Where to do goat yoga on Long Island this spring

The sky above, grass beneath and birdsong in the background are among the reasons why Nyla Earley takes yoga classes on the grounds of the Smithtown Historical Society.

Another reason has four hooves and may walk between your legs while you’re in the warrior position.

“You’re feeling very spiritual and connected and then all of a sudden, there’s a little goat walking across your mat,” said Earley, 34, an office manager from West Babylon. 

Yoga with goats started years ago as a fad that now appears to have stuck. At these classes the creatures’ antics exercise humans’ smile and laughter muscles as much as any others. As goats gambol, nuzzle and even poop at will, their calm nature brings a bit of zen, fans say, and they act for the most part like puppies.

At Starkie Bros. Garden Center in Farmingdale, most adults and children come for the six Nigerian pygmy goats rather than yoga, said Patti Starkie, who hosts what she calls “goga” at the center’s pottery shed.

“If a goat climbs on their back and starts chewing on their pony tail, they just start laughing, and of course everybody’s pulling out their phones,” she said.

"They just kind of sashay around and people will pet them as they go by.”

The Smithtown program’s instructor, Doreen Buckman, said goats add to exercising. “The whole thing is like a laugh fest,” she said. “It takes stress out of their bodies.”

Goat yoga organizers say the animals are safe to be around for children age 7 and up.

The animals have a reputation for being calm, said Karen Haleiko, owner of Steppin’ Out Ponies and Petting Zoo in Great River, home of the goats for the Smithtown program, which she cohosts.

“They were actually put in with racehorses to calm them down and be friends with them between races,” she said.

In many goat yoga programs, students look forward to the last 15 minutes of class — photo time.

Earley relishes the memory of a goat named Rambo being placed on top of her. “It felt like Star Wars when Luke was carrying Yoda on his back,” she said. “It was a little heavy. He just got comfortable. This guy was like, ‘I like it here.’ ”