Literal translation
to make [someone] keep the goats
Meaning
to keep someone stuck up a tree or ladder
Explanation
To keep someone from climbing back down a tree or ladder, and more specifically to strand someone at the high end of a seesaw. The image comes from amountagnàgi, the summer move of sheep and goat herds up into the mountains, that is, to higher ground. It is mostly a children's phrase and game, passed on through the same channels as faire esquinette and faire gambette.