Our Road Trip to the National Goat Expo

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

www.stillwatersfarm.blogspot.com