wellness and Education, 'cause that just
aligns with, my experience, my education,
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my lived work with these animals.
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And yeah, like I said-- And
then like I said, I was taking
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the goats to the classroom.
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We partner with another local
university and did a a de-stress
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event during finals week with them.
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And e-everybody just loves it.
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They're, goats are very great animals.
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Do you have any experience with goats?
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Dixie: I do not.
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Other than just being around
another rescue that has some goats.
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I've always- … wanted
to have goats for myself.
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I really like goats.
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And I'm gonna tell you a story too that
I think you'll get a kick out of this.
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But yeah, as far as goats, that's
something that I definitely want to have.
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I do wanna get some goats.
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We do have some acreage that we're gonna
be building the sanctuary on, and so when
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we get everything, all our fencing and
everything that we need up there, and
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we're up there more full time, definitely
goats is something that I wanna get.
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I'm in a city right now.
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If I could put a goat in my
backyard, I would, but I can't.
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But but yeah.
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No, I'm gonna tell you a story
real quick about my veterinarian.
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Cora: Okay.
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Dixie: Okay.
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So my veterinarian had an old Corvette
that she would drive around in,
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and- … her passenger was a goat.
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So everywhere she would go, this
goat would drive around with her.
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He would chew on her seats.
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She didn't care 'cause the goat
would go everywhere with her.
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But anyway, aside from that, I do
wanna get more into goats, but I
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have another question for you too.
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Okay.
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You mentioned that you're also
a National Wildlife Habitat.
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So what is that?
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Cora: You know what?
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That is something that sounds like
hoity-toity, but it's awesome.
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It's actually something that is very
easy for anybody to set up and do.
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So we are certified through the
National Wildlife Federation.
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Have you heard of them?
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Dixie: I have heard of them.
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I'm not very familiar with it though.
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Cora: But yeah, so it's like as long
as you meet the criterion, it's like
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you've gotta have a natural place for
the wildlife that live on your property.
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You gotta have a, like a place
to where they can kinda, hide
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out, have their babies, have food
and water available for them.
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And then you fill out the questionnaire
form, and I think it was like 25 bucks.
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I haven't looked on the website in a
while, so I haven't checked that out yet.
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But then you fill out the form, you
pay the money, and they give you that
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status, and so they give you like a little
certificate and everything for that.
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And I actually discovered that
when we went and rescued these
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two goats, and the lady had it.
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And I was like, "That's so cool.
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How did you get that?"
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And she told it to me, and
I was like, "You know what?
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I think that is an awesome idea."
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And it perfectly aligns with what we
are trying to do here on our sanctuary
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because environmental and ecological
conservation is a big part of it, too.
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And then, like I said,
I worked in archeology.
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I've been out in the woods
for the majority of my life.
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I'm like the way I think I got conned
into chasing goats every day is say
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I got lost in the woods and went
away with the fairies, and they're
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like, "Hey, you wanna chase goats?"
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And I said, "Yeah, guys,
that sounds awesome."
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And then I was like, "Oh,
no, what have I done?"
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But still, I'm like, it's wonderful.
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I do not know what I would do
without these animals in my life.
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They're the whole reason I get up in the
morning, my whole reason for existence.
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And then when I see the way that
they affect other people and the
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happiness that they bring and the
interactions there, it's just no
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this is such a beautiful thing.
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We need more love and kindness and
beauty in this world, and if we just
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stop and slow down and pause and learn
to ground, nature will speak to us,
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and the animals will speak to us.
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And that's just…
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I like to say, even though, like
I said, , we don't really call it
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goat therapy anymore, we call it
wellness it's good for your soul.
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Goat therapy is good for your soul.
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Dixie: That's gonna lead into my next
question for you, which is why goats?
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And then also, where do
you get your goats from?
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Cora: Oh, see, and that is a question
that people ask us all the time.
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They're like, "Why goats?"
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So my birthday is April 1st.
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I am an Aries, which means that I'm
naturally a goat, so I have always
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had an affinity for these animals.
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And then, like I said, just in,
working with them for 15 years, living
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with them every day of my life, I
see that therapeutic kind of healing
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value that they add to our lives.
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And then I didn't realize when I first
started that goats were not considered
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official therapy animals 'cause
there's just not enough research and
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data to support how they can do it.
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And right now even as I know January,
I think, was the last article I
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read in the professional world of
psychology, everybody's still stuck
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in this mindset that you gotta train
the goats based on dog therapy models.
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And we had the first officially certified
therapy goat in the United States.
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Her name was Ginger Snaps.
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And I tell you what, Dixie I love
every goat that I've ever had
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on this farm, but that is the
best-tempered girl we have ever had.
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And sadly, we lost her back in the spring.
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That's the worst thing about working with
these animals is because they're prey
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animals, they will hide if they get sick.
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And no matter how much you stay on top
of them, how much you monitor them,
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they will hide it from you, and one
minute they're up running around, and
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then the next second they're dead,
and you're like, "What happened?"
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However, that's okay because Ginger Snaps
set a precedent, and her legacy lived on.
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So we started off training her
specifically based on the dog
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models, and she could do everything.
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She was perfect.
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She can come inside a building,
come inside a facility, come inside
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the house, and she's not doing
the crazy goat stuff that they do.
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A lot of time, if a goat's gonna get
in the house, they're jumping on the
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counter, knocking everything off.
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They're eating books, eating
paperwork, eating all your plants,
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eating anything they can get in
their mouth, they're gonna eat.
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But Ginger Snaps was very calm.
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She was very good with strangers.
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However, in doing that, we quickly
learned, too, and based on some
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of the other goats that we have.
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Now the other therapy goats we
were using, they're not certified.
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We have two…
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Let's see.
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We have six that are in the
goat training camp right now,
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so we don't breed every year.
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I think the last time we bred was
maybe three or four years ago.
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So we do ethical breeding on the
sanctuary, and we just do that
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because we want the best-tempered
goats to take out into public.
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So anyway, back to Gingersnaps, even
though she was able to-- and she was
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actually a rescue that was a bottle
baby, so she lived in the house.
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Since we're in goat training right
now with some of our new babies, and
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half of them are rescues, half of them
were born this year, they are in the
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house right now learning how to be
civilized goats, if that's possible.
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But yes it is.
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As I said, Gingersnaps
proved that was possible.
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But she also showed us that in
order to train, goats for this work,
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that you have to do it based on
goat psychology and goat behavior.
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And so like I was saying, in the
professional world of psychology,
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everybody's still "Eh, we don't
really know if goats are really gonna
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be good for therapy work because
you can't train them like dogs."
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And I've got some stuff in the works
coming up to where I hopefully am
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gonna get an article published to
talk about that, so then we can set
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that precedence and open that dialogue
in the professional world for other
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psychologists and researchers to start,
trying to think in the way that we are
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and how you train them for therapy work.
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Does that make sense?
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Dixie: Yeah, absolutely.
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And I love hearing it too because, when
you think about therapy, primarily you
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think about using dogs for therapy.
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Now, I just did speak with somebody
and she does equine therapy, but it's
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great to, to hear that you can do this
therapy and this wellness with goats too.
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I know you're talking too
a lot about grounding.
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I'm very familiar with grounding,
but for people who are- … not
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00:16:38,410 --> 00:16:41,880
familiar with grounding, can you
explain that to our audience?
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00:16:43,426 --> 00:16:47,546
Cora: So basically when you talk
about grounding, it's talking
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about we live in such a pa-
fast-paced society and fast-paced
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world, and we're always like go."
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And so when you think about
grounding, it's all about that idea.
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It's kinda like mindfulness.
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It's slowing down, being in the present
moment, focusing on that moment.
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And a lot of times, like with my
students, I tell them, I'm like, "It's
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about, being ok- it's okay that we slow
down and we take time for ourselves
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to, to take all that stress that we
have in life and ignore all of it."
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The Buddhists like to say we
have a monkey brain, so it's
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constantly chattering at us.
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00:17:26,866 --> 00:17:29,296
And it's okay to tell our brains, "Stop.
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I don't wanna think about that right now.
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I wanna slow down.
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I wanna be in the present moment so
that I can reset my nervous system
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in order to deal with stress better."
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And then yeah, it's about learning
how to live in the present
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and learning that it's okay.
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We are allowed to give
ourselves those moments.
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Make sense?
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Dixie: Yeah, absolutely.
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Absolutely.
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00:17:55,116 --> 00:17:57,486
Yeah, like I said, I'm
definitely a fan of grounding.
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Now I do a different kind of grounding
too, where I'll go actually barefoot
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on the earth to kinda reset myself.
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But I could definitely see how goats
are involved with that too, because it
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does slow everything down, and that's
one thing that I'm always big on too,
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is the whole energy of everything.
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Because- Yeah … animals
pick up on your energy.
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I do cats.
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I see this in rescue all the time.
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If the person is nervous and anxious,
the cat is gonna be nervous and anxious
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00:18:27,506 --> 00:18:29,756
too, because they pick up on your energy.
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00:18:30,066 --> 00:18:34,136
And - Absolutely … they can
also help change your energy, so
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I could definitely see, how you
could use the goats for that too.
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00:18:38,946 --> 00:18:43,256
How do you manage to
bring them in facilities?
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Do you ever have problems with
people saying they don't want a
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goat in their facility or wherever
you're gonna be bringing them?
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00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:55,430
Cora: No, actually everybody is always
super excited to have the goats inside.
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And part of their training is
that we do treat teach them to
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use those puppy pee-pee pads.
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And so when they're inside, it's
like you gotta use the pee-pee pads.
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And the goats we the three that are
in the house right now I would say
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they, they're doing pretty good so far.
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They're probably about a seven,
eight out of 10 that they
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actually hit those pee-pee pads.
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The problem there is pooping.
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They're, facility and be there for a
while, I will put diapers on them just so
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we don't have to worry about that mess.
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'Cause it's hard to walk around a
hospital or something with a goat
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leaving a little poopy trail, or walk
into a school, into the classroom and
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the little poopy trail following you.
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So I do that too, and that's just
a safety thing, and of course
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it's a hygiene aspect of that too.
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Oh, and you asked me about
where we get our goats from.
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So I told you that sometimes that,
that we ethically breed them, and
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then most of them are rescues too.
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So we have a mix of them.
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And like I said, right now the ones
that are in the training program,
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one, two, three, five of them are
rescues and four of them were the
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babies that were born this year.
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So it's combination is what we do.
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Dixie: How long does the training take?
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Cora: It, honestly a year.
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A year and Ginger snaps, by the time
we decided that we should go ahead
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and just officially certify her,
she'd been doing it for two years.
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I can't remember off the top of
my head how many visits she's
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had, but almost 1,000 hours of
visits that little goat has had.
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And I think right now we're at
almost 200 with the three main ones
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that were rescued from last year.
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And a lot of it, it's just like I
said, it's based on their temperament.
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It's based on living with these
animals and observing them and watching
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them and trying to understand their
different personalities, 'cause
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goats have so much personality.
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And just like any other animal, they
all have their own personalities.
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And in that that sense too, just
like all dogs or all equines
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cannot be therapy animals, not
all goats can be therapy animals.
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We have one that we can take to
outside events when we do them.
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Her name is Rebel.
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That should tell you
everything you need to know.
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Rebel cannot come inside a building.
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She goes insane, and the other two
that we train with her, they're
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good inside as long as Rebel is
not there instigating the chaos.
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Dixie: When you do events or when you
go visit places, are you selecting
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out these places or are people
contacting you to bring the goats out?
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Cora: It's a little bit of both.
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A lot of times people will contact us
because, and that's with the rescue too,
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'cause people are always like how do the
people find you and you rescue goats?"
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00:21:54,921 --> 00:21:58,551
And it's a lot of times people get
elderly, they get sick, can't take
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care of their animals anymore, so
that's how we end up with them.
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And then, yeah, when it comes to people
find us, and then sometimes we will
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reach out to other people right now.
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Since we have rebranded and we're , trying
to get data on how they can help in an
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academic environment by supporting student
wellness, faculty, staff wellness, and
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00:22:22,121 --> 00:22:26,711
then of course that relates to like
community wellness, we've been reaching
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out to a lot of the local universities
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Dixie: That's amazing.
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What about goat yoga?
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I know that's a thing
on the internet lately.
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00:22:36,663 --> 00:22:38,073
Do you do any of that as well?
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00:22:39,713 --> 00:22:40,363
Cora: We do.
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00:22:40,403 --> 00:22:44,463
I have a yoga instructor, and she's
been with me for a few years now.
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And so we have people come to the
farm, and we'll do goat yoga sessions.
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And we've been to a couple of schools.
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And we've actually been to
some pre-K classes that she has
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gone and done goat yoga with.
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Those kids have loved it.
393
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Everybody that comes out
for the goat yoga loves it.
394
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And the good thing about my instructor
is that she realizes that doing
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yoga with goats means that people
really don't care about the yoga.
396
00:23:11,713 --> 00:23:16,173
They're more interested and excited to
be able to interact with these goats,
397
00:23:16,173 --> 00:23:20,483
and they got the little goats jumping on
them and goats chewing their shoelaces
398
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and laying on their pa- on their mats.
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And that in itself is very grounding
and healing because in that, we don't
400
00:23:28,863 --> 00:23:30,313
always have to be serious, right?
401
00:23:30,693 --> 00:23:34,833
Their life has humor, too, and
that's the great way that goats
402
00:23:35,163 --> 00:23:38,773
can help us heal and ground, is
because they're silly creatures.
403
00:23:39,343 --> 00:23:43,973
Dixie: With Ginger Snaps being the
first certified therapy goat, do you
404
00:23:44,133 --> 00:23:48,713
assist others with training therapy
goats, or do you just train your own?
405
00:23:49,387 --> 00:23:55,477
Cora: Right now, we are in the process
of training our own and creating
406
00:23:55,517 --> 00:23:58,567
a national certification program.
407
00:23:58,567 --> 00:24:03,017
That really is our goal because
what we do with these animals, it's
408
00:24:03,017 --> 00:24:06,857
not my partner Joe he's a farrier,
he's a dog trainer, he's worked with
409
00:24:06,857 --> 00:24:09,357
animals 40, 50 years of his life.
410
00:24:09,407 --> 00:24:13,937
He's the board president of the
nonprofit, and we understand
411
00:24:13,937 --> 00:24:15,357
a lot about animal therapy.
412
00:24:15,357 --> 00:24:16,987
I'm sorry, Dixie, tell
me your question again.
413
00:24:16,987 --> 00:24:17,817
I just totally forgot.
414
00:24:23,617 --> 00:24:24,437
I'm so sorry.
415
00:24:24,467 --> 00:24:28,517
Dixie: It was if you train others who
are interested in learning how to have a
416
00:24:28,517 --> 00:24:30,307
therapy goat, if you offer like a therapy-
417
00:24:30,717 --> 00:24:30,847
Cora: Oh
418
00:24:31,047 --> 00:24:31,897
… Dixie: a certification classes basically.
419
00:24:31,897 --> 00:24:32,047
Oh,
420
00:24:32,047 --> 00:24:32,677
Cora: Yeah.
421
00:24:32,677 --> 00:24:34,307
Okay, so y- so yeah.
422
00:24:34,417 --> 00:24:40,607
So based on all of that what I just
said, we are in the process of creating
423
00:24:40,817 --> 00:24:44,507
a national certification program.
424
00:24:44,697 --> 00:24:45,657
Oh that's where I was going.
425
00:24:45,887 --> 00:24:47,017
Because it's not about us.
426
00:24:47,017 --> 00:24:48,187
It's not about Joe and I.
427
00:24:48,197 --> 00:24:49,817
It's not a Just Better All Goats Here.
428
00:24:50,117 --> 00:24:57,117
It's about goats in general, and we're
not trying to reinvent animal therapy,
429
00:24:57,127 --> 00:25:01,377
human-animal interactions, animal-assisted
therapy, however you wanna term it.
430
00:25:01,657 --> 00:25:05,417
What we are doing is adding another niche.
431
00:25:05,677 --> 00:25:10,317
It's like these are other animals that can
provide these benefits for us, and so we
432
00:25:10,317 --> 00:25:16,977
hope within five years we can have that
program put together and send it out to
433
00:25:16,977 --> 00:25:23,437
people so that goats anywhere any farms
that work with goats, any, educational
434
00:25:23,777 --> 00:25:28,492
learning environments that wanna add
goats and, to help with their wellness
435
00:25:28,492 --> 00:25:33,582
and their flourishing environment then
they'll have the opportunity to do that.
436
00:25:33,582 --> 00:25:35,452
So that you know pet partners, right?
437
00:25:35,812 --> 00:25:36,072
Dixie: Yes.
438
00:25:36,252 --> 00:25:36,782
Cora: Yeah.
439
00:25:36,782 --> 00:25:41,472
The way they do it is they've got their
partner, they got their program, and
440
00:25:41,472 --> 00:25:46,832
then, the big thing is about teaching the
handlers how to interact with the animals.
441
00:25:47,062 --> 00:25:50,622
And so that's a lot of what we're thinking
about is, like, how do we create this
442
00:25:50,622 --> 00:25:58,222
actual national program that we're not
gonna-- that we may not be involved, like
443
00:25:58,222 --> 00:26:04,202
hands-on with whoever is in that program,
a way to do it that it's comprehensive
444
00:26:04,442 --> 00:26:09,102
and understandable enough that we can
teach the people how to interact with the
445
00:26:09,102 --> 00:26:13,842
goats and then how to, gauge which one
of those goats to take out in the public.
446
00:26:14,392 --> 00:26:19,012
And that really I cannot reveal all
our secrets to training goats right
447
00:26:19,012 --> 00:26:24,922
now, but I can tell you this: A lot
of it does have to do with training
448
00:26:24,962 --> 00:26:27,762
people how to relate to goats.
449
00:26:28,102 --> 00:26:30,832
And that gets a little problematic
with children 'cause, children, oh,
450
00:26:30,832 --> 00:26:35,522
they're so excited to see the goats
and they wanna run right up to them.
451
00:26:35,522 --> 00:26:38,532
They wanna grab their tails,
grab their horns, and it's no.
452
00:26:38,542 --> 00:26:42,132
We have to learn how to be calm with them.
453
00:26:42,182 --> 00:26:43,982
And then a lot of it is training them.
454
00:26:43,982 --> 00:26:48,562
If you walk up to one of the goats
and the goat does not wanna be pet
455
00:26:48,562 --> 00:26:50,882
right now, that's not a bad thing.
456
00:26:51,142 --> 00:26:52,882
That is teaching us something.
457
00:26:52,952 --> 00:26:58,272
Goats teach us about respect
and consent and boundaries, and
458
00:26:58,272 --> 00:27:00,782
that's a lot of the way I phrase
it when we work with little kids.
459
00:27:00,782 --> 00:27:03,152
I was like, "Are there days where
you just don't wanna be messed
460
00:27:03,152 --> 00:27:04,422
with, don't wanna be touched?"
461
00:27:05,082 --> 00:27:05,472
Yeah."
462
00:27:05,472 --> 00:27:07,322
And I said the goats are the same way.
463
00:27:07,602 --> 00:27:12,122
And when it comes to animals, we have to
respect that with them, too, because, the
464
00:27:12,132 --> 00:27:17,922
more calmer and more, and more respect
that we can show to them, that then
465
00:27:18,132 --> 00:27:23,372
is what is going to make the animals
calm down and then be more engaging."
466
00:27:23,532 --> 00:27:24,232
Make sense?
467
00:27:24,922 --> 00:27:25,192
Dixie: Yeah.
468
00:27:25,242 --> 00:27:27,332
How do the goats like all of this?
469
00:27:29,236 --> 00:27:32,666
Cora: The, for the most part, like
I said the main ones that we use,
470
00:27:32,946 --> 00:27:36,696
'cause out of the 20 goats on the
farm we've never taken all 20 out.
471
00:27:36,726 --> 00:27:39,936
There are goats that it's like, "No
you're not going out in public."
472
00:27:40,256 --> 00:27:42,926
The ones that do go out, they do enjoy it.
473
00:27:42,936 --> 00:27:46,266
They're social, they have
good temperaments, and they
474
00:27:46,266 --> 00:27:47,886
like being around people.
475
00:27:47,886 --> 00:27:51,396
But like I said, sometimes just
like us, they could have a bad day.
476
00:27:51,716 --> 00:27:56,296
We were at one of our local fairs
we do every year all last week.
477
00:27:56,756 --> 00:28:03,346
It was the hottest week so far this
summer, and the goats got tired there at
478
00:28:03,346 --> 00:28:07,606
the end and were just "Eh, we just wanna
lay down and not really be messed with."
479
00:28:07,606 --> 00:28:10,676
And once again, that goes
back to respecting them.
480
00:28:10,936 --> 00:28:13,276
But for the most part, like
I said, no, they love it.
481
00:28:13,576 --> 00:28:18,576
And when it comes to taking them
off the farm and thinking of all
482
00:28:18,576 --> 00:28:20,796
of that, we limit the visits.
483
00:28:20,796 --> 00:28:25,346
We usually do two hours with them, so
we're making sure we're not stressing them
484
00:28:25,346 --> 00:28:28,076
out, and at the most we'll do four hours.
485
00:28:28,836 --> 00:28:30,276
And that's interesting, too.
486
00:28:30,296 --> 00:28:36,996
I in thinking about all of this I've been
researching stress and therapy animals.
487
00:28:36,996 --> 00:28:39,446
It's like that's not
something we talk about a lot.
488
00:28:39,446 --> 00:28:44,066
We always talk about how they help
us with stress, but it's like, how
489
00:28:44,416 --> 00:28:48,576
are the animals we're using relate--
like what are their stress levels?
490
00:28:48,576 --> 00:28:51,976
Because sometimes even dogs, they'll
get burned out and be like, "I'm done.
491
00:28:52,006 --> 00:28:52,376
I'm done.
492
00:28:52,396 --> 00:28:53,276
People touching me.
493
00:28:53,276 --> 00:28:54,866
I wanna go home and sleep on my bed."
494
00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:59,430
And so I find that there's not a
big body of literature on that, but
495
00:28:59,430 --> 00:29:03,670
what I've been researching so far, I
was like, "That's very interesting."
496
00:29:03,700 --> 00:29:08,750
And then because I mostly teach
college classes online, that's
497
00:29:08,750 --> 00:29:11,550
one of the or- academic articles
I'm working on right now.
498
00:29:11,550 --> 00:29:16,090
It's okay let's think about therapy
animals experiencing stress and
499
00:29:16,110 --> 00:29:22,760
burnout and how then how maybe being
in a more virtual environment can
500
00:29:22,820 --> 00:29:25,230
create calmer environments for them.
501
00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:30,840
And at the same time, it's like,
how do we take what we're doing
502
00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:35,870
with these goats and actually put
it into a virtual environment?
503
00:29:35,870 --> 00:29:38,460
And like I told you, we do
like the animal crashings.
504
00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:44,020
You take a class with me, and you are
going to see my animals in my lectures.
505
00:29:44,020 --> 00:29:45,370
You'll see pictures of them.
506
00:29:45,390 --> 00:29:46,680
I talk about them.
507
00:29:47,040 --> 00:29:51,790
And that, actually, a lot of students
tell me they're like, "I'm so glad
508
00:29:51,790 --> 00:29:53,350
you share the animals with us.
509
00:29:53,350 --> 00:29:56,950
That makes us feel so much
safer in the classroom.
510
00:29:57,240 --> 00:29:59,110
It helps us feel less stressed.
511
00:29:59,110 --> 00:30:04,020
It helps us feel more connected to
you, to be able to reach out to you
512
00:30:04,020 --> 00:30:05,520
with whatever we're dealing with."
513
00:30:05,530 --> 00:30:07,760
And I'm like, "That is just awesome.
514
00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:09,830
I like that id- I like that."
515
00:30:10,380 --> 00:30:13,200
Dixie: Yeah, I could totally see that
too, 'cause it just helps you connect
516
00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:18,030
with the person more too when you know
that they have this love for animals.
517
00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:21,090
And then, y- you know- … it's
also like a little bit of a break
518
00:30:21,120 --> 00:30:23,140
because, classes can be stressful.
519
00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:24,430
Classes can be boring.
520
00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:24,610
Yes.
521
00:30:24,820 --> 00:30:30,070
So when you have that in there- … I can
definitely see how it makes everything
522
00:30:30,070 --> 00:30:33,570
a little bit more enjoyable and makes
learning probably- Oh, yeah … easier.
523
00:30:35,138 --> 00:30:36,178
Cora: Oh, yeah, absolutely.
524
00:30:36,178 --> 00:30:40,648
Like I said, we did that two-year
program evaluation study and at
525
00:30:40,688 --> 00:30:44,718
local universities, and that's what
students would tell me all the time.
526
00:30:44,958 --> 00:30:49,588
And sometimes I would give them surveys
and journaling stuff, asking them
527
00:30:49,588 --> 00:30:51,208
about the goats in the classroom.
528
00:30:51,608 --> 00:30:55,858
But a lot-- I would say that
more than that is they would
529
00:30:55,878 --> 00:30:59,648
independently reach out to me and
be like, "Are the goats coming back?
530
00:30:59,908 --> 00:31:01,318
I really like the goats.
531
00:31:01,578 --> 00:31:07,468
It really helped me concent-concentrate
and focus and, wanna study harder and
532
00:31:07,468 --> 00:31:09,598
I did better on that exam I just took."
533
00:31:09,598 --> 00:31:13,608
And I was like, "That's so awesome,"
because that shows a little
534
00:31:13,608 --> 00:31:15,128
bit of the long-term effects.
535
00:31:15,128 --> 00:31:19,038
It's like my students got to play with
the goats in our class, and then they
536
00:31:19,038 --> 00:31:23,508
went to their other classes, and they
were still keeping that energy of what
537
00:31:23,508 --> 00:31:27,478
the goats gave them, and then that helped
them be better students in those classes.
538
00:31:27,478 --> 00:31:29,168
And I was like, "Guys, this is so awesome.
539
00:31:29,208 --> 00:31:30,468
Thank you so much."
540
00:31:31,288 --> 00:31:34,448
Dixie: Yeah, I think it's amazing,
and it helps those, too, who might
541
00:31:34,448 --> 00:31:35,978
not be familiar with animals.
542
00:31:35,998 --> 00:31:40,808
It introduces them to animals that
they might never see otherwise.
543
00:31:42,158 --> 00:31:47,078
Cora: You are so right about that and
especially these younger generations.
544
00:31:47,308 --> 00:31:50,868
Now, for us, we live in Middle
Tennessee, so it's rural Tennessee,
545
00:31:51,268 --> 00:31:57,058
but it's so amazing to me the amount
of children that have no experience
546
00:31:57,058 --> 00:31:59,478
with livestock or farm-type animals.
547
00:31:59,488 --> 00:32:04,078
That makes them more curious and
excited about learning about them.
548
00:32:04,078 --> 00:32:07,138
And I'm like, "That's a great thing,"
'cause then you guys can grow up and have
549
00:32:07,138 --> 00:32:13,058
the animal sanctuaries and, find those
innovative ways to deal with livestock
550
00:32:13,318 --> 00:32:15,788
in agricultural sciences or something.
551
00:32:15,788 --> 00:32:17,498
I hear that a lot from ag students.
552
00:32:17,498 --> 00:32:22,558
They're like, we talk a lot
about livestock as far as the
553
00:32:22,568 --> 00:32:26,708
manufacturing side comes to it and
then things like climate change."
554
00:32:27,028 --> 00:32:32,288
It's but we don't hear a lot about
the non-production manufacturing
555
00:32:32,288 --> 00:32:36,108
side of animals, therapy animals,
sanctuary animals, rescue animals,
556
00:32:36,108 --> 00:32:38,588
even wildlife res-refugees.
557
00:32:38,588 --> 00:32:42,338
And it's a little synchronicity there,
Carl Jung and his synchronicity.
558
00:32:42,658 --> 00:32:46,848
It's like I started looking into some of
this stuff, and then I run into people,
559
00:32:46,848 --> 00:32:48,498
and that's what they want to talk about.
560
00:32:48,508 --> 00:32:51,498
And I was like this is important
stuff to share," 'cause I didn't
561
00:32:51,498 --> 00:32:53,238
tell anybody to talk about this.
562
00:32:53,318 --> 00:32:57,718
They told me about it, and I
find that very interesting.
563
00:32:57,718 --> 00:33:02,198
I'm like, that does kinda, put a
little more credence behind what
564
00:33:02,198 --> 00:33:06,098
we're, what we are doing, and it
gives me a little bit motivation to
565
00:33:06,108 --> 00:33:08,128
be like people are interested in this.
566
00:33:08,228 --> 00:33:08,778
Awesome."
567
00:33:09,708 --> 00:33:10,968
Dixie: Yeah, it sounds amazing.
568
00:33:10,968 --> 00:33:11,828
It really does.
569
00:33:11,838 --> 00:33:14,318
Before we end the call, do
you have any final message?
570
00:33:15,826 --> 00:33:20,446
Cora: I would just like to say
that I really am so glad that
571
00:33:20,456 --> 00:33:22,706
you are interviewing me today.
572
00:33:22,906 --> 00:33:27,016
I really hope that what I'm talking
about with the goats maybe resonates
573
00:33:27,016 --> 00:33:30,566
a little bit with your audience, or
at least makes them a little more
574
00:33:30,566 --> 00:33:33,396
curious to learn more about it.
575
00:33:33,676 --> 00:33:37,826
I really like that you focus a lot
on education because once again,
576
00:33:37,846 --> 00:33:41,776
being an educator, that's something
really big and it's so important.
577
00:33:42,406 --> 00:33:47,926
Our animals are friends, teachers,
guides, and companions, and I always
578
00:33:47,926 --> 00:33:54,296
tell people, no matter what animal you
bring into your house, from a fish to a
579
00:33:54,296 --> 00:34:01,096
guinea pig to a horse, it's so important
to educate yourself on that animal.
580
00:34:01,366 --> 00:34:02,396
You know what I mean?
581
00:34:02,686 --> 00:34:06,876
My fundraiser coordinator has
just come up with this really cool
582
00:34:06,886 --> 00:34:09,065
fundraising campaign for the summer.
583
00:34:09,366 --> 00:34:12,065
It is a coloring contest.
584
00:34:12,126 --> 00:34:18,396
It's fundraiser coloring book/contest,
and she created some cool coloring
585
00:34:18,396 --> 00:34:23,226
books for us, and you c- you can find
us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn,
586
00:34:24,795 --> 00:34:28,216
YouTube, go to our website, and we've
got all that information put up today.
587
00:34:28,466 --> 00:34:30,275
So we're really excited about that.
588
00:34:30,286 --> 00:34:34,416
She came up with the coloring book idea
'cause of the whole therapy aspect.
589
00:34:34,426 --> 00:34:38,926
She's "What's more therapeutic
and relaxing than coloring
590
00:34:38,966 --> 00:34:40,996
and coloring with animals?"
591
00:34:40,996 --> 00:34:44,335
So here in a couple weeks we're
gonna do a live coloring with animals
592
00:34:44,335 --> 00:34:48,446
on YouTube and Facebook, and we're
just really excited about that.
593
00:34:48,446 --> 00:34:53,606
And I'm so grateful for the team of
we call them our family, that we have
594
00:34:53,606 --> 00:34:58,226
that believe in these animals and
that help us out behind the scenes.
595
00:34:58,226 --> 00:35:01,136
And a lot of people don't
know about those things.
596
00:35:01,136 --> 00:35:06,156
And I invite anybody to reach out
to me if they have any questions
597
00:35:06,156 --> 00:35:09,486
or just wanna learn more about
goats in general, like you, Dixie.
598
00:35:09,486 --> 00:35:12,446
If you ever need any help
once you get your goats, never
599
00:35:12,446 --> 00:35:13,796
hesitate to reach out to me.
600
00:35:14,306 --> 00:35:17,256
Dixie: Yeah I definitely know who to
contact now, so that's a good thing.
601
00:35:17,256 --> 00:35:20,746
And I I am gonna get some goats,
so it's just a matter of time.
602
00:35:20,756 --> 00:35:22,696
So I'm not gonna rush into it.
603
00:35:22,716 --> 00:35:25,376
When the time is right, then
I'm gonna get some goats though.
604
00:35:25,986 --> 00:35:32,026
Cora: And that's how life works, life
has a lot of joy, a lot of sorrow, and
605
00:35:32,026 --> 00:35:35,286
working with these animals, I've gone
through a lot of trial and error, but
606
00:35:35,286 --> 00:35:37,116
I'm like, that's just the nature of life.
607
00:35:37,426 --> 00:35:41,646
You live and you learn, and you keep
pushing forward, and that's one of
608
00:35:41,656 --> 00:35:45,666
the great things about goats too, is
that they're always optimistic and
609
00:35:45,716 --> 00:35:48,406
always moving forward, and I love that.
610
00:35:49,136 --> 00:35:52,966
Dixie: Thank you so much for joining me
today, and I'm going to get the links
611
00:35:52,966 --> 00:35:56,396
from you to put in our show notes so
that way if anybody wants to look you
612
00:35:56,426 --> 00:35:59,416
up, they'll have all the links available
in the show notes so they can do
613
00:35:59,466 --> 00:36:04,216
Cora: that sounds awesome, Dixie, and
I thank you so much for your time to
614
00:36:04,216 --> 00:36:09,346
help us spread, the information about
goats and looking into, like I said,
615
00:36:09,346 --> 00:36:15,086
this kind of new type of animal that we
can use for to help us heal and ground.
