“They have an incredible balance”: for more than ten years, Dana McGregor has built her reputation by throwing her goats in the water, on a board. Chupacabrah, a little black goat, is an integral part of the first surf lesson on Pismo Beach. Despite the turbulence of the foam, the goat shows tourists in Montana that it is enough to be relaxed to keep your balance. “The goat surfed much better than me,” laughs Rebekah Abern.
The whimsical idea came to Dana McGregor in 2011, after she acquired a goat to get rid of poison ivy and weeds invading her mother’s house. Once the pasture had been cleared, the animal was initially supposed to end up on a barbecue. But the surfer is “attached”, to the point of getting it on his board on his birthday. Armed with a paddle, he propelled the goat into a wave, a challenge she met with flying colors.
“Existential Mission”
This moment of shared joy remains like a revelation to him. “I felt like I had found heaven on earth, as if something supernatural had just happened,” says this little blond with blue eyes. “I thought to myself, ‘Wow, this animal would never have had the opportunity to surf. ””
The simple joke then turned into an existential mission. Over the years, the ex-professional football player has had other goats, with whom he has multiplied aquatic adventures. Heroines of numerous Youtube videos and two children’s books, they also invited themselves to his surf lessons. To the point that their owner is now nicknamed the “goatfather” – “the godfather of goats” in English – in his small town of 8,000 inhabitants.
Wave of more than two meters
“My vocation is to bring joy to people,” sums up the forties. “And that’s thanks to the goats and the surf. It’s hard to miss this sea shepherd at Pismo Beach. He drags his goats everywhere with him, to the beach as to the supermarket, in a car with a bonnet surmounted by an emblem in the shape of a goat. In the ocean, the eccentricity of his animals proves useful in overcoming the apprehension of apprentice surfers.
“When we start, we really focus on things like: are my feet okay? “says Rebekah Abern. “But when the goat is there, it’s just confident and lets it go. And suddenly you say to yourself: + I’m going to let myself go too +. “People are inspired by it,” confirms Dana McGregor, who has seen many children overcome their fear of water. “They think, ‘If a goat can do it, so can I.’ »
One of his biquettes, Pismo, even pushed the limits of what the instructor believed possible. Together, they took a wave of more than two meters, before the animal expelled it from the board with a whim to complete the “ride” solo. Since then, this seasoned surfer has dreamed of sharing a tube with one of his protégés. Entering a roll, “it’s just an incredible feeling”, he fantasizes. “So a goat in a tube, that would be epic!” »