Goat yoga at North Saanich’s Victoria Lavender is coming back for the summer, with more goats and more timeslots compared to last year. Classes are being held every Saturday and Sunday, at 9.30 am and 4.30 pm starting Saturday April 28th until Sunday September 2nd.
This weekend, the farm put out a Facebook post asking for volunteer goat cuddlers, and they received over 5,500 emails in eight hours, so they had to stop accepting applications. If you are not among the lucky few cuddlers, you can still view them from outside the paddock on weekends from 10-4 p.m.
Victoria Lavender owner Alan Mayfield said in a September 2017 interview that he started raising the Nigerian dwarf goats about five years ago “just because they were cute.”
He had a stroke in November 2016 and was looking for a way to sustain his business if he did not fully recover. A friend showed him a video of goat yoga on an Oregon farm and said to Mayfield, “You could do this.” So he did, and he was bowled over by the demand.
Last year, he said nearly 5,000 people applied to be volunteer goat cuddlers, and 1,200 went on to the farm to do yoga. They came from as far as Calgary, and Mayfield said close proximity to the Swartz Bay ferry terminal allowed many yogis from Vancouver to take a class and return home the same day.
The classes, at $30 per person, last a full hour with an additional 30 minutes for goat cuddling and photos. They are limited to 30 participants per class, and all must be over 16 years of age. All bookings are to be done by email to yoga@victorialavender.com. More information can be found on their Facebook page, facebook.com/goatyogavictoria/.