My siblings and I were born on the lower steppes of Mongolia in the springtime. It's a great time to be born because the snow is melting, the ground is full of tender shoots of wild grass and our coats are just warm enough to keep us from freezing. We jump around and play with the herder's children. They weren't born in spring but they are kids, just like us. We are around human kids quite a bit and adults, too. We all like climbing the mountains and I especially love finding new places. My brother and sister and I jump from rock to rock and we only stop when we want to try new grass.
As we eat, we find ourselves climbing higher and higher up the steppes. We can see all around. We can see other goats, and horses, and animals. We see rivers and sand dunes. The sky is blue and the grass is green. Mongolia is big. The herders make sure we get back home and that we don't wander or jump too far.
Sometimes, when the weather is cold and night winds blow across the vast steppes, the herders let us into their living quarters. My sister loves this the best. She likes the warm fire and all the extra attention. People call the house a ger. She curls up in the ger near the herders' human kids. The older goats don't come in the ger. I don't think anyone would stop them if they did, but the older goats are warm already. They are so warm that they are starting to lose their coats! My coat is gray and my brother's coat is brown, but my sister's coat is light beige.
2 years have passed, and our coats are now long and thick. The cold winter has passed yet again and I’m wishing I can rid myself of this heavy coat of fur, soft as it was. I’ve rolled in the grass and rubbed against tall rocks, but it’s not quite getting the job done. Thank goodness for the herders who have put a comb in their hands and rub our coats. More and more cashmere starts piling up. That's what humans call our coats, but only when our long hair is not on us anymore.
When the long winter hair, or cashmere, comes off, we are happy and can feel the cool air on my skin and we start acting like kids again. We jump and play. We like it so much! It’s comforting to be close to the herders when they groom me, massaging my body and legs. We know these humans very well. We grew up together. I bet my younger brothers and sisters will like getting their coat combed when they are older. They are friendly with humans and the massage might remind them of all the time spent in the ger when they were younger.
My brother and sister and I know where all the cashmere goat hair goes. We know that it is collected by humans from GOBI. They pack up the cashmere and go on a long road back to the city where they turn it into warm soft clothes. We could see them travel when we climbed up the mountains. We could see the whole world from there! And we watched the cashmere until we couldn't see it anymore. We can’t wait until next year when we grow back our own cashmere. We want to be combed out and see what beautiful clothes our cashmere will turn into!