Downward-facing goat: Yoga trend draws flock, Latest Health News - The New Paper
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Downward-facing goat: Yoga trend draws flock

Eight people dressed in brightly coloured athletic tops and soft pants sat on foam mats and stretched until five tiny Nigerian Dwarf goats, the size of small dogs, pranced into the studio and their goat yoga class began.

Tucked away in a wooded corner of southern New Hampshire, Jenness Farm is the latest small US agricultural operation to cash in on the social media-driven trend, in which yoga enthusiasts practise moves like the cat pose and bridge pose while goats climb around and sometimes on them.

Mr Peter Corriveau, who owns the 2ha farm in Nottingham, New Hampshire, 100km north of Boston, said he had toyed with the idea for several months before launching his first class in April.

"This was really kind of a fluke," said Mr Corriveau, who revealed that people who follow the farm on social media had been sending him videos of goat yoga for more than a year.

"We did this dry run, posted some pictures and really hadn't thought that far ahead.

"And it has just exploded. The phone is ringing continuously with people wanting to sign up for classes."

Mr Corriveau readily admitted that his is far from the first farm to offer goat yoga classes, which can be found from Oregon to Arizona to Massachusetts.

The farm is home to about 30 goats of different species, and its main business is goat-milk soap, which it sells wholesale and through a retail shop on the property.

The farm is open for tours, said Mr Corriveau, who bought the property in 2001.

- REUTERS

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