A ‘grey mother’ with its owner

As far as the preference for particular shapes of horns, this might vary from area to area. For instance, some of the pastoralists interviewed claim that, traditionally, in the municipalities of Itri and Lenola, the selection of goats has been oriented mainly towards goats with divergent horns (zappetelle).  On the other hand, in the municipality of Esperia, goats with round and backward shaped horns have prevailed over other types of horns while, in Ciociaria, the selection has generally been oriented towards hornless goats, which are locally defined as cucche or bocce.  It should be taken into account that those parameters associated with coat colour and horn shapes have also been influenced by practical reasons. For example, some pastoralists claim that a goat with highly developed horns faces the constant risk of being entangled into feeders and, during grazing, can debark surrounding trees. This might result in conflicts between farmers and pastoralists, especially when grazing takes place on private lands.