The first time I heard of fainting goats I thought it was a joke. A friend was telling me about his uncle who raised them and i didn't believe him at all. I went home and looked it up and amazingly enough they are real. I forgot all about them until I was watching TruTV and saw a show about them. What better for my last entry for class then goats that faint? Fainting goats have a recessive gene that causes them to stiffen up and fall over whenever they are startled or scared. And it is pretty funny to watch. The goat isn't hurt whenever this happens but I do feel kind of bad for the goats when people chase them around to see them fall over. If I could stop laughing long enough I would probably be pretty sad about it. After awhile the goats body goes back to normal. The saddest part is that the goats have no control over when it happens but since the condition, called Myotonia, only affects the external muscles they aren't affected in any other way. All their organs work and they are completely conscious. They even have their own association called the International Fainting Goat Association (IFGA). The IFGA has bylaws and competitions. It is legit. There are breed standards and defects, not just any goat that can faint is allowed into the fainting competitions. I highly recommend going on Youtube and looking these goats up.