Goat Yoga on the East End Will Have You Grazing for More

Saturdays are for the goats.

Well, goat yoga, on a few Suffolk farms that have been offering the event with filled-out classes every weekend.

Kaylyn Reynolds, the operations coordinator of the Suffolk County Farm and Education Center (part of Cornell Cooperative Extension) in Yaphank, said people ages 8 and older can come down for a twist on traditional flow.

On Saturday evenings, and weather permitting, the $25 class brings out friendly goats to the hourlong yoga class. Reynolds said the flow is traditional, so beginner level, “but some people elect to sit there and not do the yoga, just hang out with the goats.”

The Suffolk County Farm typically includes its Nigerian dwarf, but after the boar goat babies are born in the springtime, they’re brought in to cuddle up next to participants while they attempt downward dog.

“They’re used to the program,” Reynolds said, adding that the farm has been offering the program since 2018.

“It’s a good distraction at the end of the day, and an even better workout,” she said.

The $25 fee also goes directly back to the farm, she said.

“It literally feeds the animals and maintains the property,” she said.

On the South Fork, Corwith’s Farmstand in Water Mill offers 60-minute goat yoga on Saturday mornings at 9 for $35, but farther east on the North Fork, Catapano Dairy Farm in Peconic offers other goat-tastic events, along with baby goat yoga.

Co-owner Erin Argo Burke said that her farm has been doing goat yoga for three years. It offers yoga in a smaller time frame because the farm focuses on introducing the young goats to the public after they’re born in March.

That being said, baby goat yoga ($25) is offered from mid-April until early July, on Saturday mornings.

“With everyone doing yoga around them, it’s good for them and helps them get socialized with humans,” she said.

Argo Burke added that goats are gentile, docile creatures that don’t attempt any harm. In fact, they are often shy.

“It’s so fun,” she said. “People make special trips to come out here.”

But if physical activity isn’t one’s speed, also offered are 30-minute baby goat cuddling sessions where participants can just sit and hang out with them for some snuggles and pets. Those sessions are just $15, plus those attending learn how to take care of goats, too.

Catapano also hosts farm yoga beginning August 5.

Argo Burke said that once the goat babies get too big, they offer farm yoga, a relaxing 45-minute yoga session in a field next to the goats, followed by a 15-minute meet-and-greet in the pen with the babies/teenagers.

Weather permitting, those classes are Saturdays at 10:30 a.m. and cost $15.

“It’s a great session for people to hold the goats, pet them and experience what it’s like to be around an animal that people might not be used to,” she said. “It’s great for children if they’re not used to things that aren’t a cat or a dog.”

But for someone expecting a class that will have them moving around, it may not be for them.

“The goats are super sweet. They’ll just lay in your lap and fall asleep,” Argo Burke laughed. “It’s a very calming experience. People find it relaxing.”