When I found
out the National Goat Expo was going to be held in Bloomington, IL, I knew I
had to find a way to get there. I’ll be honest,
the idea of showing is a little nerve wracking to me. I’m defensive about my babies. (Hey, I’m human!) Conformation and style are only part of the
package. Like most Mini breeders, we
consider our goats part of the family. We
know which goats are hardy and resistant to parasites, which goats rarely need
their feet trimmed, which goats are good mothers and will foster another doe’s
young, which goats will stand quietly on the stand for an hour at a reenactment
and let little children try to milk…
These are factors that make for a beautiful breeding plan and create an
exceptional breed, yet they are not evaluated at a show. But I digress, there have been so few
opportunities to show minis, I felt it was important to go in support of our registry
and breeds.
We packed up
the truck the night before and laid out our clothes, so all we had to do was
get up, dress, and load up the goats… and toss hay to everybody left behind,
and fill water buckets… We woke at five
in the morning and drove most of the two and a half hour trip from Indiana to
Bloomington by cover of darkness. As we
gained an hour, we arrived at the fairgrounds to check in around seven. I’m not sure the geographical layout of
Bloomington, IL, but it feels like being up on a plateau. The sky is very large and the sun seems very
near, making one feel quite small. The
fairground where the Expo was held consists of several long open
shelters. The shelters are airy, and on
this early fall day, I was quite comfortable in their shade. It was perhaps a little too dusty there.
I’ve been
wary about showing for biosecurity reasons, but I can honestly say my goats
really had no meaningful exposure to other goats. Although I had reserved a stall in the goat
barn, I ended up housing them in a pen ring side all day where they were quite
comfortable. It appeared it would be
possible to show from the trailer quite comfortably there. Many folks staying overnight protected their goats
from contact with other herds using tarps.
The turn out
for the show was light. As I was coming by myself with my three
younger elementary children, I had decided to bring four Mini Nubian doelings
who could fit comfortably in two dog crates in the back of the pick up. The Studdard’s of J Bar G Farms in Missouri
are to be commended. They not only
brought their herd of Mini Manchas and Mini Nubians, but they picked up goats
from other herds in order to round out the show. We showed all the minis together, as we did
not have enough goats to break it down into breeds.
We had two
TMGR shows – the first judged by Denise Fraser and the second judged by Donna
Elkins. The results of the first show
were accepted as the first MDGA show as well, and a second MDGA show was judged
by Tim Flickinger. It is important for
our members to note that TMGR does have different breed standards and a different
score card. It is important to note that
when making breeding selections and considering feedback. However, we try to maintain good cooperative
relationships between registries, being something of a necessity with
participation numbers remaining low.
This was my
family’s first showing experience, and the judges were kind and patient with my
children who are still learning the routine and my doelings who are still
learning to lead well, but thankfully for the most part walked willingly around
the ring. It was a good learning
experience, and I think everyone had a nice time. We returned home after dark, returning our
babies to their dams who were uddered up and ready to nurse.
I’m not
quite sure why there was not more interest in this show. As a member of the Board of Directors and
Mini Nubian breeder, I am interested in hearing from TMGR members and Mini
breeders, particularly in the Midwest, about what interests them. Do you wish to show? Or have more of a fun family playdate with
costume classes and milking contests? Or
have a get together for a one day milk test or for classification? Or hold a clinic or cheese-making classes? Is there a time of year that is better for an
event? If you have thoughts, please feel
free to comment on this article, post to the TMGR facebook page or Yahoo!
group, or email me directly at swgoats@yahoo.com.
Angelia Mercer
Editor
