Why do we show goats? A question I am often asked by family, friends, and even other goat showmen. The reason we started is to network. To show other 'goat people' that we have healthy, happy, quality animals and to hopefully to draw in buyers and increase the value of our herds' progeny. So 6 years into this game, I wonder if our goals have changed...
Showing goats requires a ton of preparation. Packing, organizing, bathing, clipping. Aaaah...clipping, the single most predominant reason I don't show my animals more often. Clipping goats is something I liken to scraping wallpaper. Or scrubbing toilets. Or pulling out your eyelashes one by one. Or putting on wet jeans. Or sneezing in your OR mask. Clipping goats is something noone in their right mind could ever enjoy. No matter how careful I am, what type of clothing I do or don't wear, I always feel like I rolled over a porcupine and promptly develop an itchy rash.
The vast majority of the goats don't like it either. The clippers are loud, warm up quickly and are obviously terrifying, based on their acrobatics on the milkstand. I always win though. Headlocks and footlocks drive those needle-like goat hairs deeper into my skin with each passing minute; I may bleed, swear or even cry, but I always win and those little buggers get their haircuts.
The second-worst part of showing goats is training. The milkers generally have fairly good manners, as they are handled twice daily at milking time and lead easily on their collars. But we still have to break them of foot-shyness or udder-shyness when approached by a big scary judge or another exhibitor. The babies need collar work as well, which I always try to do 'tomorrow' and then 'tomorrow' and suddenly 'tomorrow' is show day!
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| This is how the goats look when no one is looking. |
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| This is how the goats look when the judge glances our way. |
We've come a long way since our first goat show 6 long years ago. I had done a little research, I clipped my goats with a small dog-sized clipper and 8 hours later they looked good! Then I walked in and saw people with razors, shaving cream, tiny paint brushes to remove bristly hairs from udders, shoe polish, goat coats and other intimidating accoutrements. Like dog owners, goat owners sometimes resemble their goats. In condition, dentition and fragrance. With a shudder, I kicked some poop off their hooves and into the showring we went...we even managed to go home with a few ribbons. Its taken several years, but in time I learned about withers, escutcheons and hocks. I can tell a good chine from a bad, spot a great rump from ten yards and I just learned to check for the elusive 'spring of rib'.
This year, the shows fell a little earlier in May and were clustered together over a period of a few weeks. Hectic, yes, but clipping is minimized, so sign me up!
First stop...Burton for the Western Reserve Dairy Goat Association show.
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| Lounging and resting up for the big event. |
Burton is a nice little show, I've been going for the past several years. It is structured over 2 days with one ring each day which means that there are not 2 judges judging classes simultaneously so that those of us crazy people with multiple breeds are running back and forth aimlessly. The fairgrounds are quiet and quaint, close to the town square. Hot water in the bathrooms was an added bonus this year. We finished the show with:
Macy - RGCH senior toggenburg
Emmette - GCH (ring 2) and RGCH (ring 1) junior toggenburg
Masquerade - GCH senior saanen
Next stop...Springfield for the Ohio Dairy Goat Association Annual Buckeye Classic. I learned after arriving that Springfield is kind of a dump. Being situated out in the country between Columbus and Dayton, I was expecting more rolling hills and less inner city. I also learned that Springfield scores well above average ( and not in a good way ) in violent crime and property crime per capita. Fortunately and unfortunately I learned these fun facts after arriving home or else I may have opted out of this one!
“It always rains on tents. Rainstorms will travel thousands of miles, against prevailing winds for the opportunity to rain on a tent.”
― Dave Barry
That quote sums up our experience. Good friends made the weekend bearable. Upon arriving we were greeted with unclean pens, un-constructed pens, locked bathrooms and non-working water fixtures. And rain. Despite this, we put on our game faces, set up our animal housing, set up our campsite that would be home for the next 3 days and settled in for a long night. Long not from the rain, but from the other activities going on at the fairgrounds that included a race that commenced at 11pm and music loudly piped over the speakers until after 2am. Yearning for sleep, night 2 went just about as well. A monsoon brought torrential rains, flooding, panicked, wet goats, wet bedding and hay, and a truck cab that smelled like a teenage boys locker room.
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| Thankfully we had the foresight to bring food. And plenty of it. The food 'vendor' was serving meals out of a livestock trailer and didn't bring coffee. When I inquired he responded 'I have water and orange juice, that's pretty close' Pretty close???? Really?????? &#$%^^&*(^*(^!!!!!!! |
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| Despite our hardships, things ended well. By Sunday the skies had cleared, I washed my hair, aired out the truck, bought new straw and drank some bourbon. |
Buckeye Classic show results:
Macy - GCH both rings
Emilene- BOB (best of breed) both rings
Masquerade- RGCH one ring
Luci- RGCH one ring, 2nd place saanen in state, futurity competition
Cammile- GCH one ring
Emmette- RGCH both rings
Delfina- RGCH one ring
Sofia- RGCH one ring ( I love her!)
Last stop ( for a while) Wooster for the North East Ohio Dairy Goat Association Show. Wooster is the closest stop for me, which meant one day in and out. No truck camping or neck aches for once! Wooster is usually one of my favorites, attended by some of my favorite goat friends, yet one of the more hectic shows as two simultaneous show rings mean a lot of shuffling around and minimal down time.
As usual I neglected to photograph my goats when in their 'show best' so I'll rely on the photos taken by the professionals and will post them when available.
Wooster show results:
Masquerade - GCH one ring
Macy - GCH and BOB both rings, finishing her permaent championship!!
Emmette- RGCH one ring
Sofia - RGCH one ring (love her!)
Now its break time. The girls were growing weary of the trailer and I was growing weary of dragging all that crap around. Its time for them to lounge in the pasture, roll in the mud and relax for a few months until our Linear Appraisal session arrives in September. We will get busy making hay, nurturing veggies and I'll continue to work on my fly fishing technique. Next year when show season arrives, I'll dust off the tack box, oil up the clippers and dive in, knowing that I'm inviting rashes, back pain and misery. Smiling as I finally admit that I am . . . 'goat people'.
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