It may come as a surprise to some trackgoers--at least the ones who don't spend much time back in the stables--to discover that horses aren't the only animals that occupy the barns at Arlington International Racecourse.

In addition to the approximately 1,200 horses stabled there, by some estimates there are more than 60 goats that call the barns home as well.

No, goat races are not the track's latest scheme to attract crowds away from the riverboat casinos.

But the tough little animals do play an important role at the track.

They serve as "pets" for the racehorses and exert a strange, calming influence on many of the skittish, high-strung thoroughbreds.

"The practice of keeping a goat in the stall with a nervous horse has been around for a long time, probably as long as there have been racehorses," said Arlington trainer Bette Gabriel, recalling that she has seen cases where a horse would become so attached that its goat would have to be brought along to the paddock every time the horse raced.

Although most of the track goats and horses develop a lifelong friendship, Gabriel's goat, Sally, has actually baby-sat three different horses in the four years she has had her.

"She almost seems to know when one has calmed down and it is time to move on to another one that needs her," Gabriel said of her arthritic goat, which currently spends most of its time resting in the stall of Touch the Light, a high-strung 2-year-old.

As long as Sally's previous horse can still see her in the barn, the change of allegiance doesn't seem to be a problem.

"In most cases, however, the relationship is more one-on-one, and the horse and its goat are inseparable for life," Gabriel said.

She recalled one billy goat she owned that would bellow every time its horse went off to practice or race.

"He used to try to follow the horse, and we would have to tie him up," said Gabriel, recalling that its frequent loud and plaintive cries did not particularly endear that goat to other humans around the barn.

While most horses don't seem to mind the short separation for racing and exercising, if their goats aren't around the barn with them, it often means trouble. They will pace the stalls, and fail to get the rest they need.

"It really affects their performance. They just can't relax unless that goat is nearby," she said.

Goats also frequently ride in the trailer with the horses when they are moving from track to track.

Gabriel said that when a horse she was training was sold in a claiming race, she sent its goat along with it.

"It was the only humane thing to do," she said. "A horse that loses its goat is just bereft and actually mourns."

And there is no substituting another goat either because the horses unquestionably know the difference.

"Racehorses are by nature nervous animals, and some of them handle the stress of racing and traveling better than others," said Melissa Bennett, an exercise rider for Arlington trainer Gene Cilio.

She noted that every track and many horse farms she has worked at have had goats around, and that a fellow pony rider at Arlington even keeps one to soothe his exercise pony, which isn't exactly a high-strung thoroughbred.

"I remember one farm where I worked `breaking babies,' where the goat would follow behind us while we trained, running around the track as fast as it could," she laughed.

However, while goats may have the run of the barns, they are definitely not allowed to run around on the tracks at Arlington. After all, a world-class racetrack has to have some standards.

Oddly enough, dogs don't enjoy the same open-door policy at Arlington as the farm animals do. They are, in fact, banned from the barns there.

The dogs and horses usually get along OK, according to Gabriel. But many dogs don't take well to the fact that a lot of people come and go through the typical stable. Most goats, despite their gruff reputation, are pretty docile.

They also stick pretty much to their horses' stalls and don't wander around. The casual observer touring a barn might not even notice that several goats are in residence.

Gabriel noted that miniature goats have become especially popular around tracks, and during the last 10 years, some horse owners and trainers have found that potbellied pigs form a similar attachment to horses and perform much the same function.

The pigs, however, sometimes get too big and too stubborn to transport around with the horses as they move from track to track.

"I've had both, and the goats have better personalities," Gabriel said, recalling one pig she owned got angry when she tried to lift it into a van, and moved to a neighboring barn and refused to come back, upsetting both the horse and the goat it left behind.

Not every horse needs or even wants a goat in its stall, and no one is quite sure what the bond is between the two dissimilar animals, but horse trainers take advantage of the equine-goat connection whenever they can, especially since goats eat the same grain as the horses and are very little trouble.

"It just seems to be a security blanket for the horse, like it has a friend who is always there waiting," Bennett said. "It's a useful tool."